Teenage boys have a natural tendency towards violent and aggressive
behaviour which may be part of being male, according to a major new
study of youth offending published.
Violence 'is natural' in teenage boys
Its findings will reopen the fierce debate over nature and nurture,
as well as raising questions about the effectiveness of crackdowns on
juvenile offenders. The Edinburgh Study of Youth Transitions and Crime tracked more than
4,300 children starting secondary school in 1998 to monitor how many
would fall foul of the law during their teens.
It found that, while girls who committed violent offences were highly
distinct from other girls more likely to use drugs, truant and come
from poorer backgrounds violent male offenders are very much like
other boys, only more so.
More serious offending in boys is relatively common, said David
Smith, Professor of Criminology at Edinburgh University and joint author
with Dr Lesley McAra of the study.
That did not mean it was inevitable that teenage boys would be
aggressive, he said. But it was possible that violent behaviour in girls
more often had deep-rooted pathological causes and was therefore likely
to be sustained into adulthood, while in boys it might simply be a more
common but passing phase.
It's possible more of them would do it, but they are restrained by
the fact that they have relationships with people who don't want them to
do it, said Smith. The stronger these relationships are, the more
effective these constraints are.
Studies have repeatedly shown that boys are far more likely to offend
than girls, but more likely to grow out of criminal behaviour on
reaching adulthood. Such theories are controversial among feminist academics, who argue
that it reflects beliefs that girls are 'born' gentle rather than
conditioned to be so, and that any aggression must therefore be
unnatural.
The study suggests, however, that many preconceptions around youth
offending may be wrong. It found that while good parenting based on
taking a close supervisory interest in children, but showing trust in
them appeared protective against getting into trouble, living in a
deprived neighbourhood could undermine the protective effect.
If there is a policy implication from this, it is
that social context is part of what makes it difficult to be a good
parent, said Smith. It's much harder if you are living in cramped
accommodation, in a deprived neighbourhood with few play facilities,
tired all the time and working long hours.
Boys were only slightly more likely than girls to offend at the ages
of 13 to 15 once all offences were considered girls were more likely
to smoke and drink underage, but serious offending was far higher in
boys. For the broadest range of offences 18 crimes from the petty, such
as graffiti and shoplifting, to robbery and housebreaking the strongest predictor of offending at 15 was having been a victim of
crime aged 12.
Smith said that similar characteristics, such as risk-taking and
impulsive behaviour, could lead children both to put themselves into
dangerous situations and to transgress the law. 'If a child of 14 is out very late at night
in an amusement arcade,
say they are not only likely to get up to no good, but they also may
be attacked themselves or vulnerable to attack,' she added.
The juvenile justice system must adjust to take into account the fact
that many children are a complex mix of being simultaneously victims and
victimisers, he said. Smith hopes to track the children in the study
through to the age of 30.
By Gaby Hinsliff
12 August 2003
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,6903,1015804,00.html
home
|