Juvenile Delinquency Ch. 4, 5, 6, 7

Front 1

Culture of poverty

Back 1

View that lower-class people form a separate culture with their own values and norms, which are sometimes in conflict with conventional society.

Front 2

Underclass

Back 2

Group of urban poor whose members have little chance of upward mobility or improvement.

Front 3

Truly disadvantaged

Back 3

According to William Julius Wilson, those people who are left out of the economic mainstream and reduced to living in the most deteriorated inner-city areas.

Front 4

Social structure theories

Back 4

These theories tie delinquency rate to both socioeconomic structural conditions and cultural values.

Front 5

Social disorganization

Back 5

Neighborhood or area marked by culture conflict, lack of cohesiveness, a transient population, and insufficient social organizations; these problems are reflected in the problems at schools in these areas.

Front 6

Transitional neighborhood

Back 6

Area undergoing a shift in population and structure, usually from middle-class residential to lower-class mixed use.

Front 7

Cultural Transmission

Back 7

The process of passing on deviant traditions and delinquent values from one from one generation to the next.

Front 8

Social control

Back 8

Ability of social institutions to influence human behavior; the justice system is the primary agency of formal social control.

Front 9

Relative deprivation

Back 9

Condition that exists when people of wealth and poverty live in close proximity to one another; the relatively deprived are apt to have feelings of anger and hostility, which may produce criminal behavior.

Front 10

Gentrified

Back 10

The process of transforming a lower-class area into a middle-class enclave through property rehabilitation.

Front 11

Collective efficacy

Back 11

A process in which mutual trust and a willingness to intervene in the supervision of children and help maintain public order creates a sense of well being in a neighborhood and helps control anti-social activities

Front 12

Strain

Back 12

A condition caused by the failure to achieve one's social goals.

Front 13

Anomie

Back 13

Normlessness produced by rapidly shifting moral values; according to Merton, anomie occurs when personal goals cannot be achieved using available means.

Front 14

General strain theory

Back 14

Links delinquency to the strain of being locked out of the economic mainstream, which creates the anger and frustration that lead to delinquent acts

Front 15

Negative affective states

Back 15

Anger, depression, disappointment, fear, and other adverse emotions that derive from strain.

Front 16

Cultural deviance theory

Back 16

Links delinquent acts to the formation of independent subcultures with a unique set of values that clash with the mainstream culture

Front 17

Culture conflict

Back 17

When the values of a subculture clash with those of the dominant culture.

Front 18

Socialization

Back 18

The process of learning the values and norms of the society or the subculture to which the individual belongs.

Front 19

Parental efficacy

Back 19

Parents are said to have parental efficacy when they are supportive and effectively control their children in a noncoercive fashion.

Front 20

Social learning theories

Back 20

Posit that delinquency is learned through close relationships with others; assert that children are born “good” and learn to be “bad” from others.

Front 21

Differential association theory

Back 21

Asserts that criminal behavior is learned primarily in
interpersonal groups and that youths will become delinquent if definitions they learn in those groups that are favorable to violating the law exceed definitions favorable to obeying the law.

Front 22

Social control theories

Back 22

Posit that delinquency results from a weakened commitment to the major social institutions (family, peers, and school); lack of such commitment allows youths to exercise antisocial behavioral choices.

Front 23

Social bond

Back 23

Ties a person to the institutions and processes of society; elements of the bond include attachment, commitment, involvement, and belief.

Front 24

Stigmatized

Back 24

People who have been negatively labeled because of their participation, or alleged participation, in deviant or outlawed behaviors.

Front 25

Labeling theory

Back 25

Posits that society creates deviance through a system of social control agencies that designate (or label) certain individuals as delinquent, thereby stigmatizing them and encouraging them to accept this negative personal identity.

Front 26

Self-labeling

Back 26

The process by which a person who has been negatively labeled accepts the label as a personal role or identity.

Front 27

Self-fulfilling prophecy

Back 27

Deviant behavior patterns that are a response to an earlier labeling experience; youths act out these social roles even if they were falsely bestowed.

