Teenage Deviance

[candela]

Im doing a poll in social science about what people think causes Deviance in teenagers, if you could please reply you would help me out a ton - feel free to go into more detail also pease include you age if its not an option above thanks.



For the record i think its family structure, and im 17.

[Fishhead]

I'm in sociology and we are about to finish our unit on deviance. I don't think you can pinpoint the cause of deviance on any one thing. You find deviance in all social classes, the rich and poor, whether the deviant has had a good upbringing or a bad one. So I really don't feel it's any of those because it is found everywhere, and I'm 16.

[Draco]

I'm in sociology and we are about to finish our unit on deviance. I don't think you can pinpoint the cause of deviance on any one thing. You find deviance in all social classes, the rich and poor, whether the deviant has had a good upbringing or a bad one. So I really don't feel it's any of those because it is found everywhere, and I'm 16.

[/b]

That's true, but ya gatta realize that deviance has many factors to it that are more important than the rest.. Family structure/support is HUGE in preventing it. With proper support from family you can prevent alot, doesn't mean it's gunna stop it. Another huge factor I believe is peer pressure and the media. Those 2 can infulence alot in a young mind that could start being devient(sp?). There's alotta crap in the media kids pick up on and sends the wrong messages. Ex: Men are portrayed as strong, aggresive, don't cry/back down. Some kid's gunna get picked on and he's gunna attack em, because he's seen men defened themselves and be aggressive.



Note: I'm remembering stuff from sociology class about a year ago. And I've been awake for 18ish hours...And this is just my thoughts. Now if you'll excuse me I have to see a matress about some sleep

[Jaegermeister]

It's funny, we actually just finished talking about crime rates in our demography course, and the basic conclusions that we drew are that while certain factors do seem to influence crime rates, there are no clearr conclusions that can be drawn, as race, income level, family structure, health, ect, all areas of life had crime. We looked at both an ethnic breakdown and an income level breakdown, and we saw similar results for all of the breakdowns. While the prevalence did change some, the basic fact of the matter is that all of the groups followed a very similar pattern. So I guess in answer to your question about which of those factors cause crime, Yes.



As far as family structure/crime relation: While its true that a good family structure can help prevent crime, a bad family structure corellarily does NOT encourage crime. So I think it's kind of a faulty argument, as the correlation simply isn't there to support the argument. The same goes for pretty much every cause listed up there. While the influence of x prevents crime, the lack of x's influence will not encourage crime, or vice versa (The influence of x encourages crime, the lack of x's influence will not prevent crime).

[sweethelp]

I generally think it's the entire environment that the teen has. From friends and family to school. I think it's just a mix of everything but especially what the person's environment is; while it isn't always true I think the teen's environment plays a huge role.



~~Kimmy~~

[nevermindmylife]

stupidity, plain and simple...



peer pressure can be a factor, but it is stupidity that has an individual decide to do something illegal just because they have been pressured

drugs and alcohol have a stupidity factor of their own that contributes... but I really think drugs and alcohol are part of the result, not the reason

mental defect would mean that there are a hell of a lot of mentally defective individuals out there... which isn't so

and TV/media is just a stupid excuse ppl use to avoid the real issue



so my conclusion is that it is pure stupidity, and i know there are alot of people who are going to argue against, and I have argued this with people... but in the end, no matter what, I think people can rise out of their situation, and should they resort to crimes and deviance, they are stupid.

[sinical_sycology]

stupidity, plain and simple...



peer pressure can be a factor, but it is stupidity that has an individual decide to do something illegal just because they have been pressured

drugs and alcohol have a stupidity factor of their own that contributes... but I really think drugs and alcohol are part of the result, not the reason

mental defect would mean that there are a hell of a lot of mentally defective individuals out there... which isn't so

and TV/media is just a stupid excuse ppl use to avoid the real issue



so my conclusion is that it is pure stupidity, and i know there are alot of people who are going to argue against, and I have argued this with people... but in the end, no matter what, I think people can rise out of their situation, and should they resort to crimes and deviance, they are stupid.

