Delinquency is a legal term that refers to a law-breaking minor. Most jurisdictions will not convict criminal minor in the same way as the adults. The minors are placed in juvenile institutions while the adults may face time in a minimum or maximum prison. It is a hard topic and area of research on how criminals come to be who they are. Researchers try to explain theories of delinquency by looking into the biological and psychological factors.
Biological Theories
Biological theories suggest that the juvenile delinquency is due to inherited physical characteristics of human behavior. This theory holds that there are naturally born criminals whose physical traits govern their behavior. The theories are more inclined to internal processes and features of a person and not their personal accountability. Some of the biological factors include genetic features and biochemical profiles that affect the inclination of a person to criminal behavior. According to Shoemaker (2010) , some of the biological theories that cause delinquency are atavism, generic, somatypes, phrenology, and physiognomy.
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Atavism relates to physical irregularities present in an individual at birth. This factor may not determine delinquency but the inclination to crime. Generic is also a factor that explains delinquency in that criminals is likely to be born from a family of deviant traits. Another factor is somatyping that relates to the common body types present in deviant people. According to Sheldon, people who are muscular and have broad shoulders are likely to be juvenile delinquents. Phrenology relates to the brain that is the greatest source of personality. Physiognomy relates to facial features that indicate some moral character. The theory on physiognomy explains why silent or those with an honest look gain more trust that people with contrary looks (Shoemaker, 2010) .
Psychological Theories
Psychological theories, unlike the biological theories, incline towards the person, their within and surroundings to explain juvenile delinquency. These theories are psychodynamic and social learning theories. Based on the psychodynamic theory, juvenile delinquency is because of a minor’s deviant personalities that developed while infants. These personalities will control the criminal inclination of a minor during their adolescence age. Three main factors are instinctual drives (Id), ego, and superego. The Id is the drive while ego controls Id and the superego develops through interaction with elders which develops the inclination to moral rules or moral reasoning. According to the psychodynamic approach, the early childhood of a person can affect their ego and superego leaving the Id to have greater power hence controlling their behavior (McCandles & McDavid, 1962) .
The social learning theory argues that delinquency is due to close interactions with others, that is, a child will learn the bad from their relations. Based on the environment of a child, they can either engage in crime or not. The social life, family, and surroundings contribute to their moral values and principles. Their social learning with others in or outside their family affects their behavior, moral inclinations, and social development. Their social learning may even affect their personality and egocentric needs (McCandles & McDavid, 1962) .
Conclusion
Crime is an issue that society tries to understand especially juvenile delinquency. According to the biological and psychological theories, juvenile delinquency can occur due to internal process, features of a person, and their exposure to society and early childhood upbringing. Biologically, genes, the brain, heredity and the body type can contribute to juvenile delinquency. Psychologically, the social learning and early childhood of a minor can explain their inclination towards crime. There are so many factors that contribute to the crime but biological and psychological are core as they relate to the person and their background.
References
McCandles, B., & McDavid, J. (1962). Psychological Theory, Research, and Juvenile Delinquency. The Journal of Criminal and Police Science, 54 (1), 1-14.
Shoemaker, D. (2010). Theories of Delinquency: An Examination of Explanations of Delinquent Behavior (6th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
