Criminological Theories And Analysis

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Pages: 5

Introduction Social skills are a tricky item to measure, mainly because they are not measurable in a standard sense that anyone can put them on a scale or use a tape measure to get an accurate measurement, they can be seen in a juvenile’s or even adult’s interaction with peers, but they are not something solid like a metal that can be measured in the standard method.
Discussion of the issue and how common is the issue? Social skills are behaviors that individuals use to generate desirable social outcomes. (Whitcomb & Merrell, 2013). More specifically they are the ability to perceive and control one’s emotions to act in accordance to a situation. (Kahn, Ermer, Palovey & Kiehl, 2016). This is a useful skill in youth to make and
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Literature focuses on four areas that are affected by poor social skills; those individually are academic difficulties and low performance, criminal behavior, mental health, and lower social bonds. Referring to the number and quality of friends an individual has at any given time. The following paragraphs will discuss each topic individually and relate it to a specific criminological theory; rational choice theory, Social bond theory, social learning theory, rational choice theory, etc… The first area that suffers from a negative impact due to poor social skills is academic difficulties. Students that are unable to communicate their difficulties are set at a higher risk for failure. Studies have been done to demonstrate a correlation between teachers and their ability to assess the needs of students. This has shown that when students have teachers that actively help them, academic achievement is increased. (Montroy et al 2014; Hur, Buettner & Jeon …show more content…
Or in simpler terms, the ability of the juvenile to make and maintain friendships. To reiterate Snow and Douglas’ point that social skills are the ability of juveniles to make and maintain friendships. So logically, juveniles with poorer social skills are unable or have a more difficult time to make and maintain friendships. The relevant theory to consider in this case is the social bond theory, which states that the more positive bonds to social institutions are more likely to obey rules. More specifically this falls under the involvement manifestation; the lack of involvement a student demonstrates in the academic/social setting of an educational institution can increase their risk factors for delinquency. A more extreme example of this would fall under labeling theory, assuming that the student has been outcasted by his peers he would be more likely to engage in delinquent behaviors due to the lack of friendships (Vanhalst, Lucykx & Goossens, 2014) or complete social withdrawal. (Qualter et al 2015) and for the sake of maintaining their delinquent status, they may externalize their behaviors or act in a way that could repel others and keep the juvenile trapped in a cycle of delinquent