The Juvenile Delinquency Factors in Croydon

📄 Words:	2396
📝 Subject:	Criminal Law & Juvenile Justice
📑 Pages:	8
📚 Topics:	Juvenile Delinquency

Abstract

Youth crime is a severe social problem that jeopardizes public safety and hinders the well-being of minors. The high prevalence of the problem in the UK and its far-reaching adverse implications necessitate conducting an in-depth research on the causes of youth crime. The proposed study will identify social and psychological factors causing juvenile crime in Croydon. The focus of the study will be on teenagers aged 13 years to ensure the precision of findings. A mixed-method critical exploratory study based on an online questionnaire survey will be conducted among the population of 100 13-year-olds with criminal records. A thematic analysis will be utilized to interpret the data and detect the most prevalent social and psychological factors.

Background and Literature Review

Juvenile offense is a severe social issue that involves criminal activity of minors. The high level of this problem’s prevalence and its devastating implications for the criminal justice system and society necessitates evidence-based solutions (Densley et al., 2020). The distinctive features of this type of offense due to the age of criminals have generated a separate branch in the legal system, with particular attention paid to the age-appropriate correctional and preventative measures (Hobson et al., 2021). While multiple programs to mitigate youth crime have been implemented globally, their ineffectiveness requires continuous improvements and alignment with the causing factors (“Council pledges,” 2019). A systematic approach has been validated due to the fact that “young adolescents with disruptive and delinquent behavior, showing multiple risk factors, need constructive change-oriented treatment” (De Vries et al., 2018, p. 3640). In the UK, “15,800 children were cautioned or sentenced, 3,500 proven knife and offensive weapon offences were committed by children, 8,800 first time entrants to the youth justice system” (Youth Justice Board, 2022). Such a prevalence necessitates research with a geographical focus on the factors and appropriate solutions.

The proposed research study will be conducted in Croydon, United Kingdom. The area has been selected due to its high level of youth crime in comparison to other London boroughs. Indeed, “there were 313 recorded victims of serious youth violence, classed over the past 12 months, more victims than any other outer London borough” (Matthews, 2017, para. 3). In addition, studies show that urban locations are characterized by a higher rate of crime in comparison to country areas (Allen, 2022; Anderson, 2019; Bobbio et al., 2020; Zhao & Tang, 2018). For that matter, the proposed study will explore the underlying causes of crime committed by 13-year-olds in Croydon to inform effective strategies for eliminating this legal issue. The study will be informed by the research gaps identified in the academic literature.

Annotated bibliography

Binik, O., Ceretti, A., Cornelli, R., Schadee, H., Verde, A., & Gatti, U. (2019). Neighborhood social capital, juvenile delinquency, and victimization: Results from the international self-report delinquency study-3 in 23 countries. European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research, 25(3), 241-258.

The study conducted by Binik et al. (2019) addressed the dependence of youth crime on their social environment. Using a mixed-method design, the scholars conducted self-reported surveys with school children from 23 countries to further analyze and categorize the findings. The study results indicated that juvenile delinquency is significantly influenced by social capital issues, where communities with stable social capital were characterized by a higher level of youth protection, ultimately leading to a lower crime rate among minors. A large sample is a strength of the study since it allows for establishing external validity of the findings. However, the research contains a weakness manifested in the lack of country-specific detection of factors related to social capital and its influence on the crime committed by youth. Moreover, the absence of implications for practices articulated in the article might be considered a gap. Therefore, these characteristics justify the proposed research, which will concentrate on country-specific factors with the emphasis on evidence informing practical solutions.

Gearhart, M. C., & Tucker, R. (2020). Criminogenic risk, criminogenic need, collective efficacy, and juvenile delinquency. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 47(9), 1116-1135.

