Sociological Criminology and Models of Juvenile Delinquency and Maladjustment

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to review and reinter pret the contemporary literature on juvenile delinquency by classifying it according to two explanatory models called the "consensual" and "conflictual" models.

The consensual model considers the social system as a general framework of interactions structured in a homeostatic system, while the conflictual model sees it as a system of unresolvable conflicts between its component elements. Methodological and theoretical correlates of the two models are outlined, based on the general sociological literature; the relevant research on juvenile delinquency is summarized and analyzed according to its ties or affinities to one or the other model. Studies on ecology, social organizations, subcultures, social regulation and control are included in the consensual model; research on hidden delinquency and dark numbers, on deviance as opposed to delinquence, on existential contexts and meaningful acts as opposed to legally defined conduct are included in the conflictual model.

For both models, the impact on social policy and practice is discussed.