VJ

A Strong Partner for Sustainable Development

Module
In

CRIM 105

JUVENILE DELINQUENCY AND

JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM

College of Criminal Justice Education

Bachelor of Science in Criminology

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 Module No. 1

CHAPTER 1

JUVENILE DELINQUENCY OVERVIEW

2nd Semester 2021-2022

GLORIA P. GONZALES
Instructor I

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 Table of Contents

Title Page 1
Table of Contents 3
Instruction to the User 4
Learning Outcomes 5

Pre-Test 6
CHAPTER 1 –JUVENILE DELINQUNECY OVERVIEW
Segment 1 -Introduction 7
Segment 2- Historical Background of Juvenile Delinquency and Juvenile 8
Justice System
Segment 3 – Juvenile Delinquency 13
Segment 4 – Gang 15
Segment 5 – Theories of Crime and Delinquency 16
Segment 6 – Female Delinquency Theories 31
Exercises/ Activities 35
Posttest 38
References

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INSTRUCTION TO THE USER

This module would provide you an educational experience while independently

accomplishing the task at your own pace or time. It aims as well to ensure that learning is
unhampered by health and other challenges. It covers the topic about Introduction to
Juvenile Delinquency

Reminders in using this module:

1. Keep this material neat and intact.

2. Answer the pretest first to measure what you know and what to be learned
about the topic discussed in this module.
3. Accomplish the activities and exercises as aids and reinforcement for better
understanding of the lessons.
4. Answer the post-test to evaluate your learning.
5. Do not take pictures in any parts of this module nor post it to social media
platforms.
6. Value this module for your own learning by heartily and honestly answering
and doing the exercises and activities. Time and effort were spent in the
preparation in order that learning will still continue amidst this Covid-19
pandemic.
7. Observe health protocols: wear mask, sanitize and maintain physical
distancing.

Hi! I’m Blue Bee, your WPU Mascot.

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 Welcome to Western Philippines University!
Shape your dreams with quality learning experience.

STAY SAFE AND HEALTHY!

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 INTRODUCTION

JUVENILE DELINQUENCY OVERVIEW

Segment 1. Introduction
I believe the best service to the child is the service closest to the child, and children who
are victims of neglect, abuse, or abandonment must not also be victims of bureaucracy. They
deserve our devoted attention, not our divided.

Attention. By: Kenny Guinn

The problem of juvenile delinquency is becoming more complicated and universal, and
crime prevention programs are either unequipped to deal with the present realities or do
not exists. Many developing countries have done little or nothing to deal with these
problems, and international programs are obviously insufficient.
Youth nowadays, regardless of gender, social origin or country of residence, are subject to
individual risks but are also being presented with new individual opportunities some
beneficial and some potentially harmful. Young people who are at risk of becoming
delinquent often live in difficult circumstances. Children who for various reasons including
parental alcoholism, poverty, breakdown of the family, overcrowding, abusive condition in
the home, the growing HIV/AIDS scourge, or the death of parents during armed conflicts
and are without the means of subsistence, housing and other necessities are the greatest
risk of falling into juvenile delinquency.

Learning Outcomes:
At the end of this module, the students can:
1.) Define juvenile, delinquent person, juvenile delinquency and juvenile crime.
2.) Differentiate between juvenile delinquency and criminality
3.) Understand the nature of delinquency
4.) Recall the historical background of juvenile delinquency
5.) Discuss and summarize the different theories on crimes and delinquency
6.) Identify types of behavioral disorders.

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 Specific Topics:
a. Historical Background of Juvenile Delinquency and Juvenile Justice System
b. Juvenile Delinquency a Glance o Philippine Juvenile Delinquency, Risk Factors
c. Gang, Characteristics of Gangs, Gang Suppression
d. Theories of Crime and Delinquency
e. Female Delinquency Theories

PRE-TEST: To test your prior knowledge please answer the pre-test comprehensively,
provide a space for your answer below. Strictly no screenshots of answer.
1. What is juvenile delinquency?10 pts.
2. Who is JUVENILE?5 pts
3. How does parenting becomes a factor for a child to become a juvenile delinquent?10 pts

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 D. DISCUSSION
CHAPTER I: JUVENILE DELINQUENCY OVERVIEW

Lesson 1. Introduction
I believe the best service to the child is the service closest to the child, and children who
are victims of neglect, abuse, or abandonment must not also be victims of bureaucracy. They
deserve our devoted attention, not our divided.
Attention. By: Kenny Guinn
This chapter presents the historical background of Juvenile Delinquency and Juvenile
Justice System, the theories explaining delinquency, and the applicable theories for female
delinquent. Furthermore, progress check is provided at the end of this chapter.
A lot of reasons were drawn as to why delinquency among the juveniles is augmenting,
likewise criticisms against the law enforcement agencies on why youthful offenses continue
to proliferate. A reminder from one of our heroes’ quotes: “The Youth is the Hope of the
Fatherland” (We were once a Youth), yet I think the excerpt is being conquered due to
hysterical involvement of young individuals to various undesirable activities making them
antisocial. What makes them such delinquent? If there are causes, then what are they and
what are the theories that may elucidate juvenile delinquency? These are just basic questions
which, if answered may enlighten our understanding on juvenile misbehavior issues.

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 For many young people today, traditional patterns guiding the relationships and
transitions between family, school and work are being challenged. Social relations that ensure
a smooth Process of socialization are collapsing, lifestyle trajectories are becoming more
varied and less predictable. The reconstructing of labor market, the extension of the maturity
gap (the period of dependence of young adults on the family) and, arguably, I the more limited
opportunities to become an independent adult are all changes influencing relationships with
family and friends, educational opportunities and choices, labor market participation, leisure
activities and lifestyles. It is not only the developed in countries that are facing this situation,
in developing countries as well there are new pressures on young people undergoing the
transition from childhood to independence. Rapid population growth, the unavailability of
housing and support services, poverty, unemployment and underemployment among youth,
the decline in the authority of local communities, overcrowding in poor urban, areas, the
disintegration of the family, and ineffective education systems are some of the pressures
young people must deal with.
Youth nowadays, regardless of gender, social origin o, country of residence, are subject
to individual risks but are also being presented with new individual opportunities—some
beneficial and some potentially harmful. Quite often, advantage is being taker of illegal
opportunities as young people commit various offenses, become addicted to drugs, and use
violence against their peers. Statistical data indicate that in virtually all parts of the world
rates of youth crime rose in the 1990s. Many of the criminal offences are related to drug abuse
and excessive alcohol use.

Majority of studies and programs dealing with juvenile delinquency focused on youth
as offenders. However, adolescents are also victims of criminal or delinquent acts. The
continuous threat of victimization is having a serious impact on the socialization of young
men and on their internalization of the norms and values of the larger society. Results of self-
report studies indicate that an overwhelming majority of those who participate in violence
against young people are about the same age and gender as their victims, in most cases the
offenders are males acting in groups. Surveys have shown that men are more likely than
women to become victims.
Young people who are at risk of becoming delinquent often live in difficult
circumstances Children who for various reasons including parental alcoholism, poverty,
breakdown of the family, overcrowding, abusive conditions in the home, the growing HIV/
AIDS scourge, or the death of parents during armed conflicts are orphans or unaccompanied
and are without the means of subsistence, housing and other basic necessities are at greatest
risk of falling into juvenile delinquency.
The problem of juvenile delinquency is becoming more complicated and universal, and
crime prevention programs are either unequipped to deal with the present realities or do not
exist. Many developing countries have done little or nothing to deal with these problems, and
international programs are obviously insufficient. Developed countries are engaged in
activities aimed at juvenile crime prevention, but the overall effect of these programs is rather
weak because the mechanisms in place are often inadequate to address the existing situation.
On the whole, current efforts to fight juvenile delinquency are characterized by the lack of

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systematic action and the absence of task-oriented and effective social work with both
offenders and victims, whether real or potential. Analysis is further complicated by lack of
international comparative data.