The study by Gearhart and Tucker (2020) was aimed at researching the causes of juvenile delinquency based on the theoretical premises of the collective efficacy approach. The researchers conducted a survey to collect self-reported information from 3,575 mothers of teenagers with criminal records from the USA (Gearhart & Tucker, 2020). It was found that “lower levels of school satisfaction, poor academic performance, and limited parental closeness; and more procriminal attitudes, disorder in the home, impulsivity, substance use, and prior delinquency” labeled as criminogenic risks were indicative of high crime rates among teenagers (Gearhart & Tucker, 2020, p. 1122). The study’s strength is its contribution to the existing body of literature by identifying the individual-level risks’ prevalence over collective ones. Nonetheless, there are some limitations to this research, which include data collected from mothers and not children, as well as the self-reported data that implies bias. Moreover, the lack of validation of crime factors’ dependency on location might be considered a gap in the research. For that matter, the proposed study is aimed at filling this gap and exploring the particularities of juvenile delinquency in Croydon.

Haylock, S., Boshari, T., Alexander, E. C., Kumar, A., Manikam, L., & Pinder, R. (2020). Risk factors associated with knife crime in the United Kingdom among young people aged 10–24 years: a systematic review. BMC Public Health, 20(1), 1-19.

The research project initiated by Haylock et al. (2020) was focused on the topic of youth crime in the UK and its factors. Using a systematic review method, the scholars examined recent publications covering the contributing factors of youth crime in individuals from 10 to 24 years old. The results indicated that the most influential determinant of crime committed in youth was the experience of adverse childhood episodes (Haylock et al., 2020). Given the particular coverage of the psychology of gangs as a dominant form of youth crime in the paper, this feature might be considered a strength of the reviewed article. At the same time, it has a limitation, which is the restricted focus on knife crimes specifically, which might yield non-generalizable implications. In addition, a literature gap has been identified in this research study, namely the unification of a large sample with a significant age difference. Given these characteristics, this article might justify the initiation of the proposed study, which will be narrowly focused on 13-year-olds and the specific factors leading to their criminal behavior.

Ukwayi, J. K., Angioha, P. U., & Ojong-Ejoh, M. U. (2018). Youth empowerment: A criminological approach for crime prevention and control in Cross River State, Nigeria. Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 22(11), 73-81.

The authors of this research study focused on the topic of youth crime prevention and its effectiveness. The study was conducted using a method of quantitative questionnaire with the collection of data from primary and secondary sources. For the purposes of data analysis, the method of statistical analysis was used. The findings revealed that given the socio-economic and behavioral determinants of juvenile delinquency, the skill acquisition techniques and economic empowerment of youth might be effective solutions in preventing underage criminal behavior (Ukwayi et al., 2018). The research article is characterized by a significant strong feature which is the determination to the justification of practical use of evidence. In particular, the scholars validate the integration of their findings in the development of preventative programs for youth at risk of criminal activity.

As for the weaknesses of the reviewed study, they are related to the focus on societal norms as indicative of the predisposition of youth toward criminal behavior without the articulation of individual-level determinants. The gap in the reviewed study is its omission of the identification of geographically-bound indicators, which might be helpful in designing effective preventative measures. In such a manner, the proposed research project will fill this gap by focusing on the Croydon area with its specific local particularities in terms of environment, which might induce elevated criminal levels among teenagers. Such an approach will allow for increasing the body of academic literature on the topic with the validation of appropriate solutions.

Svensson, R., & Oberwittler, D. (2021). Changing routine activities and the decline of youth crime: A repeated cross‐sectional analysis of self‐reported delinquency in Sweden, 1999–2017. Criminology, 59(2), 351-386.

The study carried out by Svensson and Oberwittler (2021) investigated the factors contributing to the decline in youth crime in Sweden over an 18-year period between 1999 and 2017. The researchers utilized secondary data obtained from a cross-sectional national school survey. As the result of their study, the scholars found that the incorporation of social mechanisms with micro-level interventions yields a reduction in the level of youth crime. The strengths of this article are its long-term process and the external validity of the findings that might be generalized to other communities since the best practice solutions were consistently effective. However, the weakness of this study is the use of secondary data, which might have unknown biases and drawbacks. Moreover, the gap in this research is its lack of integration of local particularities, including cultural and environmental factors, in the opportunities for reducing criminal behaviors in minors. These findings of the literature review justify the proposed study by necessitating the generation of evidence on Croydon-specific causes of youth crime which would inform strategies for delinquency reduction.

