Why juveniles commit crime? There are many reasons why they engage in illegal activities. Each person is different and is affected by different factors such as economic differences. These juveniles can also make a rational choice, and because of this, delinquency prevention teaches youths that they will be punished for their illegal actions.
The first prevention strategy is called general deterrence. This concept holds that the more sever the punishment, the greater deterrence effect on offenders. General deterrence tries to convince criminal youths that the benefit of the crime is not greater than the punishment.
The second deterrence strategy is specific deterrence. This strategy believes that youths will stop committing crime because of the severe punishment they have to go through. Although this strategy seems logical, some studies report that punishment deters juveniles from committing crime; other studies show punishment does not have a great influence on deterring crime.
The third deterrence strategy is situational crime prevention. When juveniles are about to commit a crime, they measure the benefits of the act, versus the potential losses. This strategy believes that if youth is aware the punishment outweighs the benefits of the crime, they will chose not to commit crime. The situational crime prevention purpose is to reduce opportunities to reduce crime.
The three deterrence strategies have positive sides. However, general deterrence assumes that juvenile delinquents can make rational choices. I do not believe all teenagers are ready to make such choices; most of the time they follow a peer group and do whatever the other teenagers do. With specific deterrence strategy, there is no strong evidence to believe that youths will not choose to be involved in criminal acts again. I think the situational crime prevention seems to be the most effective in deterring crime, because it increases the efforts to commit crime, increases shame to commit illegal acts, and increases the danger of criminal activity.
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