Youth Crime: A Sociological Study on Causes and Theories

This research paper delves into the sociological aspects of youth crime, addressing its prevalence and underlying causes within contemporary society. It highlights the increasing rates of crime among young individuals and seeks to understand the reasons behind this trend, linking it to established sociological theories. The paper explores Edwin Sutherland's general theory of crime, which emphasizes low self-control, and Karl Marx's conflict theory, which focuses on economic and social inequalities as drivers of deviance and criminal behavior. It discusses how the unequal distribution of wealth and power can lead to frustration and criminal activity among youth, both from disadvantaged backgrounds and those with excessive privilege. Furthermore, the research identifies social, economic, and familial factors contributing to youth crime, including social disadvantage, lack of opportunity, and dysfunctional family structures. It concludes that socio-economic factors play a significant role in youth involvement in criminal behavior, driven by the desire for power, money, and attention, and emphasizes the importance of addressing these underlying issues to prevent youth crime.

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TITLE- RESEARCH PAPER ON A SOCIOLOGICAL TOPIC
TOPIC- YOUTH CRIME

ABSTRACT
This research paper talks about a sociological topic that discusses one of the main
problems of today’s society and people. In this paper, youth crime will be taken as an issue in
the growing society amongst the teenagers and the adult section of public. With the number
of crimes going up amongst the youth, it has been sought by the public to understand the
main reasons behind the growing crimes and connect it with the theories of sociology. Youth
plays a big role as a part of society and it is not only about the average personality of youth
members being created but also the future of a country and humanity in future generation.
INTRODUCTION
Youth crime refers to the crimes committed by the minors or the teenagers and these
are mostly dealt in juvenile courts. It has been found that, with an increase in population,
there has been poverty rise in the society and it is one of the main reasons behind the increase
in youth crimes. Sociology along with many other disciplinary subjects provides with the
main reasons behind the youth crimes ("Juvenile Deliquency: A Radical Approach", 2009).
Main causes behind the increasing crimes amongst the youth are social disenchantment,
urban decay, social alienation, low employment rate and family breakdown. It had been seen
that a huge part of the youth commit crimes at that age and also, a huge part of them grow out
of it as they grow older. As some sociologists illustrated that some levels of criminal
behaviour were ordinary. Talking about this, we remember that a new course of action came
in the UK that required treating all kinds of crimes as extreme and punishable by an official
criminal justice permit. The special effects of this law have been to tag a young criminal as an
offender in a very early age. On people, this has had a lot of effects. Amongst them, the first
one is to advance establish criminality into the perpetrator, whereas the other goal is to
persuade the young towards the futility of the crime, on condition that punishments are equal
to the crime ("Juvenile Deliquency: A Radical Approach", 2009). The aim was to discourage
against supplementary criminal acts.
THE THEORIES ON YOUTH CRIME
A general theory of crime was placed by Edwin Sutherland which stated that a crime
in an outcome of an individual’s low self control. This theory basically made a clarified view

on the behaviour of a criminal and placed an understanding on the perspective of a learned
behaviour of a criminal (Miyata, 2016).
With the perspective of a great sociologist, Karl Marx, this article focuses on the
conflict theory of criminology. The conflict theory basically focuses on the economic and
social factors as a reason to the deviance and crime. It does not look into these factors as with
a positive p=outlook, but, as negative functions present in the society. It refers to the
inequality present in the system of society which leads to criminal activities.
Conflict theory challenges the control theory and social disorganisation theory in
many ways and often argues that these two theories avoid the socioeconomic and racial issues
and makes the trends of society as over simple rules and regulations. It also tries to connect
the race and wealth issue with the theory of criminology. Conflict theory not only adds a
perspective to the criminal behaviour but also tends to change the developmental outlook
with the focus on unequal behaviour amongst the people in society (Miyata, 2016).
THE UNEQUAL SYSTEM – BY KARL MARX
Karl Marx was a German philosopher, a social scientist and an economist who stated
the conflict theory and has worked in developing a perspective on the following issue. He
describes the people who are wealthy and creating business as the bourgeois class whereas
the workers working under these men as the proletariats (Muncie, 2015). The immense power
in the hands of the wealthy creates a sense of inequality amongst the people of a society and
this was related to the crimes and deviance amongst the youth section of the society.
THE CONFLICT THEORY AND YOUTH CRIME
With a growth in wealth and power in the hands of wealthy people, there becomes a
shortage of basic necessities in the hands of people working hard for the fulfilment of their
basic needs. This often leads to anger, dissatisfaction in the minds of youth and the growing
need of wealth and food leads them to the way of criminalisation. Youth criminals can be of
two types- first, the ones who are short of wealth and power and other are the ones who are
blessed with extravagant power and money (Muncie, 2015).
The first ones often have to deal with difficult situations to prove their worth in
society or earn money to fulfil their food, living and clothing needs and this leads them to