Lesson 2. Historical Background of Juvenile

Delinquency and Juvenile Justice System
The Code of Hammurabi was the first comprehensive description of a system used
by society to regulate behavior and at the same time punish those who disobeyed the rules.
The main principle of this Code was that: “the strong shall not injure the weak”. It established
a social order based on individual rights. It is the origin of the legal principle of lex talionis,
that is, an eye for an eye. In 1641, the General Court of Massachusetts passed Stubborn
Child Law, which stated that children who q their parents could be put to death Stubborn
Child Law on the Puritans belief that unacknowledged social evils would bring the wrath of
God down upon the entire colony. The Puritans believed they had no choice but to respond
to juvenile misbehavior in a strict and calculated way. On the other hand, Puritans children
were born sinful and should submit to adult authority and hard labor. In 1646, the
Virginia General Assembly passed a law to prevent “Sloth and Idleness”.

American Postcolonial Patterns of Delinquency

Once children had become special, new “Children Only" laws were passed. There
was an increasing demand on the state to take responsibility for improving the lives of
children and eventually new regulations, such as, child labor laws were enacted.
In 1916, United States congress passed the Keating-Owen Act, the first piece of child
labor in America. Though it was overturned after 2 years through the case of Hammer V.
Dagenhart, it did lay the groundwork for the passage in 1938 of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Moreover, today, every state has established its own child labor laws.
The middle of the nineteenth century also included the child-saving movement.
Concerned citizens eventually formed a social activist group called Child Savers, who
believed that: “children were born good and became bad”. Juvenile children were
blamed on bad environments. The best way to save children was to get them out of “bad”
homes and placed in “good” ones.
According to Child Savers, parents of juveniles should be sterilized to prevent further
members of the “dangerous class” from being born Eugenics. It was in the political climate

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that the doctrine of Parens Patriae was created, and it became a significant influence on
the development of juvenile justice which came from the Feudal Period of England. Parens
patriae is the right and responsibility of the government to take care of minors and others
who cannot legally take care of themselves.

In 1818, a committee reports listed “juvenile delinquency” as a major cause of

pauperism, the first public recognition of the term juvenile delinquency. In 1899 the Illinois
legislature passed a law establishing a juvenile court that became the cornerstone for juvenile
justice throughout the United States. The first juvenile courts functioned as administrative
agencies of the circuit or district courts and were mandated as such by legislative action. The
vision of the child savers and the founders of the juvenile court was the rehabilitative ideal of
reforming children instead of punishing them Probation, according to the 1899 Illinois
Juvenile Court Act, was to have both an investigate and a rehabilitative function.
In the first quarter of the twentieth century, the Progressives ‘further developed the
medical model established by the Illinois Court Act, viewing crime as a disease that could
be treated and cured by social intervention. Another emphasis for reform was concerned with
isolating offenders from their normal social environment. It was felt that such isolation may
encourage the development of a delinquent orientation and thus further delinquent behavior.
In the late 1960s a new approach for dealing with delinquency emerged ~ the prevention of
crime before youths engages in delinquent acts (Regoli & Hewitt, 1991).

The Historical and Philosophical Roots of the Juvenile Justice System are:
1. stressing the social contract,
2 the prevention of crime, and
3. the need to make any punishment fit the crime committed.
Four Ds of juvenile justice during the last half of the twentieth century are:
1. deinstitutionalization
2. diversion
3. due process
4. decriminalization
Although diversion was heralded by many, it also had some negative aspects.
Many youngsters who earlier would have been simply released were instead being referred to
the new system of diversionary programs that had sprung up. This process is referred to as
net widening. Many of the diversionary programs did achieve success.
Three factors that have been traced earlier as Youth Services Programs
are:

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 1. the police-based nature of the program,
2. the use of counseling in a law enforcement setting and
3. the skills approach to training and treatment.

House of Corrections for Juvenile Delinquent

1. Bridewells - It was the first house of corrections in England. They confined both children
and adults considered to be idle and disorderly. As time progressed, conditions in the Bride
wells and other places of confinement became so deplorable that several individuals
demanded reform.
2. Hospice of San Michele (Saint Michael) - This was established in 1704. John Howard,
a reformer, brought to England from Rome a model of the first institution for treating juvenile
offenders. He was often thought of as the father of prison reform.
3. House of Refuge - It was situated in New York in 1825. It was opened to house juvenile
delinquents, who were defined in its charter as “youths convicted of criminal offenses or
found in vagrancy.” By the middle of the nineteenth century many states either built reform
schools or converted their houses of refuge to reform schools. The reform schools emphasized
formal schooling, put they also retained large workshops and continued the contract system
of labor
4.The Chicago Reform School. This was open in 1855. The reformers who supported
these institutions sought to protect juvenile offenders by separating them from adult
offenders. They also focused on rehabilitation (trying to help young offenders avoid a future
life of crime).
5. Massachusetts State Industrial School for Girls. It was the first girl’s
reformatory established on June 10,1856 which believe that if these girls needed a strong
mothering environment and teaching of morals for them to become good mothers also.

Significant Cases Concerning Juvenile Delinquency

ln re: Win ship
It established proof beyond reasonable doubt as the standard for juvenile adjudication
proceedings, eliminating lesser standards such as a preponderance of the evidence, clear and
convincing proof and reasonable proof. It established that a jury trial is not a required part of
due process in the adjudication of the youth as delinquent by a juvenile court.

Breed v. Jones
It recognized that a juvenile cannot be adjudicated in a juvenile court and then tried
for the same offense in an adult criminal court (double jeopardy).

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Kent v. United States
It provided the procedural requirements for waiver to criminal court as articulated by
the U.S. Supreme Court.
In re Gault (1967)
The Court held that juvenile courts must provide the basic procedural protection that
the Bill of Rights guarantee to adults, including timely advance notice of the charges, the right
to either retained or appointed counsel, confrontation and cross-examination of adverse
witnesses, self-incrimination, and the right to remain silent. The opinion also rejected the
basic premise of juvenile court actions: that the proceedings are civil in nature and those
minors’ rights are adequately protected by the judges acting as substitute parents.
American Bar Association (1977)
It endorsed decriminalization of status offenses, urging that juvenile delinquency
ability should include only such conduct as would be designated a crime if committed by an
adult. In the 1980s many training schools and high- security institutions were built in rural
areas or close to small rural towns so the inmates could be trained in agriculture The hope
was that such training would produce productive citizens.

Schall v. Martin (1984)

The Supreme Court upheld the state’s right to place juveniles in preventive detention.
Preventive detention was perceived as fulfilling a legitimate state interest of protecting society
and juveniles by detaining those who might be dangerous to society of to themselves. (Regoli
& Hewitt, 1991).

Lesson 3. Juvenile Delinquency

“The State recognizes the vital role of the youth in nation-building and shall promote
and protect their physical, moral, spiritual, intellectual, and social well-being. It shall
inculcate in the youth patriotism and nationalism and encourage their involvement in
public and civic affairs. (Art. Il, Section 13, Phil. Constitution).”
The context of the fundamental law has clearly stated the indispensable role of the
youth towards a healthier development of our country. The 1987 constitutional commission
however, put an intense care and value to the hopes of our fatherland commanding the state

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to shield the interest of young men and not to consent them in becoming a menace of the
society.
Nevertheless, I wish to credit our concerned government agencies with reference to
their passionate and tireless efforts in saving our youths from criminality. In addition, the
following may somehow help the readers of this piece to understand more what juvenile
delinquency all about.

A Glance of Philippine Juvenile Delinquency

Young people in the streets are also criminalized and stigmatized for no obvious crime
committed. So many times, the streets were cleaned up at the start of the tourist season and
as a consequence many street children were jailed because of vagrancy laws.
A large problem arose from the treatment accorded to the juveniles when they were
placed in jails. Most juvenile delinquents were not segregated from the hardened adult
criminals in the biggest jails in the Philippines, such as in the Muntinlupa jail outside Manila,
so that after their release they went back in the street with more knowledge of crime. This
severely hampered the social integration of the youth offenders after they left prison. Chances
were high that these young offenders would become chronic delinquents and eventually
hardened criminals.

