s important since juveniles with more risk factors are found to engage in violence from five times to twenty times more often. Gender, age, and race are additional factors, since most juvenile offenders are males that begin violent activities by the age of fifteen (MacLellan, p. 5).
Research regarding prevention of juvenile crime reveals conflicting results. MacLellan reports that efforts such as drug prevention, gun control, youth arrests, detention programs, and police counseling have failed, and efforts that increase personal characteristic assets are more successful. Internal assets include ways to instill learning commitment, positive values, social competence, and personal identity. External assets include ways to increase support from family, personal relationships, school, and community, and methods to empower the youth, instill boundaries and expectations, and teach the constructive use of time (pp. 6-8).
Attempts have been made to establish a theory that would allow for the study of juvenile offenders and determine the causes and treatment of violent juvenile crime. In the 1970s, situational selection theories and studies, that focused on the offenders use of situational cues for decision-making, were popular. For example, research demonstrated that particular types of crimes were associated with populated urban areas. Another example of a situational factor was the unlocked automobile, which would lead to theft (Lopez & Emmer, 1000, p. 292).
Next, symbolic interaction theories, which included cognitive and emotional components, became popular. One of the most dominant theories used by criminologists is Hirschi's social bonding theory. Considered a major social control theory, it has been used for nearly 30 years. For this theory, when the individual has broken or weak bonds with society, they are considered to be predisposed to delinquency. These social bonds are composed of attachment, commitment, invo...