Front 28

Critical theories

Back 28

The view that inter-group conflict, borne out of the unequal distribution of wealth and power, is the root cause of delinquency.

Front 29

Deinstitutionalization

Back 29

Removing juveniles from adult jails and placing them in community-based programs to avoid the stigma attached to these facilities.

Front 30

Restorative justice

Back 30

Non-punitive strategies for dealing with juvenile offenders that make the justice system a healing process rather than a punishment process.

Front 31

Developmental theory

Back 31

The view that criminality is a dynamic process, influenced by social experiences as well as individual characteristics.

Front 32

Life course theory

Back 32

A developmental theory that focuses on changes in behavior as people travel along the path of life and how these changes affect crime and delinquency.

Front 33

Latent trait theory

Back 33

The view that delinquent behavior is controlled by a “master trait,” present at birth or soon after, that remains stable and unchanging throughout a lifetime.

Front 34

Early onset

Back 34

The view that kids who begin engaging in antisocial behaviors at a very early age are the ones most at risk for a delinquency career

Front 35

Adolescent-limited

Back 35

Offenders who follow the most common delinquent trajectory, in which antisocial behavior peaks in adolescence and then diminishes.

Front 36

Life course persister offender

Back 36

One of the small groups of offenders whose delinquent career continues well into adulthood.

Front 37

Pseudomaturity

Back 37

Characteristic of life course persister offenders, who tend to engage is early sexuality and drug use.

Front 38

Problem behavior syndrome (PBS)

Back 38

A cluster of antisocial behaviors that may include family dysfunction, substance abuse, smoking, precocious sexuality and early pregnancy, educational underachievement, suicide attempts, sensation seeking, and unemployment, as well as delinquency.

Front 39

Authority conflict pathway

Back 39

Pathway to delinquent deviance that begins at an early age with stubborn behavior and leads to defiance and then to authority avoidance.
Covert

Front 40

Covert pathway

Back 40

Pathway to a delinquent career that begins with minor underhanded behavior, leads to property damage, and eventually escalates to more serious forms of theft and fraud.

Front 41

Overt pathway

Back 41

Pathway to a delinquent career that begins with minor aggression, leads to physical fighting, and eventually escalates to violent delinquency.

Front 42

Social development model (SDM)

Back 42

A developmental theory that attributes delinquent behavior patterns to childhood socialization and pro- or antisocial attachments over the life course.

Front 43

Interactional theory

Back 43

A developmental theory that attributes delinquent trajectories to mutual reinforcement between delinquents and significant others over the life course—family in early adolescence, school and friends in mid-adolescence, and social peers and one’s own nuclear family in adulthood.

Front 44

Age-graded theory

Back 44

Asserts that there are important events or turning points in a delinquent career that either help kids knife off from a life of crime, or conversely, solidify and amplify their criminality.

Front 45

Turning points

Back 45

Critical life events, such as career and marriage, which may enable adult offenders to desist from delinquency

Front 46

Social capital

Back 46

Positive relations with individuals and institutions, as in a successful marriage or a successful career, that support conventional behavior and inhibit deviant behavior.

Front 47

Latent trait

Back 47

A stable feature, characteristic, property, or condition, such as defective intelligence or impulsive personality that makes some people delinquency-prone over the life course.

Front 48

General theory of crime (GTC)

Back 48

A developmental theory that modifies social control theory by integrating concepts from biosocial, psychological, routine activities, and rational choice theories.

Front 49

Self-control

Back 49

Refers to a person’s ability to exercise restraint and control over his or her feelings, emotions, reactions, and behaviors.

Front 50

Impulsive

Back 50

Lacking in thought or deliberation in decision making. An impulsive person lacks close attention to details, has organizational problems, and is distracted and forgetful.

Front 51

Masculinity hypothesis

Back 51

View that the few “true” female delinquents were sexual oddities whose criminal activity was a function of having masculine traits and characteristics.