Research Question

The formulation of research questions is justified by the scope of the problem, the identified research gap, and the focus of the investigation being limited to the Croydon area and the population of 13-year-olds. The general research question for this research study might be formulated as follows: What social and psychological factors might be mitigated to minimize criminal behavior in 13-year-old residents of Croydon, UK? The specific research questions that would inform the general question are as follows:

RQ1: What social and psychological factors cause youth crime?
RQ2: Are psychological factors prevalent over social determinants of juvenile delinquency?

These research questions will be answered on the basis of met objectives formulated in the next section of the proposal.

Aim and Objectives

The necessity to investigate the problem of youth crime in the Croydon Borough based on the identified literature gaps informs the aim and objectives of the proposed study. The aim of this research project is to understand why youth aged 13 years are susceptible to crime. In order to pursue this aim, the research will be directed at achieving the following objectives:

To explore and critically examine social factors of youth crime in Croydon Borough;
To explore and critically examine psychological determinants of youth crime in Croydon Borough;

Method and Methodology

Given the research question, aim, and objectives of the planned research project, the choice of its methodology should fit the study context. In particular, the mixed-method exploratory design will be utilized to conduct this inquiry. For data collection, an online questionnaire survey will be used (Nayak & Narayan, 2019). Descriptive and exploratory designs are of critical importance for social sciences since they yield multifaceted data capable of explaining social phenomena (Siedlecki, 2020). According to Töppel and Reichel (2021), “the questionnaire survey has the advantage of generating a lot of collectable data in a manageable timeframe” (p. 108). Importantly, to reduce the resources necessary for conducting this research, online platforms will be used. As stated by Smith (2021), “online surveys are structured questionnaires that are set up, disseminated, and completed by participants over the Internet and provide a simple, low cost, uncomplicated method of gathering primary survey data” (p. 369). Thus, it is validated to incorporate digitalized approaches to collect data efficiently.

Non-randomized purposeful sampling will be used within the framework of the proposed study. To recruit the participants, social media and e-mailing will be used as a method of contacting prospective respondents for the survey (Winter & Lavis, 2020). The individuals aged 13 with a criminal record will be contacted, survey questions will be delivered to them via e-mail, and the answers will be obtained online with the following analysis using quantitative methods (Blackstone, 2018). The findings will be interpreted qualitatively with the presentation of the findings in the form of tables and graphs. The theoretical triangulation will serve as a basis for internal validity and credibility facilitation. The time scale for the study’s planned activities is presented in Appendix 1.

Ethical Considerations

The study will be conducted with adherence to appropriate ethical research standards (Sellers & Arrigo, 2022). When investigating criminal and legal issues with the help of common research methods, specific ethical considerations should be in place to ensure the protection of sensitive data pertaining to unlawful behavior of participants (Chang & Mukherjee, 2021). Moreover, since the survey will be conducted using online methods of recruiting and data collection, the ethical principles relevant to the digital environment should be followed. The ethical issues in online research deal with the necessity to obtain written informed consent for processing the information obtained via digital platforms with the assurance of non-disclosure under privacy and confidentiality principles (Chua, 2022). Thus, the individuals’ data will be properly protected, as well as their participation will be voluntary.

Limitations

The proposed research project might be characterized by some limitations due to the selected methodology. Indeed, the findings might be biased due to the collection of data directly from youth who will report perceived ideas and opinions on the matter. According to research, self-reported data might not always reflect the objective reality due to the perceived implications of the individuals; participants’ views might significantly differ from those reported in statistics (Leerkeset al., 2019). However, since the study aims at exploring the factors that influence 13-year-olds tendency to commit crimes in order to prevent their unlawful actions, it is relevant to collect self-reported perception-related data to understand the participants’ way of thinking. In such a manner, the preventative measures will be appropriate for the target population and will be more effective in mitigating the factors that youth considers most influential.

