Factors Influencing Juvenile Delinquency: Peer Influence and Family Tension

This essay explores the factors that contribute to juvenile delinquency, with a focus on peer influence and family tension. It discusses the impact of broken homes, poverty, abuse, and lack of attention from parents on a child's behavior. The essay also examines the role of peer influence in delinquency and the importance of communication and emotional expression in preventing it.

Running head: ESSAY PLAN 1
Essay Plan
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Author Note
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ESSAY PLAN 2
Essay Plan
INTRODUCTION
• The book of Proverbs says, “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he
is old, he will not depart from it “(ESV, Proverbs 22,6). It also says, “Discipline your
son, and he will give you rest; he will give delight to your heart” (ESV, Proverbs 29:
17)
• However, due to many social factors, the words may not be implemented.
• Lack of enough contact time with the kids while young, influence from peers and
content on social media and media outlets amongst other factors, influence the path
of life that a child takes.
• This contributes to their behaviour at early age, adolescence, teenage and youthful
adults.
• One of the negative trends and behaviours they may pick up over time influence
their characteristics and personal traits and thus contributing to illegal or criminal
behaviour.
• As the youth grow up, they can adopt negative behaviours that can lead them to
committing illegal or criminal acts.
• Therefore, while looking into the factors that contribute or influence such
behaviours.
• The youths are divided into delinquents whose behaviour onset dates back to
childhood, and those whose onset coincides with their adolescence stage (DELL,
2000).
LITERATURE REVIEW
FAMILY TENSION
• There are many social factors that influence juvenile delinquency among them:
poverty, peer influence abuse, and family tension.
• This study will focus on the most influential factors; peer influence and family
tension.

ESSAY PLAN 3
• When a child lives and is raised in a broken home or a home whereby adults are
struggling with their own personal issues among them cheating, alcoholism,
domestic violence and drugs amongst many more, he or she is the most affected.
• A child most crucial stages are the ones where he or she is growing up and therefore,
key to his or her development is a stable household in a positively geared
environment.
• Habits or behaviors that define the daily household behavior affect and influence his
or her future (DELL, 2000).
• Juvenile delinquency has increased by over 30% in the last decade and this is
accounted to the uniqueness of humanity and the multifaceted creatures.
• They are different as they are resilient.
• Though there is no direct explanation to the individuality experienced with each
persona, there is a relation of the development of various characteristics of external
influences.
• When the parents are unable to control the behavior that a teen or child is exhibiting,
then the behavior is referred to as delinquency.
• At this point, the negative behavior becomes subject to legal action.
• A child’s behavior can be influenced by his or her genetics, emotional status,
cognitive, social and physical aspects (Odero, 2001).
• A child can dictate the genes that he or she is born with, or the behavior that he or
she learns overtime.
• Some of the violent behaviors that are picked up overtime are due to moving
families either due to work related issues or domestic violence cases.
• This affects the child as it causes them to be behind classes, bullied in schools or by
neighbors and friends.
• More to that, it causes them to suffer from low self-esteem issues that instigate
negative and violent behaviors.
• Such behavior may include the oppositional defiant disorder which is characterized
by a child refusing any requests by friends or even more so parents (Odero, 2001).
• It may spread out to defiance which may include stealing, rape and even truancy.

ESSAY PLAN 4
• At this stage the child is described as having conduct disorder (CD), which is the
psychological disorder in children in their childhood and adolescents that is
characterized by anti-social behavior and constant disruption.
• This behavior can be inherited from either one or both parents or a member in the
family tree.
• It makes the individual unwilling to be around people socially as well as behaving
badly when in contact with people.
• This is done in a bid to push away people in fear of judgement for personal traits
(Roberts, 2005).
• The anti-social behavior can be attributed to a disorder that affects a person’s frontal
lobes as seen in kids with defiant behaviors from studies.
• Some of the kids suffering from the disorder will go to extreme behaviors like
becoming serial killers.
• This behavior starts developing in children at their teens.
• Violence in homes causes the kids to be fearful and such tendencies may cause the
child to lose out on sleep.
• This results in neuropsychological issues that may onset in a child’s teenage age.
• Brain and cognitive development are depending on sleep and enough sleep. Rapid
eye movement (REM) assists in processing of memories as well as rejuvenation of
the body (Roberts, 2005).
• It’s important for a person to be able to go through all the four cycles that happen
during sleep.
• Each cycle takes about ninety minutes a cycle and REM is usually at the fourth
cycle.
• This is also the same stage where dreams occur. They are important in processing
and somewhat interpreting the day’s events and the emotions that those events
influenced.
• This blood concentrates at the body core and head.
• This allows the muscles to relax and rejuvenate.

ESSAY PLAN 5
• Without enough sleep, the child’s emotional state and psychological state is affected
and this may lead to delinquent behavior.
• The child may also suffer from attention deficient hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
that is characterized by excessive motor skills and inability to concentrate.
• This makes the child unable to make rational decisions at this may start as early as
six.
• The fact that a child is growing up in violent household means that they are unable to
correct their behaviors. These behaviors transcend into their future.
• Children model their parents and thus deviant behaviors in their parents become
present in their children.
• It’s important for a child to be with responsible parents who do their duties and also
maintain close family ties (Shuqiao, 2014).
• Some of the most common aspects involves communication.
• Lack of attention from the parents may lead to criminal activities.
• More to violence, some household have single parents and this means that one parent
takes on a lot of chores, childcare, discipline and financial responsibility.
• This may affect quality time spent with the child and contribute to a child’s
delinquency (Shuqiao, 2014).
PEER INFLUENCE
• Peer influence is one of the strongest influence for delinquency especially in
adolescents.
• When people commit acts of crime in their adolescents’ stage, it’s hard for them to
understand the graveness of the situation.
• This is influenced mostly by the lack of enough or similar resources (poverty).
• This is why parent monitoring is important at this stage especially in achieving
goals.
• Lack of resources and acceptance of the same causes the teenagers to get into gangs
and cliques that they believe will equip them with power to get what they believe
they need.

ESSAY PLAN 6
• They also adopt abusive behavior which is initiated in acts of crimes (Schepers,
2016).
• More to that, lack of acceptance by a certain social class may lead to the child
adopting negative and even criminal behaviors as a means of attaining vengeance
against the social clique that rejected him or her (Schepers, 2016).
• CONCLUSION
• Though there are many influencing social factors that dictate a teens future life right
from childhood to adult hood, it’s clear that they can be managed and solved right in
the early stages through communication and expression of emotions as they are the
key instigators towards delinquency.

ESSAY PLAN 7
Bibliography
Bible Society, n.d. Proverbs. In: The Holy Bible. s.l.:Bible Society (BS).
DELL, G. A., 2000. SOCIAL FACTORS AND SCHOOL INFLUENCE IN JUVENILE
DELINQUENCY. Wiley Online Library, p. 5.
Odero, R., 2001. The socio-economic factors Influencing juvenile delinquency: a Case study of
Kabete approved School, Getathuru reception centre, Nairobi juvenile remand home and
the Dandora Undugu Society of Kenya Reception centre. EREPOSITORY, p. 5.
Roberts, H. C., 2005. Juvenile Delinquency: Cause and Effect. SAGE Journals, p. 5.
Schepers, D., 2016. Causes of the causes of juvenile delinquency: Social disadvantages in the
context of Situational Action Theory. SAGE Journals, p. 5.
Shuqiao, G., 2014. Social Causes of Juvenile Delinquency. Taylor and Francis Online, p. 5.