Juvenile Delinquency: Why Do Youths Commit Crime

(Paperback)

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Juvenile Delinquency: Why Do Youths Commit Crime focuses on why juveniles commit crime. It includes discussions on what constitutes criminal behavior by juveniles, the general theories on delinquency, and discussions that tie the theories with real life situations. The book opens the students eyes to the fascinating concepts involving juvenile delinquency, and is designed to provide a complete study of the behavior, beliefs, conditions, and reactions to deviance by young offenders.



Throughout Cliff Roberson and Elena Azaola gives students a detailed discussion of and what constitutes juvenile delinquency to allow for better understanding of this phenomenon. In each of the chapters, the authors encourage the student to develop new insights on criminal behavior of juveniles. The book makes the subject come alive by the generous use of down to earth examples of the issues involved in the area. While each chapter builds on the previous chapters, the book is written in a manner to reduce the necessity of memorization by students. Each chapter begins with chapter objectives that highlights key points for the student and brief chapter outlines. Each chapter closes with a practicum, chapter summary, and discussion and review questions which enhance student learning. The book closes with a glossary where student may refer to they key terms and words throughout the text.

Reviews

Adolescents commit a large proportion of crimes in the US and other nations. To investigate this, Roberson and Azaola furnish a comprehensive treatment of juvenile involvement in delinquent behaviors and how society responds to it. They begin by describing the uneven definitions of adolescence, followed by an overview of types of juvenile misconduct, ways researchers measure misconduct, and factors that influence these types of behavior. In chapters on delinquency theories, the authors provide a thorough overview of various explanations for juvenile misconduct, including those that address rational, biological, psychological, social structural, social process, and institutional factors. Although the books title suggests that these explanations are its key focus, the authors also discuss the juvenile justice system, including the major goals of and justification for a separate system for young people and how this involves policing, courts, corrections, and specialized institutions, such as training schools and group homes. In many ways, this is a standard textbook on juvenile delinquency, but one advantage is the authors inclusion of examples from Mexico, Canada, and elsewhere. The final chapter illustrates this benefit by furnishing a brief comparative review of the juvenile justice systems in several nations. Recommended. All undergraduates. * Choice Reviews *

Author Bio

Cliff Roberson is former managing editor in chief of the journal Police Practice & Research, an international journal that is distributed in over 50 countries. In addition, he is an Emeritus Professor at Washburn University and retired Professor of Criminology at California State University, Fresno.


Elena Azaola, PhD, is a professor at the Center for Advanced Studies and Research in social anthropology located in Mexico City. She has published more than 150 journal articles and numerous books on human behavior, crime, and human rights. Presently Azaola is working on a United Nations funded research on developing Standards for Mexican Prisons.