How to Prevent Children and Adolescents From Falling Into Crime

Lack of teaching children and the youth good moral values; today many people fear to speak of values or virtues, lest they consider me an "owl." When life is not regarded as a high value, when virtues are not taught such as honesty, industriousness, study, responsibility, respect, solidarity, many young people find themselves tempted, whether by rebellion, necessity, curiosity, adventure and begin to be immersed in an environment that will pull more and more youths into crime, which will necessarily absorb them, like a spider that weaves its fabric around its prey (Howing et al. 2013).

The influence of the environment on the development of juvenile delinquency is also significant, children placed in an impoverished environment or living in difficult conditions are strongly tempted to decipher their existence by theft or by the search for dubious consolations. These are some of the reasons for the enormous number of convictions for juvenile delinquency during the war, and deprivations (Kruttschnitt and Dornfeld, 2013). The changes in the social environment, restlessness, and the environment have exerted a dissolving influence and have struck the moral life, of which has not yet been recovered in environments where there are poor housing, where promiscuity and misery reign, is where the highest proportion of juvenile offenders.

Broken families: Children belonging to broken homes, and even the difficulties that sometimes occur when parents try to reconcile work and family life, all situations in which there are increasing cases of neglect and lack of limits and control over the children. All these lead to some young people trying to compensate for these shortcomings by joining gangs or youth gangs, among whose components there are very different affinities (ideological, musical, ethnic, sports, etc.), but usually characterized by their transgressive attitudes (Garbarino, 2015). Within these types of groups, a high percentage of antisocial (vandalism, graffiti) or directly violent and criminal behavior takes place.

Socio-economic marginalization or poverty; this hinders the process of socialization of the child. This marginalization occurs more frequently among young people belonging to immigrant families (especially unaccompanied migrant minors) and certain ghettos in the major cities, where dehumanized urban designs often favor the appearance of their inhabitant's feelings of anguish and aggression.

Absenteeism and school failure, already producing low grades in the school a social labeling or "stigmatization" that in many cases will facilitate the path towards ant cyclical behavior or crime. Unemployment is also a factor, given the highest rates of unemployment among young people, resulting in many cases of frustration and hopelessness that will also be breeding ground for deviant behavior (Kruttschnitt and Dornfeld, 2013). The transmission of violent images and attitudes by certain programs in some social media or in video games aimed at minors, which contributes to instilling in minors a system of values in which violence is an acceptable resource.

The consumption of drugs and toxic substances, which, in many cases, causes the addict to be impelled to commit a crime to provide him with the economic means to pay for his addiction. Also, under the effects of its consumption or a deficiency state, the usual inhibitory brakes are reduced or eliminated. The immoderate consumption of alcohol (even if it occurs sporadically), plays a great role in influencing the youth to commit acts of vandalism and violations of road safety, should also be mentioned here.

The insufficiency in teaching and in the transmission of pro social or civic values such as respect for norms, solidarity, generosity, tolerance, respect for others, a sense of self-criticism, empathy, good work fact, etc., which are replaced in our "globalized" societies by more utilitarian values such as individualism, competitiveness, excessive consumption of goods, and which in particular circumstances provoke the emergence of a certain social anomie.

This set of factors occurs to a greater or lesser extent in all the countries of the European Union, in societies with high levels of well-being but in which elements of disintegration and lack of social cohesion are generated that explain this antisocial or deviant behavior. To prevent violent behavior and tackle juvenile delinquency, societies must adopt strategies that combine prevention, intervention, and repression (Howing et al. 2013). Preventive and intervention strategies should be aimed at socializing and integrating all children and young people, mainly through the family, community, peer group, school, vocational training and the labor market.

In any case, legal or repressive measures or responses must be based on the principles of legality, the presumption of innocence, right of defense, judgment with all guarantees, respect for privacy, proportionality and flexibility. Both the development of the process and the choice of the measure and its subsequent execution must be based on the principle of the best interests of the child.

Conclusion

The best way to prevent children and adolescents from falling into crime is to promote, through various government policies, school attendance, linking with sports in any of its aspects, bringing supportive therapies to those young people who come from of risky homes to deal precisely with the psychological impact that this causes, to name some of the most effective. And it is also crucial that from the sectors of power of society, from the media and at school, a message is promoted in favor of work, study and sports and of course the condemnation of any activity that constitutes a crime to avoid

References

Garbarino, J. 2015. "Troubled youth, troubled families: The dynamics of adolescent

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Howing, P.T., J.S. Wodarski, P.D. Kurtz, J.M. Gaudin, Jr. and E.N. Herbst. 2013. "Child

Abuse and delinquency: The empirical and theoretical links." Social Work 35:244-249.

Kruttschnitt, C. and M. Dornfeld. 2013. "Exposure to family violence: A partial explanation for

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Lewis, D.O., C. Mallouh and V. Webb. 2014."Child abuse, delinquency and violent criminality."

In Cicchetti, D. and B. Carlson(eds.), Child Maltreatment: Theory andResearch on the Causes and Consequences ofChild Abuse and Neglect. Cambridge,MA: Cambridge University Press.