Nature and Extent of Youth Offending

This article analyzes the case of a youth offender and discusses the nature and extent of youth offending. It highlights the factors that contribute to the behavior of juvenile offenders and emphasizes the importance of treating them differently from adult offenders. The article also discusses the Ecological Systems Theory of Urie Bronfenbrenner and its relevance in understanding the development of a child.

Running head: SOCIOLOGY
NATURE AND EXTENT OF YOUTH OFFENDING
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

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Analysis of offending committed by CW:
In this write up, the concept of youth crime is being discussed by comparing it with the
given case of CW together with its nature, extent and the outcome. A youth offender is a minor
between ages 10 years to 17 years at the time of committing the offence. Such youth is being
accused of committing the crime in the states and territories of Australia.
The connection between youth people and crime is an age old topic but it has been
regarded as one of the most sensitive interrelations in the field of criminology of all times
worldwide (White, Haines and Asquith 2017). This type of youth- crime relation shows that such
youth has a tremendous tendency to commit crime at the phase of early adolescence,
approximately at the age of 14, and such tendency maximizes at the late adolescence and
gradually falls down at around early adulthood. This topic is very controversial as well as
sensitive. The period between 14 and 20 is very sensitive and prone to criminal activities. Due to
the immaturity and delicate nature of the age, when any offence is committed by the youth, they
are treated differently under the juvenile criminal law. For children between ages 12 to 15,
maximum sentence that can be given is one year in which they are sent to reformatory schools
and taught social skills, anger management and character built ups.
In this assignment, it is observed that CW is a youth offender who at the age of 14 was
sentenced to suspended order. As per the age crime graph, this particular age of 14 years marks
the tendency to commit crimes (DeLisi 2015). At this age after he was sentenced to suspended
order, he was supposed to be sent to reformatory centre where correctional measures must be
adopted to modify and reshape his character and thoughts to make him a better person. But it was
not followed in case of CW and hence his character did not show any positive change and thus

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he was caught possessing cannabis and he was arrested. As per the graph, the tendency of
committing crimes slowly falls down in early adulthood. Thus it is expected in case of CW too.
The Government must take liability to help CW to get out of this tendency of committing crime.
While analyzing this case, it can be said that the psychological aspects like mentality,
thoughts, nature and character of the young offenders vary significantly from that of adult and
matured offenders (James et al. 2016). The juveniles must not be treated in the way adult
criminals are usually treated, penalized or punished (Richards 2011). They are to be treated with
care and maturity because of their age. At this age, they are easily carried away by any sort of
instigations. In addition to that, their upbringing plays a very step in their development and
character shaping.
Another factor that draws attention in this case was the Ecological Systems Theory of
Urie Bronfenbrenner, an American Psychologist in which he put emphasis on the significance of
interpreting the behavior and character of a child in reference to multiple environments to have
idea about his development (Bronfenbrenner 2018). This theory discusses how the inherent
characteristics of a child and his surroundings interact with each other to influence the growth
and development of the child.
In this case, CW was without any home and he did not get any government aid, plus he
was derived of the love and care of close person, not even his mother. These factors contribute a
lot in shaping the behavior and character of a child. Due to such loneliness, a child will either
become very introvert and independent or can become destructive, vulnerable young offenders.
These external factors can have positive or negative impact on the mind and character of child.
In case of CW, such external factors made negative effect on him. . In this case, CW was

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deprived of a home and he did not did not get any teachings or guidance and thus CW was
carried away and got influenced by the social evils of drinking, drug addiction and become prone
of committing crimes. The external factors play an important role in the upbringing of youths,
the embezzlement of which can have negative result on their character and future also, as seen in
the case of CW.

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References:
Bronfenbrenner, U., 2018. Urie Bronfenbrenner: Learning Context. Learning Theories for Early
Years Practice, p.66
DeLisi, M., 2015. 4 Age–Crime Curve and Criminal Career Patterns. In The development of
criminal and antisocial behavior (pp. 51-63). Springer, Cham
France, A, Botrell, D and Derrick, A 2012, 'A Theory of the Political Ecology of Youth and
Crime', in A Political Ecology of Youth Crime, Palgrave MacMillan, pp. 18 - 34
James, C., Asscher, J.J., Stams, G.J.J. and Van Der Laan, P.H., 2016. The effectiveness of
aftercare for juvenile and young adult offenders. International journal of offender therapy and
comparative criminology, 60(10), pp.1159-1184
Richards, K 2011, ‘What makes juvenile offenders different from adult offenders? Trends and
Issues in Criminal Justice, No. 409, Australian institute of Criminology, Canberra
White, R., Haines, F. and Asquith, N.L., 2017. Crime & criminology