The Main Factors That Contribute To Juvenile Delinquency Among Jamaican Males

What is deviance in the Jamaican context? The definition of what is called deviant in the Jamaican society can sometimes be seen within the culture (Walker &Morgan,2011, p.52). Deviance within the Jamaican society is anything that goes outside of the country’s norms (Stone,1992). In other terms deviance in the Jamaican context can be anything from theft, murders, rape or truancy (Stone,1992). Research has shown that generally speaking of every 10 adolescents, 4% will turn to some form of deviance (Hanimoglu, 2018, p.). In same Jamaica has shown an 80% increase in deviant behaviour from male adolescents from the late 90s to 2000s, that is a cause for concern for the country's young male, (Walker & Morgan, 2011, p.51). According to Professor Barry Chavannes, most of Jamaica’s criminals are young adolescent males. He further noted that these individuals weren’t born deviant, but became bi-product based on a number of factors within the society (Walker & Morgan, 2011, p.52). The occurrence of juvenile delinquency in the Jamaican society is due to contributing factors such as; poor family structure, lack of education and the influence of their peers.

Poor family structure can increase the likelihood of the Jamaican male becoming a juvenile delinquent. Families with poor structures can be viewed as families which exhibit conflicts, misbehaviour, and often child neglect or abuse on the part of both and or one parent which occurs continuously. Research showed a correlation between discipline and socioemotional health within a specimen of Jamaican Adolescents. The statistics or result showed that the shocking amount of teenager participants experienced physical punishment within their families. The study found a significant association with physical punishment and with an unfavourable psychological and behavioural result or outcome, the study showed that teenager who reported being victims of physical discipline showed a greater tendency to developmental adaptation than those who are non-victimized peers. Although, a different study showed that more industrialized culture, sociodemographic factors had no association with cases of physical punishment. Furthermore, there was a statistical significance with the gender on all socioemotional dimensions and behaviour problems but not with physical punishment (Smith, Springer, & Barrett, 2010). Empirical research has shown that favourable child outcomes are facilitated by parental nurturance and responsiveness facilitate. In contrast to, correctional or disciplinary and neglectful parenting put children at risk for unfavourable result. Cruel parenting is a serious risk factor for children’s aggressive and violent behaviours; hostile and abusive families produce violent children and youth as proposed by the research literature. Furthermore, a positive correlation is seen between physical punishment and aggressive behaviour. Research has shown a relationship between boys who lacked close identification with their fathers (Smith & Green, 2007, p. 419).

Research has shown that a person raised in a single parent family shows a statistical relationship of increased risk of delinquency and antisocial behaviour exist. Furthermore, the socioeconomic conditions of these family and other risks, such as disciplinary styles and problems in supervising and monitoring children, show that these other factors account for the differential outcomes in these families (Austin, 1978).