Exam 3: Causes of Delinquency: Rational Choice and Individual Explanations

A "specific deterrent" discourages offenders from repeating their crimes by threatening to punish the offender more harshly the next time.

Biochemical explanations of delinquency focus solely on the influence illegal drugs have on behavior.

Social explanations of crime place causes of delinquency in the structure of society, cultural differences, and social processes.

Outline the "classical/rational choice" theory for explaining delinquency. What are the types of deterrence? What are the three essential offender expectations for deterrence to be effective?

Briefly explain how "susceptibility rationale," "school failure," and "differential treatment" have been used by researchers to offer an apparent link between learning disabilities and delinquency.

What three factors does the effectiveness of deterrence rely on?

Positive theorists developed explanations for delinquency based on individual factors such as heredity, intelligence, and psychological characteristics of the offender.

Explanations of juvenile delinquency which focus on the individual include:

Criminological theories are based on research studies that support or question their accuracy.

Classical theory is also called:

Which one of the following is the best example of general deterrence?

The classical theory of crime states that:

From a juvenile justice perspective, the primary purpose for studying and understanding causes of delinquency is to develop policies and programs for preventing juvenile crime and correcting delinquents.

What psychologists introduced behaviorism?

The original, classical theory of crime held that it was simply a voluntary and rational choice.

Positive theories of delinquency explanations hold that behavior is determined by factors which individuals have complete control over.

Positivist theories believe that delinquency is:

What are the criteria for theories that best explain delinquency causation?

Drugs have NOT been proven to cause what?

West and Farrington(1973) conducted studies that lead them to conclude that "IQ" is a predictive factor in future delinquency.