NAME: Date: February 7, 2020

Apellido, Diether
Dalisay, Arvy
Gulian, Joshua

INSTRUCTION: Answer the following questions by three’s. Limit your answers into 3-5 sentences
only. 15points

1. Which among the sociological theories of delinquency is most applicable in explaining cause of
juvenile delinquency in the Philippines? Why? 5points

2. Research two (2) studies conducted applying the concepts of the different sociological theories
and briefly discuss their findings. 10points

Answers:

1. The most applicable theory to explain the cause of juvenile delinquency in the Philippines is the
Strain Theory of Robert Merton and Differential Association Theory of Edwin Sutherland. Strain
Theory because of the limited opportunities that are available for the poverty-stricken youth in
the Philippines and the frustration of not having the means or ability to achieve their goals,
because of this they will turn to crime to create an opportunity for themselves and to achieve their
goals. Differential Association Theory also because of the association of the youth to different
people, because of this they usually learn many different things including how to commit crime.
They will learn how to commit petty crimes until they evolved to become a full fledged criminals.

2. (a) Based on the research the findings about Differential association theory takes a social
psychological approach to explain how an individual becomes a criminal. The theory posits that
an individual will engage in criminal behavior when the definitions that favor violating the law
exceed those that don’t. Definitions in favor of violating the law could be specific.

(b) Strain theory explains deviant behavior as an inevitable outcome of the distress individuals
experience when they're deprived of ways to achieve culturally valued goals. For example, based
on findings Western society places value on economic success, even though wealth is accessible
to just a small percentage of people. This results in some individuals from the lower classes using
unconventional or criminal means to obtain financial resources.