Sociology Delinquency essays

Sociology Delinquency essays 1) Delinquency refers to the undesirable, anti-social behavior of young people. It may include some crime, but it also covers deviant behavior that is not criminal, such as defying authority, truanting from school and so on. Delinquent behavior can come in many forms, staying out late, swearing, outrageous dress or tattoos and body piercing may all be considered as delinquent behavior depending on the society and household. When trying to define delinquency or an action as a delinquent one, one must bear in mind that the term is vague, and covers a wide spectrum. Delinquency can also be juvenile; however, use of the word juvenile is just as vague as use of the word as what age one may consider as juvenile may vary from person to person. For example, even though someone at the age of 14 may be considered by juvenile by some, he may still be charged criminally. Delinquency has come in many shapes and forms as time went on. In the 1840s the gangs of street Arabs seemed to be the main ca use, in the 1890s, it was hooligans and in the second half of the twentieth century it was the Teddy Boys, skinheads, punks, Goths and so on. There may be many causes of delinquency, but the main causes of it are family problems such as divorce, failure at school, and use of alcohol and drugs. 2) Sociologist Albert Cohen made the suggestion that delinquency was caused by something called status frustration which was felt by boys who were failing at school. The two main values of the anti-school subculture that was created by status frustration were the need to have the approval of their peers and a feeling of success they could not attain at school where they had already been labeled as failures. Because of these values, the types of behavior that this anti-school subculture led to are rudeness, disobedience, and breaking the rules. They could wi ...