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California State University, Dominguez Hills
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Created: January 30, 2002
Latest Update: January 30, 2002
Faculty:
jeannecurran@habermas.org
Olivier at tapcourse@yahoo.com
takata@uwp.edu

Causes: Parenting or Social Structure?

Copyright: Jeanne Curran agnd Susan R. Takata and Individaul Authors, January 2002.
"Fair use"

This essay is based on a query by Prunella Fong:

On Wednesday, January 30, 2002, Prunella Fong wrote:

Subject: I was wondering if u could help me on the topic of delinquency.

Dearest Jeanne, I was just surfing the internet on juvenile delinquency and came across your web page. I am currently on my first year of Uni. doing my Degree in Information Systems and i'm doing an english course as well. This is where i need ur help. I was given an essay topic to write on, but i don't have any information on juvenile delinquency. My essay topic is: "Youth problems giving rise to juvenile delinquency are partly due to parental neglect and partly to changing social conditions and the migration of families into urban areas."

I would really appreciate it if u would help enlighten me on this topic. How can the changing of social conditions and migration of families into urban areas contribute to youths commiting crimes?

I would very much appreciate ur help. Thanking u so much.

On Wednesday, January 30, jeanne responded:

Prunella, I hope this will help. Thank you for asking the question. I needed to put this guide to net searches up.

Best of luck, jeanne

1. The Site Map includes a link to Juvenile Justice sources. Start there.

   One good place to start is with the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP). This source is extensive and helpful, but focused on practical approaches to prevention. Your question is more general. But browse the Topics list at OJJDP, and take a brief look at some of the publications to get some general ideas.

   • OJJDP Topic Resources
     
   • Juvenile Justice Publications

     None of the publications goes directly to the causes of juvenile delinquency. But some possibilities:

     • Being in a Gang: The Background From Female Gangs: A Focus on Research Joan Moore and John Hagedorn. Juvenile Justice Bulletin, March 2001. OJJDP.
     • Justice Matters Parenting as Prevention. From Juvenile Justice, Vol.VII, No. 3, December 2000.

     Some of the information in these topics would give you clues as to what to look for.

2. With that background, try an Internet Search: juvenile delinquency AND parenting

   • Site in Singapore

   • Strengthening America's Families by by Rose Alvarado and Karol Kumpfer, Juvenile Justice, Volume V11, No.3. Notice we had already seen this reference. The search for juvenile delinquency and parenting sends us back to it, so if we missed this article the first time, we should catch it now.

   • Juvenile Delinquency and Juvenile Justice SitesCecil Greek's Site. Great source for majors. Maybe overwhelming for an English essay.

3. Try a search with juvenile delinquency AND social conditions:

   • Social Problems and Juvenile Delinquency in Ecological Perspective

     "In current research which is almost exclusively focused on conditions in U.S. cities, two main moderating processes of ecological context effects are being discussed: First, concentrations of socially disadvantaged people in certain neighborhoods result - via more contacts to equally disadvantaged people and a subsequent loss in social capital - in a spread of deviant subcultures and delinquent behavior; second, these neighborhoods experience a loss of ‚collective efficacy' which is necessary to prevent and control disorder and delinquency. Given the complex nature of interdependencies between social conditions and behavior of individuals on one side and ecological context factors on the other side, a community study which combine these different perspectives and data sources seems to be the most appropriate research design."

   Then try a search on juvenile delinquency AND urban migration:

   • 94-09-07: Statement of Thailand, H.E. Dr. Arthit Ourairat On the United Nations Population Information Network. Provides a sense of the global nature of these social problems.

4. The Yahoo search produced all UN documents. We want to include the issue of urban migration within the U.S. So search for urban migration.

   • Learn.co.uk Basic information. Good site to share with young people. Site was a little balky for me with lots of java script errors. But content looks good for young people.
   • Vietnam's Urban Migration Spawns Class Questions By Samantha Marshall, Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal. February 14, 2000.
   • Urban Population Continues to Grow
   • Reports on Population Council Research
   • Migration and Local Labor Markets By Stephan J. Goetz, Penn State University. Scroll down a little more than a third of the file to find 4. Rural-Urban Migration Trends in the United States This is a site aimed more at scholarly research. But if that were your goal, good site. Maybe a tad overwhelming for an English essay.
   • What do cities mean to us? By Alison Hayford, University of Regina, Canada. Lecture that includes remarks on rural-urban migration that might be helpful in an English essay.