[/b]

I'm right behind ya, it is stupidity and well just trying to be cool. I remember a kid in my class got busted for stealing and he brought his ticket to school showing it off and then the kids there are all like oh shit that's crazy dawg, if you allow peer pressure to get to you and influence what you do then you have a weak mind, if you blame your family on your own failures and mistakes you're both stupid weak minded and irresponsible, if you blame the media again you're weak minded enough to be influenced by the likes of MTV, drugs and alcohol yeah it's a result of your own weakness succumbing to that part of your brain that says get fucked up before you're mature enough to drink. I ain't going to argue with you there, I agree 100% it's stupidity and if anybody wants to argue that fact i'll help you back that up

[Barbies are Evil]

if you blame your family on your own failures and mistakes you're both stupid weak minded and irresponsible[/b]

Ok, I don't have a problem with the whole rest of your post, but can you explain that quote please? I think I have something to say, but I don't want to say it until you explain, so I have a full idea of what your talking about.

[MattMan]

I think a person's family life makes up a good portion of who a person will become/what they will achieve.

[sinical_sycology]

Well what I'm saying is most of the time when we see deviant kids we try to blame it on something that is

beyond their control, for example we blame movies. And some people choose to say it's their family that

causes them to decide to break the law. For me it's being weak minded because in reality noone has control

over what you do or how you act besides you, I don't come from the greatest family, I lived with just my mother and we've been on welfare, my dad walked out on me, my mother has psychological issues where



she'll wake up one morning and cuss the living shit outta me for weird reasons and other occasions well she's loving, this is one of the reasons why she is on SSI. My sister on the other hand has her own issues has two kids each one's got a different daddy she's been through like 5 husbands, financially scrwed up and always comes to my mom for help and then gets into arguments with her in which eventually somehow



causes them both to lash it out on me. For starters I don't hate my father, I still consider him my father he gave me life I thank him for that and i'm grateful. Second I've never broken a law thus far in my life. I am now attending a college my major is chemistry my career goal is to become a neurosurgeon. What I'm saying is in spite of all the bad things and all the crap shit that happens to EVERYBODY you just got to tell



yourself that your future has yet to be decided that you can still become somebody and make a difference in yourself, but some choose to succumb to all this crap and break down and figure oh let's go drink my ass off and break the law that'll make feel better. That to me is wasting the power of the mind, oh I know the arguments "good for you but some people aren't that strong", thats fucking bullshit, if I can do it any fucking



chump out there can do it, you don't need to have supernatural powers to do this shit it takes will power and a strong mind something that only YOU have control over. Second it's stupid, why? Because it bears no logic to it, ok some kid comes from a broken family so breaking the law and causing trouble for society makes them feel better? I don't see how that works, and what I get from this is that the person didn't think through



their ideas carefully along with the consequences of their actions thus it's stupidity. It's also irresponsible to blame your family structure, that goes for anybody that always points the finger at someone else for their own downfalls. I don't like to blame people for my mistakes, I accept as my own and choose to analyze and understand my mistake and what caused it so in the future I can take steps into preventing it, though in reality I analyze the situation beforehand and decide on the best route then, often times it's more successfull



than not. Example? Say I miss the 9:00 bus thus late for my 9:30 class, I don't blame the bus or because someone had to stop me on the way to the bus, or how I had to take the longer route because the road was blocked thus making me late to the bus, I look at it as, well gee I should've waken up earlier say 8:00 and take the 8:30 bus, If all these events happened I'd be late for th 8:30 but still in time for the 9:00. People



need to take responsibility for their actions and stop blaming family issues or society or school or whatever the fuck else happens to you because I can bet there's some kid in a third world country that doens't look at his life in terms of years but rather if he's even going to make it through the night and I guarantee that these kids would trade lives with anyone here anyday. So my advice to deviants? Stop bitching, Stop



whining and take action and get in control of your own life, learn to manipulate your surroundings to fit you don't let the environment make you fit itself.

