Because young people spend a great amount of their time with peers, one is likely to correlate peer influence and criminal behavior. Micheal Shader investigates the relationship between delinquent behavior and delinquent peer groups in “Risk Factors for Delinquency: An Overview.” He maintains that several studies support the idea that delinquent peer groups pose a greater risk for delinquent behavior (Shader). Both Shader and colleagues agree that delinquent peer groups promote an individual to portray antisocial behavior (Shader). On the other hand, positive peer groups are equally successful in discouraging delinquent acts (Shader).

The amount of parental involvement is thought to directly affect the amount

The ways in which a child is treated and disciplined by parents has a direct effect on an individual’s behavior patterns. Not surprisingly, most people ponder the ways in which a child has been reared when examining the causes of criminal behavior. Robert Colvin considers examples of different types of family treatment and a child’s reaction to that specific type of treatment in Crime and Criminals.

Furthermore, it is a well-known fact that many criminals come from low-income families; leading one to believe that poverty is a distinct influence of criminal behavior. This idea can be traced through modern history, as Douglas Massy does in his essay found in Crime and Criminals. He states that, “We have entered a new age of inequality in which class lines will grow more rigid as they are amplified and reinforced by a process of geographical concentration (32).”

The National Research Council and the Institute of Medicine assert that specific school policies, such as suspension and expulsion, increase delinquent behavior, which is the opposite of their purpose (Shader). Yet, these forms of discipline have been in place for decades and continue to be standard procedure. In order to develop methods to decrease delinquent behavior the school systems must take a fraction of the responsibility and experiment with new methods of discipline.

of influence a peer group has on a young person (Shader). Lack of parental involvement, coupled with a delinquent peer group, produces doubly negative effects, and vice-versa (Shader). The importance of family influences in criminal behavior can therefore not be ignored.

Some topics in this essay:
Institute Medicine, Industrial Revolution, Criminology Bandura, Patterson’s Coercion, Kansas City, Influences Crime, Coles Examining, Shader Lack, Shader Shader, Clair McCaskill, criminal behavior, justice system, criminal justice system, criminal justice, delinquent peer, delinquent behavior, crime rates, risk factors, risk factors crime, coercion negative, peers poverty, aspects accepted risk, negative peers, family issues exposure, accepted risk factors,