Investigating Juvenile Delinquency in Culture, Peers, and Delinquency

"Studies of juvenile delinquency that incorporate concepts of culture, community, social organization, socialization and gender are rare" (O'Donnell 1), and that fact makes this book profoundly important and informative. From the description of the book contained on its back cover, we learn what information we are expected to receive from the pages inside: strategies and tools to assist researchers, how culture and specific cultures affect delinquency in adolescents, as well as how families, schools, and neighborhoods factor into the equation. The description of Culture, Peers, and Delinquency, by Clifford R. O'Donnell, adequately describes the written material contained within the book itself.

This book does a very thorough job of examining various cultures and cultural groups and describes how they affect delinquency and peer group formation. As described in the description on the back of the book, an assortment of cultural and ethnic groups are discussed and studied. A lot of cultures vary on what they view as delinquent behavior and some cultural values may in fact promote delinquency in the adolescents of that culture. For instance, "young Hawaiian children are expected to organize themselves as sibling and/or like age groups, which are to be maximally self-supervising" (O'Donnell 5). This independence from adult supervision allows the adolescents to function within the bounds of their own youth culture. Another example from the book details how Vietnamese gangs became prevalent in the state of Hawaii when there was an influx of Vietnamese students. The Vietnamese students, most likely, felt like outsiders and formed gangs to promote a sense of familiarity and protection amongst themselves. Certain activities can be linked to delinquency, such as partying and attending concerts. Interestingly, the activity of reading was linked with causing less delinquency. It is obvious that unsupervised parties, where alcohol and drug consumption is prevalent, would lead to more instances of delinquency. These situations bring groups of adolescents together and they are left to their own devices. Reading is generally a solitary activity, which therefore avoids interaction with other youth. Youth culture is a very important concept, because when formed, the traditional cultures of the individuals have little to no effect on the actions and behaviors of the adolescents. Delinquent peers promote delinquency in others. To create an effective treatment and prevention program, this must be kept in mind and dealt with. Peer pressure is a strong motivator to commit deviant acts and behaviors. It is apparent that youth culture and peer pressure are formidable opponents in the prevention of adolescent delinquency.

From the description, we learn that the book discusses how even the families themselves can contribute to adolescent delinquency, as well as schools and neighborhoods. All of these factors affect how peer groups function. The book explains that adolescents typically trust their friends and peers over adults when they have a problem. The adolescents appreciate their independence from adults, and they look to their peers for help and advice instead of their families. Furthermore, "the importance of independence in youth culture is consistent with the ideals prominent in Western culture" (O'Donnell 23), and studies indicate that even those with strong cultural identification have become westernized. Also, discussed in the book is the particular problem of adolescent curfew disobedience in the city of Las Vegas, NV. This is hardly difficult to understand, because Las Vegas is renowned for its night life. In a city that promotes this type of behavior, it would be understandably difficult to enforce the opposite on the adolescents that reside in the middle of that culture and lifestyle. This brings to mind the old adage of "practice what you preach." Not only are adolescents influenced by their peers, they are obviously influenced by adults, and the situations that surround them.

The description implies that we will learn strategies that enable us to "assess delinquency and to increase the effectiveness of any prevention program." "Cultural-Historical-Activity Theory (CHAT) is centrally concerned with issues of culture, language, cognition, community, and socialization" (O'Donnell 2). The most important socialization in young people is achieved through interactions with more advanced persons. Most of the socialization is learned through language, and what is learned perpetuates the culture. Attitudes, values, and other beliefs are also passed on through these interactions. Another important concept is that of Joint Activity. In Joint Activity, there is a shared goal, beliefs, values, etc. amongst a group or culture of people. This helps to perpetuate the culture, and allows the culture to evolve. Although the culture continues to change, the basis of the past is still present in the existing culture. "Thus, culture is that mass of representations, symbols, statements, text, shared activities, values, and attitudes that have accumulated historically in the community" (O'Donnell 3). Gender differences also need to be addressed. There are differences between the males and females that need to be understood before effective delinquency programs can be created and seemingly little is known about female delinquency. Qualitative research appears to be the preferred and most effective method of research. Voluntary interviewees participate in thorough interviews, and researchers use collected information in conjunction with other data and records. It is important and highly necessary that researchers use all resources available to them in order to properly assess the causes and possible preventative measures associated with juvenile delinquency.

In conclusion, this book is a very important resource to understand and prevent adolescent delinquency. It details many causes of delinquency and provides many answers to many questions. It is rare to find a resource that not only provides information, but that also supplies relevant methods to end a problem. According to the book, delinquency programs were either "relatively successful," had no effect, or "have actually yielded increased levels of delinquency among program participants" (O'Donnell 68). This obviously shows that programs are, for the most part, ineffective and sometimes detrimental. This book would be highly useful in the implementation of an adolescent delinquency program, and even useful for individuals to learn the cause behind delinquency and what they themselves can do to curtail it.

Works Cited

O'Donnell, Clifford R. Culture, Peers, & Delinquency. Haworth Press, Inc., 2003.