[Barbies are Evil]

Ok, but not everyone has your mindset and not everyone thinks like that and some kids might think that since they have no one else, well, i'll turn to a gang to get family..........I understand what your saying, don't think i'm closeminded, but there are other views to things like this and I for one think your being closeminded and really rude, but someone else might have a different view.

[sinical_sycology]

I'm not being close-minded, I've tried to look at these situations from other people's perspectives as much as possible but none of it bears any logic. I'll accept I'm being rude it's how I go about in discussions, I present my ideas in a very candid manner, if that's being rude then so be it.



In my my opinion I'm speaking the truth. And I've already brought up the point of the "not everybody is like you" argument. I'm not saying they have to be exactly like me what I'm saying is if I can do it then why can't anyone else do it? I'm not gifted I was blessed by god or anything like, I have a brain eyes ears nose arms and legs just like anybody else what makes me so special? Nothing I'm not special I don't possess a super high IQ I just looked at life and decided hey you know what this shit is mine, this is my life, it doesn't bleong to my family doesn't belong to the media or to my peers.



Yeah to actually decide to do something positive is hard, it takes effort will and determination. You say not everyone thinks like that, to me if you've chosen the path of a criminal then you haven't done any thinking, you saw a route that was easy to take and you took, to me that's just weak. It's always easier to fail and hard to succeed, it's the way things were made to be. Perhaps I am being close-minded, perhaps I shouldn't



blame a criminal's actions on him and blame society and the media and his upbringing all the time, maybe if my newphew or niece were to break the law I shouldn't tell them anything I should blame my family for making them that way. Maybe I've been completely wrong about people all this time and that all teenagers are innocent and even though they've been told right from wrong, when they commit the wrongs against



another person it's not their fault it's always someone else's. Can you honestly tell me that a person can't control their actions? That one's fate is for one to decide? That breaking the law is out of someone's control? That the strength of one's mind is pre-determined and that you were either born weak minded or strong minded? That at birth you born with a specific mindset and that's the menatility you'll carry for the rest of your life? If you don't believe that and say no, one persons environment shapes their mentaility and their



mind strength. The I only have to go back to my situation. I'm sorry if you don't agree with me and I'm sorry that you think I'm rude and closeminded I can't control what you think of me, that's up to you. Maybe I'm not being as nice or as merciful as people want me to be but I say fuck it, the world ain't pretty and I don't need to sugarcoat shit, if you disagree I have no problem you're open to your own beliefs and



thoughts and ideas, it's been allowed and I have no right to impose my ideas onto anybody, I just hope that this gives people a reality check and causes them to think about what they want to do in life and decide to take action on it. And if you believe I'm wrong and want to call me out and call me a jackass or an asshole



or whatever else terms you people want to say, don't hold back, I'm not going to be offended. I'm always open to whatever people have to say, and I'll argue the point if I have to. *PUTS ON FLAMEPROOF SUIT*

[Barbies are Evil]

i'm just saying that you saying "if I can do it anyone can do it" is unfair because not everyones cirumstances are like yours, some people live in much worse conditions with no one really that supports them.....It was like that when I was growing up, up until last year really....does that mean i'm a criminal? no. But it means that you can't compare everyone to you because that is the most unfair thing you can do.....

[Kit]

i'm just saying that you saying "if I can do it anyone can do it" is unfair because not everyones cirumstances are like yours, some people live in much worse conditions with no one really that supports them.....It was like that when I was growing up, up until last year really....does that mean i'm a criminal? no. But it means that you can't compare everyone to you because that is the most unfair thing you can do.....

[/b]

I stand behinde this. Good job Erin.



sinical_sycology - I just want to say that you are clever, and smart, but you can be really rude and you need to remember that this site is for support. That of which, I hardly ever see you do. Try being a little more curtious, use more intelegent/non offending words, and be a little more sympathetic.



As for my own opinion - All of those factor in. We learn as much as we can from the day we're born til we die. If we've never been faced with good - all we'll know is evil.

