Juvenile offenders desistance and persistence with crime

Juvenile delinquency is a global phenomenon which not only ensures the continuity of various legal systems but remains relevant before legal systems, which must find the best possible ways to deal with the challenge. It is important to understand the reasons as to why a young person would commit an offense as this helps in the prevention of future offenses from happening. Essentially, addressing the issues that lead minors to misinformed choices like living a life of criminal activity helps in fostering in them change in the future. When these issues are addressed in an appropriate manner and at an early age, caregivers may be in a position to prevent the start of juvenile delinquency. In circumstances where there is already an occurrence of delinquency, formulating strategies that curb these acts may help a child develop in an environment safe from future problems when they get into adulthood.

Parents are thus advised to be actively engaged in learning activities and school programs to deter possible delinquent practices. Essentially, when an adult actively involves himself in the life of a child, such children may show exemplary performance either at school or within their social surroundings since they know someone is watching after them. Family Violence Family violence is a major contributing factor to delinquency. Many juvenile criminal defense attorneys posit that subjecting a child to violence makes them grow into violent people.  In most cases, children who experience violence at home or watch it on others are likely to behave violently in relation to the fears and frustrations they undergo. Socioeconomic Factors Whereas all neighborhoods may experience cases of juvenile delinquency, poor places are more susceptible to criminal activities than their richer counterparts as children from the poorer backgrounds believe they have to find alternative ways to survival and prosperity including engaging in criminal acts (United Nations,2014).

Some cases of delinquency for instance theft may sometimes be due to necessity and desire to meet needs rather than just a petty criminal act. In order to reverse this trend, children should be accorded with whatever they may need, while encouraging them that committing crime is not the best answer to success in life. Substance Abuse When children get exposed to drugs and substance abuse, they may lack the necessities needed to sustain the use of these drugs, hence may sometimes resort to criminal injustices in order to thrive comfortably in their environments. Parents and caregivers exposed to drug and substance abuse may get lost in addiction and fail to provide basic needs for their children, who may turn into criminal acts to meet their needs and wants. Further, theories of criminal careers explain that there are many factors that may influence juvenile delinquency.

Accordingly, the view by an age-graded theory of informal social control, for instance, posits that the ever-changing demands and increasing responsibilities, as well as changes in social roles associated with becoming an adult, such as being a spouse or parent, reduce the chances of being delinquent. An increase in impulse maturation may also reduce criminal behaviors. Alarid et al. acknowledge that there are many factors that influence juvenile-limited recidivism for young people already within the juvenile justice system. These ties help in reducing criminal behaviors gradually while promoting conventional lifestyles among people who previously had delinquent behaviors. Other theories that have helped in understanding why people desist crime include the rational choice theory which entails moral choices people make to desist crime (Lynch, 2002). According to the New York Times (2017), there has been a significant reduction in crime levels.

At the end of the year, the number of deaths reported was 335, significantly a lower number as compared to the 352 in 2015. According to the city Mayor and police commandant, major crimes committed in 2016 amounted to 101,606 while in 2015 the figure stood at 105,925 (New York Times, 2017). Akers (2017) further posit that persistence in crime may also be as a result of weak social ties, low academic performance and poor commitment to school according to the social learning theory. In conclusion, crime among minors has become a global issue. Different governments are trying up various methods to curb the vice through rehabilitation, even though some stakeholders feel that juvenile delinquents need to be treated harshly as a way to punish them. This vice may start from childhood and end at adolescence, while in some cases, it may persist through adulthood.

Theories such as social theory, social control, and the control theory try to explain the causal factors of juvenile delinquency. From Juvenile Delinquency to Adult Crime: Criminal Careers, Justice Policy, and PreventionFrom Juvenile Delinquency to Adult Crime: Criminal Careers, Justice Policy, and Prevention, edited by LoeberRolfFarringtonDavid P. New York: Oxford University Press, 2012. pp. paper. ISBN: 9780199828180. Fleming, C. B. Catalano, R. F. Haggerty, K. doi: 10. j. jadohealth. Gottfredson, M. R. The culture of control: Crime and social order in contemporary society.  PoLAR: Political and Legal Anthropology Review, 25(2), 109-112. Mahoney, A. Karatzias, T. Violent Female Offending: An Exploration of Repeat and One-Time Offending. j. socnet. Patterson, G. Yoerger, K. Intraindividual growth in covert antisocial behaviour: a necessary precursor to chronic juvenile and adult arrests?. Opinion | Crime and Gratitude in New York. Retrieved from https://www.

nytimes. com/2017/01/07/opinion/sunday/crime-and-gratitude-in-new-york. html Reeve, E. unodc. org/documents/data-and-analysis/statistics/crime/ECN. EN. pdf). Ebook]. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention  .