A Cultural Perspective Toward Juvenile Delinquency

Many scholars have long contended that delinquency and other forms of deviance are perhaps a consequence of social structural factors in that particular cultural environment. We see the interplay between ambiguous normative expectations and the development of unacceptable behavioral adaptations. Given these anomic conditions then, there is a greater likelihood of psycho-cultural marginality among that particular population. Furthermore, this situation seems more likely to occur in heterogeneous competitive societies than in homogeneous folk cultures. Nonetheless, susceptibility to this anomic situation is greatest during critical passages or life stages such as that which occurs when an individual passes from childhood dependency to autonomous adulthood. In certain societies this particular passage from childhood dependency to autonomous adulthood is not only prolonged and ill-defined, but also sanctioned as a developmental stage in itself called adolescence. In this paper we compare this specific structural phenomenon with that of certain folk cultures where the transition is condensed into one highly ritualistic ‘rite of passage’ noting the potential for unacceptable delinquency in each. United States society is assessed regarding the prevalence of adolescent marginality according to three types of cultural classifications: (1) isolated homogeneous folk cultures, (2) enduring homogeneous subcultures situated within a larger heterogeneous environment and (3) the larger heterogeneous dominant mass society. This, in turn, is compared with the more clearly defined structural ritual associated with four traditional folk societies: the Nuer, Hopi, Keraki Indians and Arunta cultures.