Week #3: Reading - Burnfield Flashcards
Why are young people disproportionately involved in crime?
As individuals mature, they assumer more responsible roles (parent, employee), that they do not want to risk, they have a stake in conformity
Legal costs of offending increase with the transition from adolescence to adulthood
Opportunities to engage in more mischievous forms of offending decrease with age
- Less time to stir up trouble
Criminal activities are less likely to be rewarded or reinforced in adulthood
Greater physical abilities to commit crimes in youth
Why are males disproportionately invovled in crime?
Traditional theories of crime primarily explain male offending
Parent-child attachment has a stronger preventive effect on delinquency for females than for males
Males experience more conflict and more peer pressure in their friendship groups
Strain theorists – the stresses and strains of adolescence may differ for males and females in ways that contribute to the gender gap in offending
- Fewer coping resources for non-delinquent responses
Feminine gender definitions reduce the likelihood of delinquency because the societal view of femininity is inconsistent with law violation in a way that the societal view of masculinity is not
- Differences in socialization experiences
Why are blacks disproportianately involved in serious crime?
Racial differences in access to legitimate opportunities can account for racial differences in crime
Crime rates declined as legitimate opportunities increased in a study
Communities in which blacks and whites tend to reside may be the real cause of the relationship
Conditions that lead to crime can be concentrated poverty
Race and SES are closely intertwined in US
blacks report 1.7x as many offences as whites in
National Youth Survey self report data in serious violent crimes
Why are the economically disadvantaged so involved in serious delinquency?
At the individual level, parents of higher SES are less likely to use coercive disciple (beating)
Economic conditions of neighborhoods - Severe economic deprivation significantly affects delinquency rates
Marxist perspective, divisions among the classes result in attempts by the ruling class to control those who are relatively powerless
