Paying reference to both psychological and sociological theo

There have been many reasons proposed to explain youth crime. Poverty, unemployment, inequality and boredom, as well as factors such as single parent families, child abuse, broken homes and also media violence, drugs and moral decline have all been used to attempt to explain the problem. This essay will look at both sociological and non-sociological theories that attempt to explain using many of the proposed reasons as to why young people offend.

Most biological explanations of deviance argue that particular individuals are more prone to deviance than others because of their genetic make up. They say that genetically inherited characteristics either directly cause or predispose them towards deviance. The theories show similarities to commonsense notions that people whose eyes are close together, or whose eyebrows meet cannot be trusted.

Cesare Lombroso was the first writer to link crime to human biology. In his book L’Umo Delinquente (18

None of these theories has been able to convincingly demonstrate that there is a casual relationship between biology and crime.

The problem with psychological and biological theories is that they neglect social and cultural factors in the explanation of crime. For example Eysenk may have mistaken differences in values for personality types, his description of extrovert characteristics is very similar to the ‘subterranean values’, which, according to Matza, direct delinquent behaviour.

During 1989-93 Dr. Sullivan found some interesting points about genetics and crime. While working for the Bush administration’s secretary of health and human services he was appalled by the epidemic of violent crimes he saw taking place in American cities. According to Dr. Sullivan, “more than 26,000 Americans were murdered and six million violent crimes were committed with young men and minorities falling victim most frequently”.

Durkheim in his discussion of crime in ‘The Rules of Sociological Method’ argues that crime is an inevitable and normal aspect of social life, that it is present in all types of society but that crime rates are higher in advanced and more industrial societies. He quotes crime is “an integral part of all healthy societies”. Meaning that crime is inevitable because not every person in one society can be equally committed to the shared values and moral beliefs, instead because individuals are exposed to different influences and situations and are not alike then not everyone is equally reluctant to break the law.

Cohen (1955) and his work of delinquent subcultures is a modification and development of Merton’s position. He states that gang delinquency was a way of life for the young in certain inner city areas, it took various forms but was often characterised by not so much by a desire for money success but as one of immediate gratification, more hedonistic. The destructive behaviour of many gang members indicated a rejection of the norms and values of the wider society.

Some topics in this essay:
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