What is Juvenile Delinquency or Juvenile Offending?It refers the act of participating

in unlawful behavior as minors (juveniles, i.e. individuals younger than the statutory age of
majority) Siegel & Welsh,2011.

Juvenile delinquency refers to the participation by a minor child in illegal behavior

or activities. Juvenile Delinquency is also used to refer to a child who exhibit a persistent
behavior of mischievousness or disobedience, so as to be considered out of parental control,
becoming subject to legal action by the court system (Legal dictionary,23 February 2015).
Juvenile Delinquency is an act committed by a juvenile that, if committed by an adult would
be a criminal act.

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Therefore, juvenile delinquency may be simply defined as any act in violation of a law
or any form of behavior that does not conform to the standard of acceptable
behavior in society committed by a minor.
These acts or behavior also take the form of status offenses. A Status Offense is an act or
behavior that is considered wrong or improper when it is committed by a child
or minor.

Status Offenses

smoke, drink

skip school,
disobey
disobey
parents
teachers

Juvenile
have bad
use profanity Status companions
Offender

violates run away

curfew
participate in
sex or
immoral
conduct

Truancy is defined as having unexcused absence from school for a period exceeding 20 days.
JUVENILE
- Refers to a person of tender year.
- A minor, a youth or those who are not emancipated by law.
- Those below the age of majority (below eighteen years old)
- Refers to a person below 18 years of age or those but are unable to fully take of
themselves from abuse, neglect, cruelty, exploitation or discrimination because of
physical or mental disability or conditions.

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 AGE OF MAJORITY-majority commences at the age of eighteen (18) years.

EMANCIPATION is defined as the freedom from parental authority upon reaching

the age of majority over both the person and property with the exemption of the capacity to
contract marriage.
RA 6809
- The law amending the age of majority
- Lowered the age of majority from twenty – one (21) to eighteen (18) years.

PARENS PATRIAE (“father of the country”)

- The doctrine that does not consider delinquent acts as criminal violation,thus
making delinquents non- criminal persons and cannot be found guilty of a crime
and punished like an adult criminal
- Views minor who violates the laws as victim of improper care, custody and
treatment at home.
- Assumption by the state of the role of guardian over children whose parents are
deemed incapable or unworthy
- The authority of the state to act on behalf of children.

Who is a Delinquent?
A Juvenile delinquent is one who repeatedly commits crime; however, these
juvenile delinquents could most likely have mental disorders behavioral issues such as
schizophrenia, post- traumatic stress disorder or bipolar disorder (Cortes & Gatti, 1972).
What is a Deviant Behavior?
Deviant behavior refers to a behavior that does not conform to norms. These are
behaviors that in some ways do not meet with the expectations of a group or of a society as a
whole. Although this may sound to be a simple description of what deviant behavior is,
understanding what could constitute specific types of deviant behavior faces many problems
and ambiguities. It is therefore important to consider that deviant behavior is relative to many
factors and conditions which are complex and may be complicated to understand. The
following may help us understand our consideration of what deviant behavior is:
1. In terms of Time
The meaning of deviance changes through the years. For example, it was socially
unacceptable to see girls drinking beer or teenagers and women smoking. All these are not
heavily considered now as deviant behaviors.

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2. In terms of Place or Geography
Being deviant varies according to geographic area. Open prostitution as an example is
deviant in the Philippines but not in some countries. Some countries have open “red light
districts” where “customers” can have their choice (Saquilayan, et. al, 2011).

Juvenile Delinquency as a Male Phenomenon

Youth crime is disproportionately committed by young men. Feminist theorists and
others have examined why this is the case. One suggestion is that ideas of masculinity may
make young men more likely to offend. Being tough, powerful, aggressive, daring, and
competitive may be a way of young men expressing their masculinity. Acting out these ideals
may make young men more likely to engage in antisocial and criminal behavior.
Alternatively, rather than young men acting as they do because of societal pressure to
conform to masculine ideals; young men may be naturally more aggressive, daring etc. As
well as biological or psychological factors, the way young men are treated by their parents
may make them more susceptible to offending.
According to a study led by Florida State University criminologist Kevin M. Beaver,
adolescent males who possess a certain type of variation in a specific gene are more likely to
flock to delinquent peers (Cortes & Gatti, 1972).

Risk Factors towards Juvenile Delinquency

1. Individual Risk Factors
Individual psychological or behavioral risk factors that may make offending more
likely include intelligence, impulsiveness, or the inability to delay gratification, aggression,
empathy, and restlessness. (Farrington: 2002).
Children with low intelligence are likely to do worse in school. This may increase the
chances of offending because low educational attainment, a low attachment to school, and
low educational aspirations are all risk factors for offending in themselves. Children who
perform poorly at school are also more likely to truant, which is also linked to offending
(Walklate, 2003).

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 Impulsiveness is seen by some as the key aspect of a child’s personality that predicts
offending. However, it is not clear whether these aspects of personality are a result of “deficits
in the executive functions of the brain” or a result of parental influences or other social factors
(Graham & Bowling, 1995).

2. Family Environment
“One reason there are so many juvenile delinquents today is that their parents didn’t burn
their britches behind them.”
Children brought up by lone parents are more likely to start offending than those who
live with two natural parents. Conflict between a child’s parents is also much more closely
linked to offending than being raised by a lone parent. If a child has low parental supervision,
they are much more likely to offend.
Family factor: Its influence in offending a child includes the following:
a. the level of parental supervision,
b. parental conflict or separation,
c. parental abuse or neglect,
d. the way parents discipline a child,
e. criminal parents or siblings, and
f. the quality of the relationship.

Predictors of Juvenile Delinquency

Predictors of juvenile delinquencies may appear as early as preschool, and often
include:
a. Abnormal or slow development of basic skills, such as speech and language.
b. Chronic violation of the rules; and
c. Serious aggressive behavior toward other students or teachers.

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Lesson 4. Gang

The term gang is frequently associated with groups in socially disorganized and
deteriorated inner-city neighborhoods. It is applied to youths who are engaged in a variety of
delinquencies ranging from truancy, street brawls, and beer running to race riots, robberies,
and other serious crimes. Frederic Thrasher, in his 1927 study of more than 1,300 delinquent
gangs ‘in Chicago, noted that while no two gangs are exactly alike, delinquent gangs do
possess a number of qualities that set them apart from other social groups.

The gang, according to Thrasher, is characterized by the following types of behavior:

meeting face to face, milling, movement through space as a unit, conflict, and planning. The
result of this collective behavior is the development of tradition, unreflective internal
structure, esprit de corps, solidarity, morale, group awareness, and attachment to a local
territory (see figure 26).

Fig. 26: Tattooed Gang Members

By the 1950s, the gang, was broadly defined as a friendship group of adolescents who
share common interest, with a more or less clearly define territory, in which most of the
members live. They are committed to defending one another, the territory, and the gang name
in the status-setting fights that occur in school and on the streets.
A youth gang is a self-forming union of peers, bound together by mutual interests,
with identifiable leadership, well developed lines of authority, and other organizational
features, who act in concert to achieve specific purposes which generally include the conduct
of illegal activity and control over a territory, facility, or type of enterprise.

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Characteristics of Gang
1. Organization- This states that a gang or gang member has collective goals. It may
include the Akyat Bahay Gang and the like.
2. Leadership - They have leaders that may decide matters related to the organization.
3. Turf or Territory - It involves identification and control Identify places like parks,
housing projects, or schools to impose their illegal acts. Crossing turf boundaries and
entering another gang’s territory, often clearly marked by graffiti, involved taking serious
risks.
4. Cohesiveness - It refers to gang’s very close, tight-knit organizations with loyal
members bound to one another by mutual friendship and common interests.