Front 52

Gender-schema theory

Back 52

A theory of development that holds that children internalize gender scripts that reflect the gender-related social practices of the culture. Once internalized, these gender scripts predispose the kids to construct a self-identity that is consistent with them.

Front 53

Chivalry (or paternalistism) hypothesis

Back 53

The view that low female crime and delinquency rates are a reflection of the leniency with which police treat female offenders.

Front 54

Precocious sexuality

Back 54

Sexual experimentation in early adolescence.

Front 55

Liberal feminism

Back 55

Asserts that females are less delinquent than males because their social roles provide them with fewer opportunities to commit crimes; as the roles of girls and women become more similar to those of boys and men, so too will their crime patterns.

Front 56

Critical feminists

Back 56

Hold that gender inequality stems from the unequal power of men and women and the subsequent exploitation of women by men; the cause of female delinquency originates with the onset of male supremacy and the efforts of males to control females’ sexuality.

Front 57

Power-control theory

Back 57

Holds that gender differences in the delinquency rate are a function of class differences and economic conditions that influence the structure of family life.

Front 58

Egalitarian families

Back 58

Husband and wife share power at home; daughters gain a kind of freedom similar to that of sons, their law-violating behaviors mirror those of their brothers.

Front 59

Nuclear family

Back 59

A family unit composed of parents and their children; this smaller family structure is subject to great stress due to the intense, close contact between parents and children.

Front 60

Broken home

Back 60

A home in which one or both parents is absent due to divorce or separation; children in such an environment may be prone to antisocial behavior

Front 61

Blended families

Back 61

Nuclear families that are the product of divorce and remarriage, blending one parent from each of two families and their combined children into one family unit.

Front 62

Intra-family violence

Back 62

An environment of discord and conflict within the family; children who grow up in dysfunctional homes often exhibit delinquent behaviors, having learned at a young age that aggression pays off.

Front 63

Parental efficacy

Back 63

Families in which parents are able to integrate their children into the household unit while at the same time helping assert their individuality and regulate their own behavior.

Front 64

Resource dilution

Back 64

A condition that occurs when parents have such large families that their resources, such as time and money, are spread too thin, causing lack of familial support and control.

Front 65

Battered child syndrome

Back 65

Non-accidental physical injury of children by their parents or guardians.

Front 66

Child abuse

Back 66

Any physical, emotional, or sexual trauma to a child, including neglecting to give proper care and attention, for which no reasonable explanation can be found.

Front 67

Neglect

Back 67

Passive neglect by a parent or guardian, depriving children of food, shelter, health care, and love.

Front 68

Abandonment

Back 68

Parents physically leave their children with the intention of completely severing the parent-child relationship.

Front 69

Familicide

Back 69

Mass murders in which a spouse and one or more children are slain.

Front 70

Advisement hearing

Back 70

A preliminary protective or temporary custody hearing in which the court will review the facts and determine whether removal of the child is justified and notify parents of the charges against them.

Front 71

Pretrial conference

Back 71

The attorney for the social services agency presents an overview of the case, and a plea bargain or negotiated settlement can be agreed to in a consent decree.

Front 72

Disposition hearing

Back 72

The social service agency presents its case plan and recommendations for care of the child and treatment of the parents, including incarceration and counseling or other treatment.

Front 73

Balancing-of-the-interests approach

Back 73

Efforts of the courts to balance the parents’ natural right to raise a child with the child’s right to grow into adulthood free from physical abuse or emotional harm.

Front 74

Review hearings

Back 74

Periodic meetings to determine whether the conditions of the case plan for an abused child are being met by the parents or guardians of the child.

Front 75

Hearsay

Back 75

Out-of-court statements made by one person and recounted in court by another; such statements are generally not allowed as evidence except in child abuse cases wherein a child’s statements to social workers, teachers, or police may be admissible.

Front 76

Cycle of violence

Back 76

Reflects the fact that the victims of childhood violence are significantly more likely to become violent adults than the non-abused.