choose the bad activities, like burglary, theft, murder, street fights etc. they are backed with
the frustration of poverty and societal pressure. Society plays an important role in the making
of criminals in our society (Gallo, 2012). The unjustified behaviour and inequality in their
living motivates them to move to negative activities. Youth grows from children and children
who are not given good schooling in their childhood and not enough praise and
thoughtfulness from their parents and a disturbed childhood often disturbs the psychological
functioning of a child.
The second ones are the people who are offered unlimited power and wealth to
support their criminal acts and turn them into casual deeds amongst the wealthy class. Their
power often saves them from awful punishments and the bureaucracy backs their negative
deeds and makes them either invisible in the society or turns them into positive through law
and politics. The conflict theory mentions this side of the youth criminology.
CAUSES OF YOUTH CRIME
The main causes behind the increase in the youth crime are-
1) Social causes
2) Economic causes
3) Family structures
The social causes mirrors communities and citizens of how people set their priorities and
what they focus on. This factor is mostly studied in the light of different scenarios and
different environments (Gallo, 2012). The core reasons that form in the social structure
behind youth crime-
a) No share in power
b) Inaccessibility to various services
c) Lack of communal leadership
d) Lack of support to the members of family

e) Inequality amongst people of society
f) Low value of children in society
The social structure can further be divided into the community environment and school
environment. Schools are a major part of child’s life and they play a big role in modelling the
child and shaping the minds of students. Hence, the environment in the school level is very
much important to b studied when we come across youth crime issues (Barlow & Decker,
2010).
A school might help in judging the behaviour of children studying there and also check their
family background. A child’s performance in the school is a very important parameter to
check upon him/her. Lack of commitment towards the school activities might show that the
student’s focus is deviated and the concerned parties need to check on them. Community
often tends to neglect the youth’s presence in the society and there is a lack of cohesion
amongst the community people which often leads to criminal activities.
Economic conditions also play an important role behind the criminal behaviour of
youth. Inequality and unemployment are one of the main causes in the economic factors, lack
of legal opportunities can lead the young generation to find other ways of earning money and
that might include illegal criminal behaviour of people. Inequality and financial crisis in
families are also a major cause behind the crimes (Barlow & Decker, 2010). Unfair means of
earning can also be taken by the youth when they face political insecurity and do not trust the
government for their duties (Gallo, 2012). Weak laws in the state, ease in the availability of
drugs, high population rate and corruption in the society also lead to the rise in criminal
behaviour amongst people.
Family structures where the parents are already involved in crimes, there is
continuous conflict in family, children are neglected and treated harshly, lack of supervision,
isolated lifestyles, breakup in family, family violence and conflict in the family creates a
situation of indiscipline amongst the members and disturbed mind of a child tries to find out
ways of escape, leading to criminal activities.
ROLE OF SOCIAL DISADVANTAGE IN YOUTH CRIME

Social disadvantage is theory is a mix of economics and social causes that are
involved in the evolution of crime. Criminal activities are mostly considered as an outcome
of poverty but it has been found that socio economic causes play a bigger role in criminal
behaviour (Barlow & Decker, 2010). Statistical data shows that most of the offenders might
grow out from backgrounds but that does not mean most of the people from disadvantaged
backgrounds are involved in criminal activities.
Social disadvantage can be proven as the main cause behind the criminal behaviour
can be easily found by applying the situational action theory which is also referred to SAT
(Gallo, 2012). This theory breaks the law into small code of conducts and analyse the moral
outlook of the crime. Actions performed by a criminal are then judged to be right and wrong
based on certain circumstances. This helps the sociologists to understand the behavioural
actions of a youth who is involved in criminal activities.
Studies have shown that youth crime has been an ultimate outcome of a choice
perception process and this process guided and initiated by the environment- person
interaction. This interaction of humans with specific small social settings in a fixed kind of
environment creates specific outcomes which might turn out to be negative or positive. And
the people involved in the process also depend on their historical and social background
(Waltermaurer & Akers, 2013).
Youth refers to the humans who are not yet turned to mature adults and are vulnerable
to the social settings of the society. In the age of shaping themselves and their minds, some
children are attracted towards the negative means of earning and living because of their social
and situational conditions ("Juvenile Deliquency: A Radical Approach", 2009). Vulnerable
minds are the easiest structures which can be moulded in whatever way it is kept into. People
who live in poverty and face the daily struggles of life tend to attract criminal behaviour in
their personality and with the lack of knowledge; they choose the easiest means of proving
themselves that is, involving themselves in crime. Young people need attention, be it
psychologically or biologically and if they are not offered the same from the people around
them or their families, it makes them attention seekers and this at times makes them choose
the negative means for the same.
CONCLUSION

With a detailed study on the concept of youth crime and its causes, we come to the
conclusion that socio economic factors are a major cause for the youth to be involved in the
criminal behaviour. Young people are venerable and this usually attracts them towards the
easy access of power, money and attention. Society plays an important part in the evolution
of a youth as an offender (Waltermaurer & Akers, 2013). Attention seeking is a common
psychological behaviour of children but if parents, school staff or the society people leave
their achievements or activities unnoticed them it might trigger a sense of discomfort in their
minds and can lead to youth being involved in crimes. With the competition moving to cut
throat level, everybody wants to have a good life with the fulfilment of basic amenities but
today’s world marks the rich being the richest and the poor getting poorer which implicates
that the young strata of the poor section is left unsatisfied with the employment, earning and
the power in his hands. This leads him on to move to other aspects of earning the same,
which unknowingly, sometimes turn negative ("Juvenile Deliquency: A Radical Approach",
2009). An increase in the youth’s needs of drugs and social show off has brought in the
crimes going up more and more each day.

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