Gang Suppression
Suppression could be attained through the use of laws that will allow authorities to
charge gang youths with basic criminal offenses against persons, property, and public order
crimes.
In some states of United States, one of the most common strategies is the
neighborhood “sweep” in which officers’ sweep through a neighborhood, arresting and
detaining known or Suspected gang members.
Another strategy involves “hot spot targeting” of known gang members and their
hideouts (Curry, Maxson, &Howell, 2001).

Segment 5. Theories of Crime and Delinquency

The causes of delinquency have been studied for more than 200 years. During this
time, theories or integrated sets of ideas that explain and predict why and when children
break the law have emerged. There is not much agreement among criminologist on what is
the best delinquency causal theory; nevertheless, the following theories are presented:
I. Supernatural, Classical, and Neoclassical Theories
1. Supernatural Theory

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 Supernatural theories blame delinquency on demonic possession. In the Middle
Ages (S00-1500 A.D.) people believed criminals were possessed by the devil. Yet,
supernatural explanations are not taken too seriously because they cannot be scientifically
tested. However, modern crime theories are based on conditions and events that can be
observed and measured. These theories are called natural explanations, the first of which
were constructed in the 18” century by Classical School.

2. Classical School Theory

The Classical School criminologists believe that people are rational, intelligent
beings who exercise free will of the ability to make choices. People calculate the costs and
benefits of their behavior before they act. in the same way, children who skip school first
determine the likelihood of getting caught against the potential fun they have. Similarly,
juveniles who rape weigh the pleasure they imagine they will have against being arrested,
prosecuted, convicted, and sent to prison. Because behavior is a conscious decision people
make, they must be held accountable for their actions and their consequences.

Proponents of Classical Theory

a. Cesare Beccaria
He is the leading figure of Classical School. He formulated his ideas about crime
control during the 18th century when criminal justice systems throughout Europe were cruel
and ruthless end exercised a callous indifference for human rights.
People were punished for crimes against religion, such as atheism and witchcraft, and
for crimes against the state, such a criticizing person in power. Worse yet, “offenders” were
rarely told why they were being punished.
Beccaria believes that people were rational and intelligent beings who exercise free
will. They commit crime because they imagine greater grains coming from crime than from
conformity. For punishment to be effective, it must be certain, severe, and administered
swiftly.
His work, “Essay on Crimes and Punishment”, is considered to be one of the
most influential papers he wrote. It became the basis for the 1791 criminal code of France and
for ideas such as:
1. People are innocent until proven guilty,

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 2. People cannot be forced to testify against themselves,
3. People have the right to counsel and to confront their accusers, and
4. People have the right to a speedy trial by a jury of their peers, as found in U.S. and
Philippine Constitution.

b. Jeremy Bentham
He is the second leading pioneer in criminal justice reform in the 18" century. He based
his ideas about crime on the belief that people sought out pleasure and avoided pain. The
correct punishment was one that produced more pain than the pleasure the offender received
from committing crime. The punishment must “fit the crime”. Therefore, no single
punishment was always best; rather a variety of punishments should be used.
Bentham’s ideas radically transformed the 19" century English penal code, known then
as “The Bloody Code”, since people were executed for crimes, such as stealing turnips,
associating with gypsies, and damaging fish ponds. He was a utilitarian who argued that the
purpose of criminal law was to provide for “greatest happiness for the greatest number” of
people.

3. Neo-classical School Theory

Neoclassical School Theory strongly argued the rigidity of classical school theory.
It did not take into account why people commit crime. Instead, all people were held equally
responsible for their behavior. Those who commit similar crimes received identical
punishments.
The Classical School focused on the criminal act (the crime) and not the actor (why
it was committed). But, in reality, people are not the same. Children, insane, and the
incompetent are not as responsible for their behavior as adults, the sane and the competent.
The idea that there are real differences among people led to the development of Neoclassical
School.

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 Neoclassical reformers agreed to the concept of classical leaders that people were
rational, intelligent beings who exercised free will. But they also thought some crimes were
caused by factors beyond the offender’s control.
Mitigating circumstances, such as age or mental condition, sometimes influence the
choices that are made and affect a person’s ability to form criminal intent or men’s rea (guilty
mind). This is why children under age of seven cannot legally commit a crime-they are
presumed to be not capable of having guilty a mind. Thus, the use of mitigating circumstance
at criminal trials triggered the development of individual justice, the idea that criminal law
must reflect differences among people and their circumstances (Regoli & Hewitt, 1991).

4. Modern Classical School Theory

4.1. Rational Choice Theory

It claimed that delinquents are rational people who make calculated choices regarding
what they are going to do before, they act. Offenders collect, process, and evaluate
information about the crime and make the decision whether to commit it after they have
weighed the cost and benefits in doing so. Crime, in other words, is a well-thought-out
decision. Offenders decide where to commit it, who or what to target, and how to execute it.

4.2. Routine Activity Theory

It is focused on the crime target or anything an offender wants to take control of,
whether it is a house to break into or a bottle of beer to shoplift. Before crime will occur,
however, three elements must come together:
a. motivated offenders.
b. suitable targets; and
c. an absence of people to deter the would-be offender.
Crime thus increases when there are vulnerable targets (e.g., unlock house doors/keys
left in the ignition) and only few people to protect them (e.g., police) (Burke, R. H, 2005).

II. Biological and Psychological Theories

“A tree is known by its fruit”

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 The emergence of the Positive School marked a shift in thinking about crime from a
focus on the act to the actor. Charles Darwin was largely responsible for this change. In his
work, On the Origin of Species, he argued that God had not created all the species of animals
and that

people had evolved from lower forms of life over millions of years. Then, in Descent of Man,
Darwin suggested that God had not made people in his own image and that there were few
differences between people and criminals (Regoli & Hewitt, 1991).
1. Scientific Study of Crime
Scientific study of crime (Positive School of Criminology) believed that crime was
caused by factors that are in place before the crime occurs. It is presumed that the behavior
was determined by something, and it was their job to discover what it was. Free will had
nothing to do with what people did.
2. Biological Theories
These theories locate the causes of crime inside the person. One early explanation
examined the role of physical appearance.

A. Physical Appearance and Crime

i. Criminal Anthropometry. Cesare Lombroso was the first to

connect crime to human evolution. Criminals were atavistic or throwbacks
to an earlier, more primitive stage of human development. They closely
resembled their apelike ancestors in traits, abilities and dispositions.
Because criminals were not only highly evolved, they possessed stigmata
of distinctive physical features such as symmetrical face, an enormous
jaw, large protruding ears,and receding chin.But Lombroso’sfindings were
contradicted byCharles Goring who physically measured 3000English convicts and found
no evidence of a physical type criminal.

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ii. Physiognomy. This was founded by J. Baptiste Della Porte. The
physiognomist Johann Kasar Lavater was one of the first to suggest a
link between facial figure and crime.

iii. Phrenology. It comes from the Greek word:

mind: and logos, knowledge, and this theory claimed that character, personality traits and
criminality aredetermined on the basis of the shape of the head (i.e., by reading the
bumps and fissures) Franz Joseph Gall developed in 1810 his work in
craniology; in which he alleged that crime was one ofthe behaviors organically
controlled by a specific area of the brain. In 1843, Francois Magendie referred
to phrenology as“a pseudo-science of the present day”.

Body Type and Crime. William Sheldon (1945) Suggested that there
was a relationship between body built and temperament which was known
as the Somatotype Theory. Sheldon believed that human body consisted
of three components such as:
iv. Endomorphy (ic) (Soft Temperament). Endomorphy is
focused on digestive system, particularly the stomach (endoderm);

has the tendency toward plumpness corresponds to Viscerotonia

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 temperament tolerant, love of comfort and luxury, extravert.

v. Mesomorphy(ic) (Square Masculinity & Skeletal Massiveness).

