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Control of Juvenile Behaviour

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Control of Juvenile Behavior
An in-depth assessment of behavioral models reveals divergent ideologies and perspectives, of which none of them tends to provide a detailed explanation of how to control juvenile behavior. From this fact, among other things, it is clear that for one to understand juvenile behavior, consideration of the multidimensional and complexity of human behavior is vital. In many parts of the world, it is a common phenomenon that authorities use punishment to deter criminal acts, especially on juveniles. In some cases, the mechanism seems practical, as the incidence of juvenile delinquency has shrunk over time. However, in some cases, the efficacy of punishment in controlling juvenile behavior seems insignificant or less effective.
Essentially, given the multidimensional behavior, Threat of Punishment alone may not defer juvenile behavior. Instead, one needs to assess the major causal agents that leads to a behavioral change to determine the most appropriate mechanism for dealing with specified incidents of delinquencies. Undeniably, to some extent, knowledge that one would meet a particular form of punishment may deter the individual from committing an offense. However, a close observation of their behavior, belief, and statistics on delinquency, indicate that severity and certainty play an important role. For example, when a juvenile knows that if he or she commits a particular offense, the authorities may lock him or her up in prison, there is a high possibility of shunning the wrongdoing (Ahlin 59).
On the other hand, some may argue, if it is possible to defer juvenile behavior by the Threat of Punishment, then, why are there increased cases of juvenile criminal records? It is apparent that if punishment were effective in controlling juvenile behaviors, then we could not be having so many children in correctional facilities or prisons.

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