Practitioners' Views of Delinquency Causation

Abstract

A number of the usual factors considered in comprehensive juvenile justice planning are briefly reviewed. Several additional factors which should be considered in such planning are suggested. These additional factors include interagency differences in beliefs concerning delinquency etiology. The importance of this factor, especially with regard to programmatic areas, is demonstrated by the analysis of differences in beliefs about delinquency causation among various agency personnel in the juvenile justice system of one entire state. Results suggest that, in general, practitioners in the field regard delinquency as developing from a multiplicity of causes. Significant differences among agencies, in terms of frequency of mentioning, were found for five of seventeen causes of delinquency. Significant differences among types of agencies occurred for the following causes: lack of parental supervision; miscellaneous home and family influences; school-related factors; emotional and mental factors; and poverty. It is concluded that differences among agencies in their beliefs concerning the causes of delinquency may well be an important but often overlooked aspect of the juvenile justice planning process.