Mesomorphy is focused on musculature and the circulatory system
(mesoderm), has the tendency towards muscularity and Mesomorphy(ic)
Square Masculinity & Skeletal Massiveness). Mesomorphy is
focused on musculature and the circular system(mesoderm), has the
tendency towards muscularity, and corresponds to the Somatotonia
temperament courageous, energetic, active dynamic, assertive,
aggressive risk taker.

vi. Ectomorphy(ic) (Linearity and Fratility).Ectomorphy is focused

on the nervous system and the brain (ectoderm) – the tendency
towards slightness, corresponds to Cerebrotonia temperament artistic,
sensitive, apprehensive, introvert.

B. Heredity and Crime. In the late 19th century, people believedthat

criminality was inherited. Crime was blamed on a substancecalled

“germplasm” that caused people to have “bad blood”. Once a person
committed a crime, that fact was encoded in her or his germ-plasm. When
they were procreated, their “bad blood” was transmitted to their children.

i. IQ and Delinquency. The earliest studies to examine the relationship

between heredity and crime centered on intelligence, which is the ability
to learn, exercise judgement and be imaginative.
Alfred Binet and Theopile Simon developed the firststandardize IQ
test in 1905. In 1912 the German psychologist.
W. Stern introduced the notion of an “” or IQ. Stern suggested

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WPU-QSF-ACAD-82A Rev. 00 (09.15.20)
 that every person had a mental age that could be representedby an IQ score.

ii. Historical Studies. In the earlier study, Henry Goddard (Kalikkak Family)
administered intelligence test to prison and jail inmates and discovered that
70% were “feeble- minded”. This extremely high percentage of low intelligence
inmates led the public, social reformers and state legislators to conclude that
low intelligence predisposed people to commit crime. Today, criminologists
rather consistently report link between IQ and delinquency, leading Murray
andHerrnstein to conclude low-IQ people re more prone to criminal behavior.

1.Psychoanalytic Theory. The Psychoanalytic Theory can be traced to

Sigmund Freud, who believed that personality consists of three parts: the id, ego
and superego.

Id - It is present at birth. It consists of blind, unreasoning, instinctual desires and motives.

The id represents basic biological and psychological drives; it does not differentiate between
fantasy and reality. It also is antisocial and knows no rules, boundaries, or limitations. If the id
is left unchecked, it will destroy the person.
Ego - It grows from id and represents the problem-solving dimension of the personality;
it deals with reality, differentiating it from fantasy. It teaches children to delay gratification
because — acting on impulse will get them into trouble.
Superego - It develops from ego and is the moral code, norms, and values the child has
acquired. The superego is responsible for the feelings of guilt and shame and is more closely
aligned with the conscience.

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In mentally healthy children, the three parts of the personality work together. When three parts
are in conflict, children may become maladjusted and ready for delinquency.

1. Behavioral Theory and Delinquency. Burrhus Frederic

Skinner, morepopularly known as B.F. Skinner, is the widely acclaimed
behaviorist who believed that environment shapes behavior. Skinner
though children learn which aspects of their
environment is pleasing
and which ones are
painful. Their behavior is
the result of the
consequences it produces.
His research with pigeons
demonstrated that
organisms act on their
environment to elicit
response though operant
conditioning, a type of
learning where subjects do
something and connect what they do to the response they receive. Children
will repeat rewarded behavior and abort punished behavior

Albert Bandura expanded Skinner’s ideas and developed the theory of

aggression where he said children learn by modeling and imitating others.
Children learn to be aggressive from their experiences. Delinquent behavior is
learned from direct, face-to-face interactions or by observing other person or
symbolically in literature, films, television and music.

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III. Cultural Deviance, Strain, and Social Control Theories
1. Cultural Deviance Theory
Cultural deviance theories were popular in the early 20" century. They stated that children
do not really commit deviant acts. Their behavior may be considered deviant by larger society
but it is compatible with the behavior in their neighborhood. In this view, what society calls
delinquency is actually conformity to norms frowned upon by “outsiders” but not by “insiders”.
1.1. Neighborhoods and Delinquency

Clifford Shaw and Henry Mckay blame delinquency on the neighborhood

where a child lives. They hypothesized that delinquency rates would decline the farther one
moved from the center of the city, called zonal hypothesis, and tested this idea by dividing
Chicago into five concentric circles or zones.
1.2. Differential Association Theory or Social Learning Theory
Edwin Sutherland has had an extraordinary influence on our thinking about
delinquency through his D.A.T. where he described the process children go through to become
delinquent. His theory states that crime is learned behavior (see figure 2).

“People learn criminal behavior through the groups with which they associate. If a person
associates with more groups that define criminal behavior as unacceptable, the person will
probably engage in criminal behavior”.

Nine (9) Principles of Differential Association Theory

1. Delinquent behavior is learned.
2. Delinquent behavior is learned in interaction with others through a process of
communication.
3. Learning takes place in intimate groups.

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 4. In intimate groups, children learn techniques for committing crime as well as the
appropriate motives, attitudes, and rationalizations.
5. The specific direction of motives and drives is learned from definitions of the legal code
as being favorable or unfavorable.

Fig. 2: Bad Neighborhood

6. A child becomes delinquent because of an excess of definitions favorable to violation of law

over definitions unfavorable to violation of law. Definitions favorable to the violation of
law are learned from both Criminal and noncriminal persons.
7. The tendency toward delinquency will be affected by the frequency, duration, priority, and
intensity of learning experiences.
8. Learning delinquent behavior involves the same mechanisms involved in any other learning.
9. Criminal behavior and noncriminal behavior are expressions of the same needs and values
(Adams, 1996).
2. Strain Theories
Strain theories assume that children are basically good. Only under pressure (strain) do
they deviate. Pressure for deviance comes from their having internalized society’s goals, such as
being successful and wanting to achieve them. But many cannot become successful by
conforming to society’s rules. Out of desperation, they turn to crime.

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 2.1. Robert Merton Strain Theory
Merton blames delinquency on conformity to conventional cultural values. American
society has (1) cultural goals that are regarded as worth striving for and (2)
institutionalized means or approved ways of reaching these goals.

The main goals in society are the acquisition of wealth and status. The socially approved
ways to achieve them are by getting a good education, job training, and career advancement.
However, for many children, access to legitimate means is blocked. Job opportunities are
not open to them, which creates a problem since they desire wealth and status. This Situation
produces pressure to deviate, and children will resolve this conflict desire in different ways.
Strain theory holds that crime is caused by the difficulty to those in the poverty strata with
regard to achieving socially valued goals by legitimate means. As those with, for instance, poor
educational attainment they have difficulty achieving wealth and status by securing well paid
employment, they are more likely to use criminal means to obtain these goals. Merton's suggests
five adaptations to this dilemma:
a. Innovation: individuals who accept socially approved goals, but not necessarily the
socially approved means.
b. Retreatism: those who reject socially approved goals and the means for acquiring them.
c. Ritualism: those who buy into a system of socially approved means, but lose sight of the
goals. Merton believed that drug users are in this category.
d. Conformity: those who conform to the system’s means and goals.
e. Rebellion: people who negate socially approved goals and means by creating a new
system of acceptable goals and means.

