Criminal Justice
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Criminal Activity after Adolescence Years
Ashley Taylor
Everest University
Criminal Activity after Adolescence Years
When you look at the criminal activity amongst young people and why it decreases after adolescence years there are two reasons that contribute to the decrease. These reasons are connected, but also separate as well. One has to do with the obligations that they come to have after adolescence and the other has to do with the change in their psychology after that stage (Siegel & Welsh, 2012). Studies show through Psychologists that adolescence is a time of pushing boundaries and really trying to find one’s self. This is a time that adolescents are eager to determine what their true identity is. In doing so, they need to push back against the norms and values that they have learned from authority figures (Siegel & Welsh, 2012). This I find is the main reason why adolescents are likely to commit crimes. Basically they want to experiment with identities in which they see themselves as rebels. Adolescences want to establish their independence and the fact that they do not have to behave in the way that society expects them to behave. These things are the reason they commit crimes. Once they have passed through adolescence, they no longer feel these urges as strongly and are less likely to commit crimes.
We also have to look at the fact that adolescents have fewer responsibilities in their lives. This lack of responsibility can make crime more feasible for them. They don’t have to report to a job on a daily basis. They don’t have a family that expects them to be at home at a certain time. When you look at this lack of responsibility it gives the adolescence the time and the psychological “space” to allow them to commit crimes. When you travel outside of this adolescent stage then you begin to build a family and you have a job to report to, and you basically have no free time on your hands in which to commit crimes. For these reasons, we...
Ashley Taylor
Everest University
Criminal Activity after Adolescence Years
When you look at the criminal activity amongst young people and why it decreases after adolescence years there are two reasons that contribute to the decrease. These reasons are connected, but also separate as well. One has to do with the obligations that they come to have after adolescence and the other has to do with the change in their psychology after that stage (Siegel & Welsh, 2012). Studies show through Psychologists that adolescence is a time of pushing boundaries and really trying to find one’s self. This is a time that adolescents are eager to determine what their true identity is. In doing so, they need to push back against the norms and values that they have learned from authority figures (Siegel & Welsh, 2012). This I find is the main reason why adolescents are likely to commit crimes. Basically they want to experiment with identities in which they see themselves as rebels. Adolescences want to establish their independence and the fact that they do not have to behave in the way that society expects them to behave. These things are the reason they commit crimes. Once they have passed through adolescence, they no longer feel these urges as strongly and are less likely to commit crimes.
We also have to look at the fact that adolescents have fewer responsibilities in their lives. This lack of responsibility can make crime more feasible for them. They don’t have to report to a job on a daily basis. They don’t have a family that expects them to be at home at a certain time. When you look at this lack of responsibility it gives the adolescence the time and the psychological “space” to allow them to commit crimes. When you travel outside of this adolescent stage then you begin to build a family and you have a job to report to, and you basically have no free time on your hands in which to commit crimes. For these reasons, we...