[sinical_sycology]

Sorry if the "if I can do it anyone can" idea was sent out I conveyed the wrong message obviously. As I said I'm not special and the reason why I'm saying anyone can do it is because I' have an idea that as human beings, the most intelligent creatures on this planet, all of us are capable of anything, provided that we weren't born with any mental defects or disadvantages or even a physical disadvanatges. And If I'm wrong about that I'm sorry for being unfair, I thought thinking that anyone capable of anything was fair apparently thats not, so maybe I can put out a new idea.



I can see your point of view of this and that sometimes it isn't the kids fault, that abusing parents can leave a kid battered a bruised physically and mentally. But that would mean alot of teenagers are abused kids. So I should exclude those few kids that have to deal with those kinds of things. Now from what I've seen most of the gangsters and cuthroat thugs and juvenille delinquents I knew weren't beaten and bruised in their homes. Their parents went to church every sunday, they always tried to keep their kids out of trouble and always expressed concern over them. That's love, and if they want support well it'll be there too with the love, but they don't go that way, they decide to join gangs for reasons beyond my knowledge. And I think that's because we want to be recognized by the whole world.



For myself yes I did think about joining a gang at one time but I didn't because I CHOSE not to. It's all choice and if we continue to try to blame the actions of these delinquents on something else they'll never learn to take responsibility for their actions. Yeah support needs to be there but to me it's not necessary for one's success. What's necessary is love and support for one's self. I don't condemn people for social taboos, if they want support yeah I can offer it, but what would be the point of my support if they don't want to change anything?



What good can support do if the person isn't willing to take action? It's all about one taking action, at least it is to me and maybe I'm wrong maybe that's shooting for jupiter when I say that love for one-self can lead to personal inner peace and salvation and that success iis only possible if you have outside support, all I'm saying is there's an outlet without the drugs without the guns without the violence and without the deviance. It's just a matter of really laying out all your options in front of you and deciding which one is best and the best isn't always the easiest as amatter of fact it's never the easiest, but you just have to grind it out. I don't know exactly what you have been through but you say you didn't have the support but yet you still turn out to be a good natured individual, obviously a good heart to come out and help people when you had problems yourself, obviously you were strong enough to just grind it out and I admire you for that, it's freakin awesome that you can do that, all I'm saying is if you have control and you have options why not take control? Why not choose the better option?



P.S. Alright fine I'll try to be more supportive and less argumentative in my discussions, obviously I kind of get the villainous image due in part from my vulgarity and profanity, I don't think I've cursed in this post if I have then please disregard, and disregard any profanity in the past, it's directed at anyone..ever, and I never resort name calling so even it seems that way, it wasn't.

[Paris In Flames]

I think it'd both family upbringing and peer pressure.

A lot of kids will do things due to peer pressure.

I'm seventeen.

[FranklinF]

im 20,

i think boredom is a LARGE factor also, kids dont have stuff to do that by societies standard is constructive so they find other things to occupy thier time, whether its fighting or having sex, robbing a small town convienience store or just picking on little kids. i would say boredom has caused 90% of my random acts...

[SirPostAlot]

im 18 and i think its drugs/alcohol - but also peer pressure...

i never followed through w/ peer pressure, so i never did drugs (tasted alcohol, but i know better than to get addicted)



~Jeff~

[nevermindmylife]

i never followed through w/ peer pressure, so i never did drugs (tasted alcohol, but i know better than to get addicted)

[/b]

I just wanted to point out that with alcoholic addictions (like many other addictions) it is not a matter of them being able to know they will get addicted and stupidly choosing to become addicted, its that many times it happens to them without them knowing, and it takes a long time for them to finally realize they are addicted (if they ever do).



I just found that your comment somewhat offensive, as it belittles something that haunts many people's lives and makes it sound like they stupidly did it purposely, which isn't so.

[PunkRockPimp]

I put family structure, because I think thats where it can begin. but really, deviance has mannny factors.