Significance of Research

The proposed research project will be a significant contribution to the current body of literature on the topic due to its focus on the cultural and environmental particularities of small distinctive geographical areas. The study will provide significant theoretical and practical implications for both decision-makers and other researchers. Indeed, communities and institutions will obtain evidence for informed solutions to the problem, while scholars will be able to build consecutive research on the effective solutions to youth crime.

References

Allen, M. (2022). Trends in firearm-related violent crime in Canada, 2009 to 2020. Juristat: Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, 85, 1-51.

Anderson, B. (2019). Youth crime and the politics of prevention. In Youth Justice: Contemporary Policy and Practice (pp. 75-90). Routledge.

Blackstone, A. (2018). Principles of sociological inquiry: Qualitative and quantitative methods. Saylor Academy Open Textbooks.

Bobbio, A., Arbach, K., & Illescas, S. R. (2020). Juvenile delinquency risk factors: Individual, social, opportunity, or all of these together? International Journal of Law, Crime and Justice, 62, 100388.

Chang, L. Y. C., & Mukherjee, S. (2021). Researching crime and deviance in Southeast Asia: Challenges and ethics when using online data. In Researching Cybercrimes (pp. 419-433). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.

Chua, S. M. (2022). Navigating conflict between research ethics and online platform terms and conditions: A reflective account. Research Ethics, 18(1), 39-50.

Council pledges groundbreaking study will shape future of children and young people’s services. (2019). Your Croydon.

Densley, J., Deuchar, R., & Harding, S. (2020). An introduction to gangs and serious youth violence in the United Kingdom. Youth Justice, 20(1-2), 3-10.

De Vries, S. L., Hoeve, M., Asscher, J. J., & Stams, G. J. J. (2018). The long-term effects of the youth crime prevention program “New Perspectives” on delinquency and recidivism. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 62(12), 3639-3661.

Gearhart, M. C., & Tucker, R. (2020). Criminogenic risk, criminogenic need, collective efficacy, and juvenile delinquency. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 47(9), 1116-1135.

Haylock, S., Boshari, T., Alexander, E. C., Kumar, A., Manikam, L., & Pinder, R. (2020). Risk factors associated with knife-crime in United Kingdom among young people aged 10–24 years: A systematic review. BMC Public Health, 20(1), 1-19.

Hobson, J., Lynch, K., Payne, B., & Ellis, L. (2021). Are police-led social crime prevention initiatives effective? A process and outcome evaluation of a UK youth intervention. International Criminal Justice Review, 31(3), 325-346.

Leerkes, A., Martinez, R., & Groeneveld, P. (2019). Minority paradoxes: Ethnic differences in self-reported offending and official crime statistics. The British Journal of Criminology, 59(1), 166-187.

Matthews, T. (2017). Croydon has one of the highest levels of youth violence in London, statistics show. Croydon Advertiser. .

Nayak, M. S. D. P., & Narayan, K. A. (2019). Strengths and weaknesses of online surveys. Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 24(5), 31-38.

Sellers, B. G., & Arrigo, B. A. (2022). The narrative framework of psychological jurisprudence: Virtue ethics as criminal justice practice. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 63, 101671.

Siedlecki, S. L. (2020). Understanding descriptive research designs and methods. Clinical Nurse Specialist, 34(1), 8-12.

Smith, K. (2021). Conducting online crime and safety surveys with British farmers. International Criminal Justice Review, 31(4), 369-383.

Töppel, M., & Reichel, C. (2021). Qualitative methods and hybrid maps for spatial perception with an example of security perception. Urban Planning, 6, 105-119.

Winter, R., & Lavis, A. (2020). Looking, but not listening? Theorizing the practice and ethics of online ethnography. Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics, 15(1-2), 55-62.

Youth Justice Board (2022). Youth justice statistics: 2020 to 2021 (accessible version).

Zhao, X., & Tang, J. (2018). Crime in urban areas: A data mining perspective. Acm Sigkdd Explorations Newsletter, 20(1), 1-12.

Appendix 1

Gantt Chart of the Research Project Time Scale