Reculer Pour Mieux Sauter: A Review of Attachment and Other Developmental Processes Inherent in Identified Risk Factors for Juvenile Delinquency and Juvenile Offending

Dianna T. Kenny, Susan Blacker and Mark Allerton
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Dianna T. Kenny: Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Sydney, 404, J12, New South Wales 2006, Australia
Susan Blacker: Children's Court Clinic, Children's Court of NSW, Westmead 2145, Australia
Mark Allerton: Children's Court Clinic, Children's Court of NSW, Westmead 2145, Australia

Laws, 2014, vol. 3, issue 3, 1-30

Abstract: The task of this paper is to identify the causes of juvenile delinquency and juvenile offending. The French proverb chosen for its title ( Step back in order to jump better ) reflects the inherent challenge in this task; that is, how far back must we step in order to gain a complete understanding of these causes? Do we commence with adolescence, childhood, birth, pregnancy, conception, or the young person’s parents and their life experiences? How wide a net do we cast? Should we focus primarily on intra-individual factors, or the social ecologies in which young delinquents are found? Every story must have a beginning. In this story about young people who fall off the prosocial developmental trajectory, all sign posts point to attachment and the quality of the child’s first attachment experiences. This review will examine, from attachment and other developmental perspectives, how many of the more proximal causes of delinquency and youth offending have their origins in the emotional deficits suffered in early life. We will argue that delinquent and offending behavior represent attempts to redress these deficits. Consequently, interventions that attempt to prevent offending and reduce recidivism that do not address attachment ruptures and other early deficits cannot expect satisfactory outcomes.

Keywords: juvenile delinquency; juvenile offending; developmental and psychodynamic precursors to crime; risk factors; prevention (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D78 E61 E62 F13 F42 F68 K0 K1 K2 K3 K4 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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