Mary Bell is one of the well-known young killers. She was accused of the death of Brian Howe and Martin Brown. The details of the murders were gruesome, including the strangulation of one of the victims who was a three-year-old boy. Mary's family background is said to be responsible for her delinquent behaviors. Firstly, she thought that Bill Bell was her biological father (Calin, 2011). Billy was a criminal arrested for armed robbery and her biological father was unknown to her. Secondly, Mary claimed that her mother, who was a prostitute, had forced her to engage in sexual acts with her clients since she was four years. After her conviction, Mary was held in an all-boys facility since she was considered too dangerous to be held in an institution with other troubled children or to be placed in a mental facility. Also, during her trial, her mother sold her story to the press multiple times. Mary's background is said to have greatly contributed to her behaviors.
Risk factors can be defined as the characteristics or variables that when present are likely to make an individual develop a certain character or disorder. The presence of actors increases creases the probability of developing offensive behaviors. Different researchers classify risk factors in different ways. The factors likely to influence juvenile delinquency can be classified as social, individual, and community. The factors include a number of subcategories. Social factors include a person's family structure and peer influences (Shader, 2001). A person exposed to family structures with characteristics of poor parenting skills, child maltreatment, home discord, and antisocial parents are likely to be linked to juvenile delinquency. Peer influences include relationships with a delinquent peer group. Factors like approval for delinquent behavior among peers and peer pressure to participate in the criminal activities is likely to lead to an individual developing the delinquent behavior. Community factors include school policies and a person's behavior. Research by the National Research Council and the Institute of Medicine on school policies shows that policies like suspension, expulsion, and detention can have negative consequences on at-risk youths. Such policies are said to mostly affect minority youths (Shader, 2001). For instance, suspension and expulsion may not reduce undesirable behavior and are more likely to increase delinquent behavior.
On the other hand, people residing in adverse neighborhoods are more exposed to criminal activities. In such neighborhoods, children are exposed to criminal activities and most are involved directly or indirectly. Shader explains that individual factors contributing to juvenile delinquency include prenatal issues, mental, psychological and behavioral characteristics (2001). Prenatal and perinatal issues mostly contribute to the birth of babies with physical defects. Such people may grow up to develop delinquent behaviors to compensate for their defects. Similarly, issues of mental and psychological problems are linked to the development of delinquent behaviors. Research shows that children with low performance, low commitment in school, and aspirations due to these characteristics are likely to cause delinquent behavior.
A number of attempts are made to understand the development of juvenile delinquency in people. The social learning theory claims that people learn to engage in crime through exposure and association. Associations of family and peer groups can have a great impact on what juveniles learn. Hanging out with delinquent peers is one of the best ways to predict juvenile delinquency (Ministry of Children and Youth Services, 2013). The social learning theory has three mechanisms of how people learn to participate in crime. They include beliefs, differential reinforcement, and modeling. Differential reinforcement is where people are taught to engage in crime through punishments and reinforcements. It is likely to occur when an individual is frequently or infrequently punished, receives a lot of reinforcement like social approval, and where crime is reinforced more than other behaviors. The theory claims that some people grow up in environments where crime is likely to be reinforced. Beliefs are another contribution that can favor crime. Just like people reinforce crime, others are taught beliefs that may lead them to engage in crime. People are generally taught that crime is right or wrong and they eventually internalize these teachings. It is common in the society for some less serious crimes like trespassing and robbery to receive approval. Development of behavior is not only because of beliefs and reinforcements a person receives but also the behavior of people around them. Individuals are likely to imitate the behavior of others, especially when they like or admire them. Social learning theory is considered to be one of the best explanations of crime today (Ministry of Children and Youth Services, 2013).
Erik Erikson developed a theory that breaks down a person's life into eight psychosocial phases. The phases were formulated through psychotherapy experience with both children and adolescents. The first stage is between infancy and one or two years. During this period, if a child is well nurtured, they are likely to develop trust and basic optimism while if not they become insecure and mistrustful. The autonomy stage follows between the periods of two years to four years. Well-raised children emerge from the stage with a sense of pride and control. The third stage is for children in preschool where they broaden their imaginations through active play. Here, they learn to cooperate and follow others. The fourth stage is when people are in junior school and the success of this period highly depends on how they resolved earlier psychosocial issues (Children Development Institute, 2016). Children who are trusting and have an optimistic view on life are likely to be more industrious compared to others who are likely to be inferior during this period. In the fifth stage, when individuals are adolescents, they are likely to experiment more. In this stage, they may develop new behaviors depending on the success of the previous stages. Individuals with a sense of self-certainty are less likely to develop negative characters like juvenile delinquency. In the sixth stage, individuals begin to experience intimacy from friendships and other relationships. Similarly, in the seventh stage, people are more focused on establishing and maintaining genuine relationships. The success of the last stage is dependent on other earlier phases. During this stage, individuals with a well-developed concept of realism and optimism are likely to proceed to have well-defined roles in life.
The intervention practices used to prevent juvenile delinquency are highly dependent on the belief of how these behaviors are developed. According to the social learning theory, intervention practices can include reducing incentives for crime and creating others for better behaviors. Youths can unlearn the delinquent behaviors and adapt new patterns that come with new experiences and rewards.
References
Calin, M. (2011). Top 10 young killers. Retrieved from http://listverse.com/2011/05/14/top-10-young-killers/
Child Development Institute. (2015). Stages of Social-Emotional Development – Erik Erikson. Retrieved from http://childdevelopmentinfo.com/child-development/erickson/
Ministry of Children and Youth Services. (2013). Chapter 8: Review of the Roots of Youth Violence: Literature Reviews (vol. 5). Retrieved from http://www.children.gov.on.ca/htdocs/English/topics/youthandthelaw/roots/volume5/chapter08_social_learning.aspx
Shader, M. (2001). Risk factors for delinquency: An overview. US Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Retrieved From https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/ojjdp/frd030127.pdf
