CAUSES OF YOUTH DELIQUENCY

The rate of juvenile delinquency appears to be growing and continues to effect innocent people as they go about their daily routines. A series of studies made from Michael Forester a professor from University of Mississippi have shown that delinquency rates are above average in the poorest neighborhoods of cities. He stated that over 60% of families living in area far below poverty are more at risk. Such areas have many broken homes and a high rate of alcoholism. Broken home is a family in which the parents have separated or divorced. Children from broken families are nearly five times more likely to suffer damaging mental troubles than those whose parents stay together, Government research has found. They also have poorly funded and underperforming schools, high rates of unemployment, few recreational facilities, and high crime rates. Many young people participate in delinquency as a response to boredom, poverty, and personal problem.
Social scientists have studied the influence of delinquent peer groups on other juveniles. For example, they point out that most youngsters who engage in delinquent behavior do so with other juveniles and often in the form of organized gangs. According to Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (whose website can be found at http://ojjdp.ncjrs.org/), 2,700 gangs and 788,000 gang members were active in the United States as of 2007.
Studies indicate that the causes of delinquency also extend to a whole society. For example, delinquency rates tend to be high among the low-income groups in societies where most people are well-to-do. The pain of being poor and living in slum conditions are felt more strongly in a rich society than in a poor one.