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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
This is a 7 page paper discussing a psychological and a sociological approach to juvenile delinquency. The behavioral psychological theory of juvenile delinquency in accordance with the theories of B.F. Skinner finds that juvenile delinquency is largely a response to the stimuli presented to the individual within his environment. In other words, children learn aggressive behavior and this aggressive behavior may be reinforced in their environment until that environment changed. The functional sociological approach as used by Emile Durkheim shows that although criminal elements will always appear in society as a result of the conditions of a growing and changing society, overall juvenile delinquency is a reaction from how society has treated that individual in that the delinquent youth has not become part of a social group and reacts in an anti-social way. Despite the slight differences in these approaches, both the psychological and sociological theories support the idea that youths are largely not responsible for their own actions but these actions are largely a result of a reaction or a response to their environment.
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Page Count:
7 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_TJpsyso1.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
the stimuli presented to the individual within his environment. In other words, children learn aggressive behavior and this aggressive behavior may be reinforced in their environment until that environment changed.
The functional sociological approach as used by Emile Durkheim shows that although criminal elements will always appear in society as a result of the conditions of a growing and changing
society, overall juvenile delinquency is a reaction from how society has treated that individual in that the delinquent youth has not become part of a social group and reacts in
an anti-social way. Despite the slight differences in these approaches, both the psychological and sociological theories support the idea that youths are largely not responsible for their own actions but
these actions are largely a result of a reaction or a response to their environment. B.F. Skinner promoted the psychological theory of behaviorism
and felt that in societies "we shall not solve the problems of alcoholism and juvenile delinquency by increase a sense of responsibility. It is the environment which is responsible for
the objectionable behavior, and it is the environment, not some attribute of the individual, which must be changed" (Zimmer, 2002). Emile Durkheim, a scientist known for his sociological theories such
as functionalism also felt that "criminality is not a quality inherent in an act or a person but rather a phenomenon defined by a social reaction" (Hyden, 1993). Although the
two theories sound somewhat the same, the approaches that the behaviorists and psychologists take to criminality and juvenile delinquency and those of the sociologists are somewhat different. The behaviorist theory
is based on the idea that organisms, including humans, develop their behaviors based on the relationships between inputs and outputs, or in scientific terms between stimuli and responses. In this
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