Sociology

The term juvenile delinquency was derived from two words, juvenile which pertains to minors and delinquency which means failure to comply to the norms and laws dictated by the society. Juvenile delinquency, in social science, refers to the acts of children (minors) which are considered as deviant or non-conforming to the legal and social norms. Any person       who committed crime and  whose age falls between 12 to 17  years old is considered as a juvenile delinquent (Siegel and Welsh,2009).

Once a juvenile is proven to be guilty of doing something against the law, he is immediately  given a sanction depending on the laws set by government of a certain country. Juvenile delinquents are given special considerations such as that they are not treated or processed by the law like adult criminals are. These children are usually send into special programs administered by the government where they could be rehabilitated and reformed (Kirk,Goldstein and Redding,2005).

Many theories were formulated to explain deeply why some adolescents are motivated to commit crimes while others, in similar circumstances are not. Theories regarding juvenile delinquency is divided into two, the choice theory and the trait theory. These two differs in such a way that the choice theory suggests that these delinquents commit crime just because they believe that their actions will be beneficial, their decisions are considered to be rational while the trait theory points out that these delinquents do deviant acts uncontrollably or rationally. A clear example for the choice theory are the delinquents who sell drugs for them to have enough money to buy their food. They have a choice of doing or not doing the deviant act, however, they still chose to do it because they have to in order to survive. As for the trait theory, delinquents who have abnormal mental and physical traits who committed crime uncontrollably are good examples of such (Siegel,2005).

Under the choice theory is the routine activities theory developed by Lawrence Cohen and Marcus Felson. This theory states that  the volume and distribution of predatory crimes (violent crimes against persons and crimes which an offender attempts to steal an object directly from its holder) in a particular area and at a particular time is influenced by the interaction of three variables the availability of suitable targets (such as homes containing easily saleable goods), the absence of capable guardians (such as homeowners, police, and security guards), and the presence of motivated offenders (such as unemployed teenagers)  (Siegel,2005).

Studies show that the rate of juvenile delinquency is higher in an area having lame security, houses containing small gadgets that are easy to sell and large number of teenagers competing for small number of part-time jobs than in an area with strict security, houses with less saleable items and  small number of teenagers competing for jobs (Siegel,2005).

The psychodynamic theory originated by Sigmund Freud is one of the theories under the trait theory of juvenile delinquency. This theory states that  law violations are product of an abnormal personality formed early in life . In this theory, Freud emphasizes that there are three major components of personality of a person id,ego and superego. The id pertains to the needs and desires, the ego weighs the reality between the two other components and the superego dictates the feelings of morality. These three components are believe to play simultaneously. Abnormal personality traits are exhibited once one of these three components  become dominant over the others. The theory also states that an imbalance among these components caused by a traumatic childhood experience may result into a long-termed psychological problem. For instance, when a child fail to develop his superego which can be enhanced through proper interaction with the parents and others, his id may dominate meaning he can no longer weigh properly which one is the right thing to do and which is the wrong one. His actions may just be towards the satisfaction of his needs and desires  without considering the moral aspect of those (Siegel,2005).

In conclusion, the main factor which pushes juvenile delinquents to commit crime may be regarded  as the interplay of ones genes, a persons environment and the situation where a person is in to at a certain time.