Juvenile delinquency

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This editable Main Article is under development and subject to a disclaimer.

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In sociology, juvenile delinquency is defined as the "antisocial acts of children or persons under age which are illegal or lawfully interpreted as constituting delinquency."[1]

## Causes[edit]

One theory is "children differ...in key temperamental and cognitive elements that make up antisocial propensity. According to these typologies difficult children negatively affect their parents’ disciplinary strategies, resulting in harsher and inconsistent punishments and parents being less involved in the socialization process. These negative child–parent transactions set a child off on a delinquent path that starts in the early teens, entails many delinquent acts and persists far into adulthood."[2] This leads parenting style to deteriorate from 'authoritative' (high support and control) to 'neglectful' (low support and control).[2]

Various possible genetic determinants of temperament such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder have been described.[3][4][5]

Exposure to violence via media may promote violence.[6]

## Prognosis[edit]

Adolescents with externalizing behavior are at increased risk of social problems as a adult.[7]

## References[edit]

1. ↑ Anonymous (2025), Juvenile delinquency (English). Medical Subject Headings. U.S. National Library of Medicine.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Hoeve M, Blokland A, Dubas JS, Loeber R, Gerris JR, van der Laan PH (February 2008). "Trajectories of delinquency and parenting styles". J Abnorm Child Psychol 36 (2): 223–35. DOI:10.1007/s10802-007-9172-x. PMID 17786548. PMC 2206247. Research Blogging.
3. ↑ Hyperactivity of Childhood. (Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man, OMIM®. Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD. MIM Number: 143465. World Wide Web URL: http://omim.org/.)
4. ↑ Novelty Seeking Personality Trait. (Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man, OMIM®. Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD. MIM Number: 601696. World Wide Web URL: http://omim.org/.)
5. ↑ Dopamine Receptor D4. (Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man, OMIM®. Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD. MIM Number: 126452. World Wide Web URL: http://omim.org/.)
6. ↑ Strasburger, Victor C. (2009-06-03). "Media and Children: What Needs to Happen Now?". JAMA 301 (21): 2265-2266. DOI:10.1001/jama.2009.572. Retrieved on 2009-06-02. Research Blogging.
7. ↑ Colman I, Murray J, Abbott RA, et al (2009). "Outcomes of conduct problems in adolescence: 40 year follow-up of national cohort". BMJ 338: a2981. PMID 19131382. PMC 2615547. [e]