Essay, Research Paper: What Causes Juvenile Delinquincy

A question that is often asked throughout the world today is where does juvenile delinquency start at. The most logical answer that comes to people s minds is the juveniles home. Many different factors from the home can be used to describe why a juvenile becomes delinquent, or negligent in what they do. Some are poor housing conditions, the abuse of drugs or alcohol in the house, lack of attention to the juvenile, fighting between the parents, or abuse of the juvenile, or child. Whichever factor causes the delinquency, it can be said that factors from the home are most likely to affect the juvenile.
Poor housing conditions can be a major reason for kids becoming delinquent. To explain this you must ask, "why should I care about how I live if my parents don t care about how they live?" Juveniles would rather stay away from a place that they don t care to live in which leaves them bumming from other people for housing. When moving from place to place many different things can be encountered such as drugs, or abuses such as physical, sexual, or mental. A juvenile without a stable place to live will almost inevitably become delinquent.
Use of drugs or alcohol can also cause problems in the home. Either of these items being abused in the home will immediately cause it to be unstable. Both items will most likely lead to other things such as fighting between the parents, abuse of the juvenile, or just an overall disregard for life. On top of that it gives the juvenile an easy chance to start using the products. Once the juvenile is using drugs or alcohol they are definitely becoming delinquent. The drugs and/or alcohol doesn't allow for any of the necessary binding which needs to happen for a family to be stable.
Another important factor is whether the juvenile has a place in the family, or whether they are getting enough attention. This is important in their younger years until adulthood. One of the thoughts that many people share is if the family can sit down together at dinner each night then they will be twice as close as the family that doesn t. The closer a family is together, the more likely a juvenile will solve problems with the family instead of turning to the street to solve the problems.
Something closely related to the family is how much individual attention the juvenile is getting at home. If they are not getting what they feel is enough attention then most likely the juvenile will turn somewhere else to receive attention or try to make themselves the center of attention. Some of the problems that can result in fading attention are as simple as the parents work long hours at their jobs and can t be home enough. Other problems can be worse though such as the parents are so involved with drug use that they don t have time to pay attention to the kids.
Abuse is something that many juvenile delinquents experience. Either they watch it happening or experience it themselves. One type that they may experience is that of their parents abusing each other. This can be a very frightening experience for a juvenile to watch your parents fight and feel helpless to do anything. The juvenile, or child, will most likely turn away from the home so they don t have to suffer through the torment of feeling helpless.
Another kind of abuse is that of the juvenile. The abuse may come from the parents, other family members, or anybody that may frequent the house. This is thought to be one of the biggest causes of juvenile delinquency. The abuse may come in several forms such as physical, sexual, or even mental abuse. One of the major causes of the abuse is the parents use of drugs and/or alcohol. The abuse drives children from the home without the desire to return. It causes a breaking of the family bond and drives everybody apart.
The home can definitely house many of the factors which cause juvenile delinquency. This mostly because the home is where the juveniles' life is based and there are so many factors to go wrong. However, if the proper steps have been taken, many of the factors should be severely reduced or eliminated. If the abuse of drugs and alcohol are gone from the home then there is a big part of the problem solved. The other major part is just being there for your kids. Be there when they have problems and when they have successes to help ensure a lack of delinquency in their lives.