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2.2. Albert Cohen Strain Theory
Cohen published Delinquent Boys in 1955, where he explained why urban, lower-class
boys commit delinquency. He began by identifying characteristics of delinquents. They are
malicious, negativistic, non-utilitarian, versatile, loyal, and cannot defer gratification.
Cohen blames delinquency on (1) the frustration children experience because of their low
status and (2) their inability to live up to middle-class standards. Delinquency is the
consequence of children expressing their frustration toward middle-class norms and
institutions.
2.3. Richard Cloward and Lloyd Ohlin Strain Theory
In 1960, in Delinquency and Opportunity, Cloward and Ohlin also designed a theory
to explain lower-class male delinquency. They blamed it on the disparity between what children
are taught to want and what is available to them. Children joined delinquent gangs to achieve
success, but because their legitimate path is blocked, they turn to legitimate means in the form
of delinquency.
Accordingly, criminal behavior develops in stable neighborhoods that provide children
with illegitimate opportunities to become successful criminals. In these communities:
a. there are successful adult criminals who serve as role models.
b. there is an integration of age levels which enables younger people to learn from older
juveniles how to commit crime.
c. there is cooperation between offenders and legitimate people in the neighborhood such
as bondsmen, lawyers and politicians.
In conclusion, delinquency is blamed on the pressures to succeed and on the obstacles
lower-class children face. Thus, there must be available legitimate opportunities for success of
the children so they would not turn to criminality.
2.4. Robert Agnew Strain Theory

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 In 1992, Agnew added a twist to the work of Merton, Cohen, and Cloward and Ohlin
in his General Strain Theory that increased the number of conditions and produce
frustration for children.

Agnew’s Types of Strain

a. Failure to achieve positively valued goals. This type of strain may result from
doing poorly on an exam or not Performing well in sporting event.
b. Denial of previously attained achievements. This type of strain may stem from
being fired from a job or being “dumped” by a boyfriend or girlfriend.

c. Exposure to negative stimuli. An example of a social interaction that may produce this
type of strain is being picked on by classmates or receiving a speeding ticket.
3. Social Control Theories
These theories assume that children are amoral. Without controls on their behavior, they
are inclined to break the law. Delinquency is thus expected behavior. What needs to be explained
is why most children obey society’s rules most of the time.

3.1. David Matza Social Control Theory

Matza thinks that delinquency theories exaggerated the differences between delinquents
and non-delinquents. He believes delinquents are normal in all respects except in belonging to
a subculture that teaches them it is all right to be delinquent. Matza also believes that if
delinquents were really committed to their misdeeds, they would participate in delinquency
nearly all of their waking hours.
Matza also feels many delinquents know that what they did was wrong and feel sorry for
it. If he is right, then why do they do it? Matza says it is because they pick up cues from other
children that lead them to believe delinquency is acceptable and that they are the only ones who
do not do it. Fear of being called a “chicken” makes some juveniles reluctant to back out of a
delinquent escapade.
Techniques of Neutralization

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 Because delinquents feel bad for what they did, they absolve themselves of guilt by turning
to one of five techniques of neutralization. They are:
a. Denial of responsibility - Juveniles will deny being responsible for their illegal acts.
They may say,” the alcohol made me do it.”
b. Denial of injury - Delinquents may believe that even though what they have done was
illegal, it was not immoral because no one was seriously injured, Shoplifting may be rationalized
in this way.

c. Denial of victim - Sometimes juveniles deny the seriousness of their behavior by

saying that what they did was right under the circumstances. For example, beating someone up
may be explained away by saying: “he had it coming.”
d. Condemnations of condemners - Children may shift blame from their own illegal
behavior to the behavior of others. They will criticize those who condemn them. For instance,
children may rationalize the legitimacy of their illegal drug use by saying that some police are
also involved in the drug trade.
e. Appeal to higher loyalty - Sometimes juveniles justify their illegal behavior by claiming
that they were committed in deference to a high authority such as a normal or religious belief,
the gang, or a racial or ethnic group (Eduardo & Peckley, 2010).

3.2. Travis Hirschi Social Control Theory

Travis Hirschi is not surprised that children commit deviance. He expects them to unless
obstacles are thrown in their path by a disapproving society. Social Bonding Theory at the core
of Hirschi’s theory is the bond or the glue that connects children to society. The bond consists of
four elements: attachment, commitment, involvement, and belief.
a. Attachment is an emotional element. It describes the extent that a child is tied to other
people. A child's most important attachments are those to his or her parents, school, and
fears. The stronger the child’s attachments, the less likely he or she will commit
delinquency.

b. Commitment is a rational component of the bond. it refers to the extent that children
are invested in conventional activities. Commitment controls juveniles because they
know getting into trouble will hurt their chances of becoming successful.

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 c. Involvement is the amount of time a child spends in conventional activities. If these
occupy a youth’s entire day, delinquency cannot take place. Involvement in conventional
activities is viewed as a means of preventing delinquency as early as Biblical times, when
sages counseled that “idle hands are a devil’s workshop.”

d. Belief in the moral validity of conventional norms is the fourth component of the social
bond. Some children believe more strongly in the legitimacy of society’s rules. Those who
do are less likely to commit delinquencies.

In 1990 Michael Gottfredson and Travis Hirschi published a theory of crime that departed
significantly from Hirschi’s earlier work. in their book, A General Theory of Crime, the
idea of individual self-control took center stage. Self-control and Delinquency by
Gottfredson and Hirschi is based on a simple explanation: Children commit delinquency
when the opportunity is available because crime is gratifying.

Gottfredson and Hirschi think delinquents cannot resist the easy, immediate
gratification that accompanies delinquency because they have low self-control. They are
impulsive, insensitive, physical (as opposed to mental), risk taker, short-sighted, and non-
verbal (Regoli & Hewitt, 1991).

IV. Labeling and Conflict Theory

1. Labeling Theory

If labels have such formidable power, why don’t parents label their children as “gifted”,
“intelligent”, or “athletic?” In turn, why don’t youth affix a positive label to themselves and then
allow the self-fulfilling prophecy to occur?

While cultural deviance, strain, and social control theories assume that deviance
leads to social control, labeling theory assumes that social control leads to deviance. Labeling
theorist believed that human nature is malleable, and that personality and behavior are
products of social interaction. Labeling theorists, therefore, emphasize the power of social
response, especially in the form of social control, to produce delinquent behavior. Their concern
is that publicly or officially “labeling someone as a delinquent can result in the person becoming
the very thing he is described as being”.

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 1.1. Frank Tannenbaum Labeling Theory

Tannenbaum rejected the dualistic fallacy-the idea that delinquents and non-
delinquents are two fundamentally different types of people. According to Tannenbaum,
Criminologists previously attributed undesirable qualities, such as atavistic physical features
and intellectual inferiority, to delinquents, which lead to anti-social behavior.

Tannenbaum sees delinquents as well-adjusted people. Delinquent behavior is

behavior so labeled by adults in a community. Adults, who have more power that children, are
able to have children labeled “delinquent” Once children are labeled delinquent, they become
delinquent (Tannenbaum, 1938).

1.2. Edwin Lemert

In the concept of Edwin Lemert, he said that not all youths labeled “delinquent” accept
these roles; how receptive they are to such labels depends on their social class. if youth comes
from a family where parents are powerless and poor, he or she is more likely to accept the
assigned delinquent role. Lower-class parents may be frustrated by their situation and disturbed
by inner conflicts. They may be quick to label their children bad or worthless, overreacting to
qualities in their children that remind them of traits they despise in themselves. This leads them
to reject their children and, when trouble occurs, to turn them over the community agencies such
as the juvenile court. Once the child arrives in juvenile court, the individual’s character and
deviant behavior are redefined by the court and related agencies.

Lemert believes that having a juvenile court record formally establishes the youth’s
status as a deviant and segregates him or her from the community. Jail experience and contacts
advance this process, further ensuring that the juvenile will think of him or herself as truly
delinquent. Lemert takes it for granted that institutions fail to rehabilitate. He believes, rather,
that they promote the opposite: recidivism (Lemert, 1951).

1.3 Other Labeling Theorist

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 1.3.1. Howard Becker, Becker believed that acquiring a label depends on how other people
react to the behavior itself.

1.3.2. Edwin Schur

Schur thinks the best we can do for children is to leave them alone. He emphasized
three elements of labeling process:

a. stereotyping,

b. retrospective interpretation, and

c. negotiation.

