Sociological Theory Of Juvenile Delinquency

Merriam-Webster’s dictionary defines sociology as, “the science of society, social institutions, and social relationships; specifically: the systematic study of the development, structure, interaction, and collective behavior of organized groups of human beings.” What it basically boils down to in my opinion are the norms and values of any given society. Norms in sociology are considered to be the behaviors that are accepted by the greater society and something that is usual, typical, or standard within your immediate culture. Values are a person’s principles or standards of behaviors. How one judges what’s important in life based on their culture and society. This tells people how to act, when to act, and why to act, any violation of these “society set” norms is called deviant behavior. When you deviate from the norm you are considered weird or not normal. …show more content…
When you compare the delinquency crime rates today against what they were back in the early 90’s, the percentage is lower but the overall numbers are still high. There are two categories of sociological theories of delinquency: social strain and cultural transmission. These theories look beyond the individual in seeking causal explanations and place juveniles and their behavior in a larger sociological context for understanding.
According to Robert Agnew, he views social strain as a direct result from crime and delinquency which is related to stress. Agnew (1992, 2001) identifies three major sources of stress that lead to social strain:
1. There is a distinct link between the means and the goals or between expectations and actual