Criminology Project for IV Trimester

Synopsis

Broken Home: Juvenile Delinquency

Introduction.

That crimes occur is a fact. But what leads to causation of crime is a subjective
question and is varied and much debated. Many factors lead to crime but if causes
of crime are to be studied then instead of single acts of crime, a large number of
crimes need to be seen in order to observe a trend and draw reasonable
conclusions. The earlier notions that crime is caused by the will of the supernatural
or because of inherent features in the criminal (“born criminal” by Cesare
Lombroso) have now been disregarded to a large extent and now new theories to
explain such causation have come up. This includes The Differential Association
Theory by Edwin H. Sutherland and such others.
One of the latest developments in the research on causation of crime has turned to
the Social Control Theory which involves the association and control from family,
school, morals, ideas etc, and the most prominent one being the Family as a person
tends to spend most part of his childhood life at home. The non-conformity of the
family with that of the accepted rules in the society, especially in cases of collapse of
the family structure is one of the major causes of disassociation with the family and
is referred to as the Broken Home.
The project report aims to study the effect of broken homes on crime. The various
ways in which the children of broken home are affected due to disrupted families
and the reasons for their turn towards delinquency are seen next. The results are
correlated with data analysis on different issues such as gender differences and
different types of crimes. The application of this theory has been seen with
reference to India. At last suggestions have been given with respect to controlling
the number of crimes done in pursuance of this cause through legal and social
measures.

Contemporary Principles of Criminology Discussed in the Project Report.

1. The Differential Association Theory by Edwin H. Sutherland.

2. Social Control Theory.
3. Nye’s Theory of Family Based Control.
4. Strain Theory.
5. Emile Durkheim’s Suicides.
6. Juvenile Delinquency.
Conclusion.

Thus we conclude from the project report that disrupted families or broken homes
affect the children adversely and lead to juvenile as well as adult crimes because of
a number of reasons which are also the reasons which show why the family is
important in an individual’s life.
A broken home can disrupt and confuse a child's world. This is true from infancy
through the teen years. No one wants to lose the secure feeling that a family
provides. Children experience a wide array of emotions to try to navigate. Parents
have to provide as much stability as possible and involve other responsible role
models to provide support for their child. It is important that the child knows that
he is still safe, loved and cherished.
The parents need to consider the well-being of their children before they take any
measure in disrupting the social ties with the other spouse and if it becomes
absolutely essential, then special care needs to be taken by the guardian of the child
to shield him from the consequences from such break-down so that the emotional
and psychological well-being of the child is not affected. This is also important on
the ground that such feelings tend to become violent which is depicted by ways of
anti-social behaviour and in quite a few cases in the form of crime and delinquency.
Although circumstances might lead a person to commit crimes but it is the moral,
social and foundation that a person receives that leads him to behave in a particular
manner in the light of given circumstances. So, a person from a healthy family may
not commit crime in the same circumstance in which the person from the broken
home committed the crime.
Hence it is important to deal with this phenomenon of broken home, which has
been increasing at a steep rate, nowadays in order to decrease the rate of crimes
being committed as well as to ensure that children- who are the future of the nation
be given the appropriate care and nurturance that they deserve in order to bloom
into well-natured and developed citizens who help in the development of the
nation and not add but help in reducing the number of crimes being committed.

Ekansh Arora
2017BALLB01