Only very serious violations should be brought to the attention of the courts. If a youth is
adjudicated delinquent, he or she should not be committed to a correctional institution but
rather diverted to a less coercive and stigmatizing program. Schur’s call for his policy or radical
nonintervention is a very simple: “Leave kids alone whenever possible”.

1.3.3. John Braithwaite

Braithwaite explores the nature and impact of shaming, which is one form of labeling.
Shaming takes two forms: disintegrative and re-integrative. Disintegrative shaming is a form
of negative labeling by the juvenile justice system consistent with traditional notions is
counterproductive and tends to likelihood that an offender will develop a deviant identity and
that such identity significantly affects the likelihood of recidivism (Adams, 1996).

2. Conflict Theory

Conflict theory views conflict within society as normal and rejects the idea that society
is organized around a consensus of values and norms. Conflict theorists believe that in its
normal state, society is held together by force, coercion, and intimidation.

The values and norms of different groups are often the basis of conflicting
interest between those groups: Law, therefore, represents the interest held by groups that have
obtained sufficient power or influence to determine legislation. Conflict theory of the Marxist
(Karl Marx) mode suggests that capitalism is the essential root of crime and that repressive
efforts by ruling class to control the ruled class produce delinquency (Regoli & H

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 Theories of Delinquency and their Major Premise: A Summary

1. Supernatural Theory - Crime is caused by otherworld powers or spirits.

2. Classical and Neoclassical Theory - Children commit crimes because they

anticipate more benefits from violating the law than conformity.

3. Biological Theories - Crime is caused by some biological deficiency inside the

offender.

4. Psychoanalytic Theory - Crime is caused by an overdeveloped or under

developed superego.

5. Behavioral Theory - Criminal behavior is learned response that has been

strengthened because of the reinforcements it produces.

6. Cultural Deviance Theory - Crime is caused by disorganization, which hinders

the ability of neighborhoods to monitor children.

7. Strain Theory - Crime is caused by society telling children what to seek without
providing them with the means to do so.

8. Social Control Theory - Juveniles who are not bonded to society are free to
violate its rules.

9. Labeling Theory - Crime is caused by societal reactions to behavior, which

include exposure to the juvenile justice system.

10. Conflict Theory - Crime is caused by imbalances in power and status (Regoli &
Hewitt, 1991).

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 Segment 6. Female Delinquency Theories

Fig. 3: Arrested Female Delinquent

1. Biological and Psychological Theories

Although the earliest explanations of delinquency located its causes in demons and, later,
in free will, they did not make causal distinctions on the basis of the sex of the delinquent. It
was not until the rise of positivistic criminology (Cesare Lombroso), with its early emphasis
on biological and psychological causes of behavior, the female law violators were seen as
uniquely “different” from male criminals.

1.1. Lombroso and Ferrero’s Atavistic Girl

In The Female Offender, published in 1895, Cesare Lombroso and William Ferrero
applied to females the principles of Lombroso’s earlier work on the male criminal. in as much as
criminals were viewed as “throwbacks”, of atavistic by their nature, the female criminal was also
seen as biologically inferior and distinct to noncriminal women. They believed that women were
lower on the evolutionary scale than men and therefore closer to “primitive” origins.

According to them, women are naturally more childlike, less intelligent, lacking in passion,
more maternal, and weak characteristics that make them less inclined to commit crimes. For
Lombroso and Ferrero, women’s criminality is a product of their biology, but this biology also
keeps most women for crime. They also believed that most female delinquents were only
“occasional criminals”, as were most male delinquents.

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 1.2. Freud’s “Inferior Girl”

Sigmund Freud saw female delinquency arising primarily out of the anatomical inferiority
of women and their inability to deal adequately with Electra complex, which emerges during the

Oedipal stage of development (between age 3 and 6). Freud believed that when girls realize they
have no penis, they sense that they are being punished because boys have something important,
they have been denied. Consequently, they develop penis envy, which results in an inferiority
complex.
Envy, and desire for revenge, leads the girl to “act out” as she attempts to compensate for
her inferiority. Freud believed that promiscuous sexual behavior by girls, and eventually
prostitution, grow out of the Oedipal stage of development and repression of early sexual love
for parent of opposite sex.

1.3. Thomas’s “Unadjusted Girl”

In The Unadjusted Girl, published in 1923, W.I. Thomas postulated that males and
females are biologically different. Although both males and females are motivated by natural
biological instincts leading to “wish fulfillment”, how they approach the fulfillment of wishes
differs. Thomas identified four (4) distinct categories of wishes:

a. the desire for new experience.

b. the desire for security.
c. the desire for experience; response; and
d. the desire for recognition.

Thomas believed that women by nature have stronger desires for response and love than
men and that they are capable of more varied types of love as demonstrated by maternal love, a
characteristic atypical of males. This intense need to give and receive love often leads girls into
delinquency, especially sexual delinquency, as they use sex as a means to fulfill other wishes.
However, Thomas did not believe girls were inherently delinquent. Rather, their behaviors are the
result of choices circumscribed by social rules and moral codes designed to guide people’s actions
as they attempt to fulfill their wishes.

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1.4. Pollak’s “Deceitful Girl”

In The Criminality of Women, published in 1950, Otto Pollak argued that women are
actually as criminal as men, but their criminality is hidden or “masked”. The masking of their
crimes and delinquencies is a result of “natural” physiological differences in the sexes, as well as
the tendency of males to overlook or excuse offenses by women.

He believed that the physiological nature of women makes them more deceitful than men.
With less physical strength than men, women must resort to indirect or deceitful means to carry
out crimes or to vent theif aggression; women also are more likely to be “instigators” and men
“perpetrators” of crime (Gilligan, 1983).

2. Marxist-Feminist Theories

Marxist-feminist theories combine the notions of patriarchal male dominance in the home
and interpersonal relationships with male control of the means of production. In such an
environment, the criminal justice system “defines crimes as those actions that threaten this
capitalist-patriarchal system”. For example, James Messerschmitt argues that in societies
characterized by patriarchal capitalism, male owners or managers of capital control workers and
men control women. Thus, under patriarchal capitalism, women experience double
marginality: Women are subordinate to both capitalists and men. Messerschmitt suggest that
girls are less likely to be involved in serious delinquencies for three (3) reasons:

a. Most crimes are “masculine” in nature; physical strength, aggressiveness, and external
proofs of achievement are facet of male personality,

b. Because women are subordinate and less powerful, they have fewer opportunities to
engage in serious crimes, and

c. Males control even illegitimate opportunities, and females are relegated to subordinate
roles even in criminal activities.

When women do engage in crime, their criminal activity tends to be a response to their
subordinate and powerless position in patriarchal capitalist society. Such activity may take the
form of privatized resistance (alcoholism, drug abuse, or suicide) or of accommodation
(generally less serious economic crimes including shoplifting, embezzlement, and prostitution).

WPU-QSF-ACAD-82A Rev. 00 (09.15.20)

 Power-control Theory by John Hagan and his associates, argues that girls engage in
less delinquency because their behavior is more closely monitored and controlled by parents
(especially the mother) in patriarchal families.
In Patriarchal Families the father works outside the home and has control over other,
while the mother stays at home and raises the children.

Egalitarian Families, on the other hand, are characterized by a lack of gender

differences in the consumption and production Spheres. Both parents work and have control
positions outside the home, and both share child rearing responsibilities within the home.

2. Differential Oppression Theory

Differential oppression theory also provides a framework for understanding why girls
become delinquent as well as why they are less inclined to delinquency than males. D.O.T. argues
that adults oppress children as they attempt to impose and maintain adult conceptions of social
order.

Children are perceived as objects, devalued and defined as inferior to adults, and
consequently experience a sense of powerlessness and marginality. Adults impose their social
order on children frequently through oppressive means. Generally, the more oppressed the
child is, the more likely she or he will become delinquent.

Girls in patriarchal societies, however, are doubly oppressed: they are oppressed as
children and as females (recall that earlier Messerschmitt argued that females experience double
marginality) (Regoli & Hewitt, 1991).

WPU-QSF-ACAD-82A Rev. 00 (09.15.20)

ACTIVITIES

I. ACTIVITY 1. WORD GAME

Direction: Fill each blank with letter to produce a word related to Juvenile
Delinquency Write a brief definition for each on the line provided below.(10 pts)

1. D __ L __ __ Q __ E N __

__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________.

2. J __ __ E__ I __E

__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________.

3. __ A R __ N T __ N G

__________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________.

4. D _V I_NT B _ H_ V I _ R

__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________.

5. RE_ELL_ON

__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________.

WPU-QSF-ACAD-82A Rev. 00 (09.15.20)

 ACTIVITY 2- WORD SEARCH
Encircle the words related to adolescent problems and status offense. There are five (5) words
that run horizontally, Vertically and even backward.Write your answer below . 10 pts

R U N A W A Y R D D
Q Q I Y O R A O R L
E T Z E R T S G U P
R P P U R O L L G A
Y O P O D U Q K A V
U U U I T P Z H B A
E J R T V D R G U R
N U O K B P E I S I
V N W L M L H R E C
Y S Z U P J F Y H E
G M R O P A N I T Y
U O U W K G P P O G
I K Q R T F M T L C
S E L B U O R T S Z

Answer:

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

WPU-QSF-ACAD-82A Rev. 00 (09.15.20)

ACTIVITY 3.
Name: ______________________________ Date: _______________
Subject: _____________________________ Section: _____________
I. Multiple Choice: Select the best answer. Write the letter of your answer before each number
that corresponds to the given question.

1. He was a utilitarian figure who argued the purpose of criminal law. That is to provide for
“greatest happiness for the greatest number” of people.

a. Cesare Beccaria c. Jeremy Bentham

b. J. Baptiste Della Porte d. John Howard

2. Johann Kaspar Lavater suggested this causal theory of crime linking facial figures to
criminality. This theory is commonly known as?

a. Conflict Theory c. Demonological Theory

b. Phrenology d. Physiognomy

3. This group believed that: “children were born good and became bad”. Juvenile children were
blamed on bad environments and best way to save children was to get them out of “bad” homes
and placed in “good” ones. This group refers to:

a. Child Savers b. Medical Models c. In re Gault d. Stubborn Child Law

4. It refers to the right and responsibility of the government to take care of minors and others who
cannot legally take care of themselves?

a. Child Adoption Law c. Legal Adoption

b. Parens Patriae d. Parental Authority

5. This was the first house of correction in England. It confined both Children and adults and was
considered as idle and disorderly and became so deplorable that several individuals demanded
reform. This prison is known as:

a. Bridewell c. Reformed Prison

b. Hospice of San Michele d. House of Refuge

WPU-QSF-ACAD-82A Rev. 00 (09.15.20)

6. This prison was established in 1704 by John Howard and became the first institution for
treating juvenile offenders. This reformatory is known as:

a. Bridewell c. Walnut Street Jail

b. Hospice of San Michele d. House of Refuge

7. Under the Agnew’s Types of Strain Theory which of the following do not belong to the group?
a. Failure to reach positive goals c. Exposure to negative stimuli
b. Denial of free will d. None of the above

8. The following are well known key reformers in the field of Criminology during the Age of
Enlightenment, except:

a. Montesquieu b. Robert Peel c. Lombroso d. John Howard

9. It was a land mark case which presented that juvenile courts must provide the basic procedural
protections like the Bill of Rights, including timely advance notice of the charges, the right to
either retained or appointed counsel, confrontation and cross examination of adverse witnesses,
self-incrimination, and the right to remain silent. This case refers to?
a. In re: Winship b. Breed vs. Jones c. In re Gault d. Kent vs. United States
10. Mr. Diego has a protruding skull at his back in which he is being embarrassed every time he
goes to school. If you relate the bumps on Diego’s skull to criminality the crime causation theory
refers to:

a. Positivist Theory b. Supernatural Theory c. Phrenology Theory d. Demonological

Theory

WPU-QSF-ACAD-82A Rev. 00 (09.15.20)

ACTIVITY 4: Matching Type: Match Column A to Column B. Write the letter of your answer
on the provided space before the number in column A.(10 pts.)

Column A

___1. Labeling Theory

___2. Strain Theory
___ 3. Cultural Deviance Theory
___ 4. Behavioral Theory
___5. Psychoanalytic Theory
___6. Biological Theories
___7. Classical and Neoclassical Theory
___8. Supernatural Theory
___9. Social Control Theory
___10. Conflict Theory

Column B

A. Crime is caused by otherworld powers or spirits

B. Children commit crimes because they anticipate more benefits from violating the law than
conformity.

C. Crime is caused by some biological deficiency inside the offender.

D. Crime is caused by an overdeveloped or underdeveloped superego.

E. Criminal behavior is learned response that has been strengthened because of the
reinforcements it produces.

F. Crime is caused by disorganization, which hinders the ability of neighborhoods to monitor

children.

G. Crime is caused by society telling children what to seek without providing them with the means
to do so.

H. Juveniles who are not bonded to society are free to violate its rules.

I. Crime is caused by societal reactions to behavior, which include exposure to the juvenile justice
system.

WPU-QSF-ACAD-82A Rev. 00 (09.15.20)

J. Crime is caused by imbalances in power and status.

II. Answer the following Comprehensively.

Essay: Explain and elaborate the given questions below.

1. Discuss the Somatotype Theory of William Sheldon and its relationship to crime. (10pts.)
2. Discuss and distinguish the Strain Theories of Robert Merton, Albert Cohen, and Cloward
and Ohlin. In your own point of view, which one mostly influences juvenile delinquency? Why?
(20 points)
3.Do you agree that parenting could prevent juvenile delinquency? Why or why not?

REFERENCES:
BOOKS

ALVIOLA, ARMANDO et.al. (2012)” Juvenile Delinquency”. Wiseman’s Book Trading Inc.
ASALAN, JARANILLA GAY L. et.al. (2012). “Understanding Juvenile Delinquency and
Juvenile Justice”. Hunt Publishing Center.
CHAVEZ, CARMELITA B. et.al. (2020)” Juvenile Delinquency and Juvenile Justice
System”. Mind shaper Publishing House.
EDUARDO, JESTER P. et.al. (2016).” Juvenile Delinquency and Crime Prevention”.
Wiseman’s Book Trading Inc.

WPU-QSF-ACAD-82A Rev. 00 (09.15.20)

 RUBRIC SCORING FOR LABORATORY ACTIVITY
(PANDEMIC)

CRITERIA 5 3 1

1. Ability to Clear, concise With missing Confusing, some

explain and answers the ideas, but answers are
answer questions answered the incorrect.
question correctly. questions
correctly.
All materials and Most of the Many materials
set-up used in materials and set- are described
experiments are up used in the inaccurately are
clearly and experiment are not described at
2. Materials accurately accurately all.
described. described.
Drawings and Drawings and
pictures included pictures included
as appropriate. are not
appropriate at all.
Data were Data were Some points are
gathered and gathered and lacking.
presented presented Incomplete
3. Presentation properly. Content properly. Content
of output is comprehensive is informative but
and informative. not
comprehensively
given.
Conclusion Conclusion No conclusion was
includes whether includes what was included in the
the findings learned from the activity or shows
4. Conclusion supported the experiment. little effort and
hypothesis, reflection.
possible sources of
error, and what
was learned from
the experiment.

WPU-QSF-ACAD-82A Rev. 00 (09.15.20)

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Vision 2020
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Vision 2020
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WPU commits to develop quality human resource and green
development
technologies for a of West Philippines
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beyond.

development through relevant instruction,

research and extension services.
WPU-QSF-ACAD-82A Rev. 00 (09.15.20)
Core Values (3CT)
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WPU-QSF-ACAD-82A Rev. 00 (09.15.20)