One of the major changes occurring in the world is the increase in juvenile delinquency. The term juvenile delinquency can refer to offenders between the ages of ten and sixteen (Queensland Police Service, 83). Australian state governments are responsible for the treatment of young offenders. The youth justice system is responsible for the supervision of young people who have committed offenses (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, ix). However, juvenile delinquency has become one of the most serious problems today due to the rapid growth of young offenders in recent years. In Australia, the number of young people under supervision increased from 2.2 per 1,000 in 2006 to 2.5 per 1,000 in 2008 (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, ix). For example, the Western Australian Government stated that Western Australia's average daily miner population of 137 in 2008 had increased to 161 in 2009 (Mission Australia, 1). Additionally, the 2010 Queensland Police Statistical Review shows that youth crime in Queensland has increased by 36 percent over 10 years (Queensland Police Service, 35-43). Young men committed most of the offenses in Queensland (Queensland Police Service, 83). In 2010, most property and theft crimes in Queensland were committed by boys aged ten (Queensland Police Service, 84). Consequently, Queensland Police statistics showed that young men aged ten to fourteen were the fastest growing criminal group in Queensland (Queensland Police Service, 83). Thus, the above evidence shows that the juvenile justice system today is ineffective in controlling crime. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay. Important questions for today's criminologists are why these changes in juveniles occurred and working to overcome their problems. In this essay, I will seek to rigorously review a number of criminological theories on the phenomenon of juvenile delinquency. Then, I will argue that these criminological theories would make it possible today to reduce the number of young delinquents. In my review, I will first explore labeling theory to explain that youth crimes were caused by a social process and how labeling theory plays some influence in strengthening the justice system for minors in order to overcome the problem of juvenile delinquency today. Second, I will then use Merton's Strain Theory to examine the strains on social structures within society that can lead people to commit crimes and how rehabilitation programs help the current juvenile justice system . regularly used in criminological studies (White & Haines, 72). Therefore, labeling theory is different from other criminological theories because other criminological theories presuppose criminal behavior guided by biological, psychological, or genetic perspectives (White and Haines, 72). However, the labeling perspective maintains that crime is a social process (White & Haines, 72). For example, White and Haines argued that the rise of rock-and-roll music culture, gay and lesbian activism, and the Vietnam War between the 1960s and 1970s created a new phenomenon for current youth cultures (White and Haines, 73). These processes have called into question the current status, threatenalso some powerful groups in society and are calling for a halt to these changes. Thus, members of the criminal justice system applied a label of deviance or criminal to these individuals for their actions and behaviors (White & Haines, 74-75). However, this approach defines the meaning of crime and what types of actions or behaviors of people are classified as criminal (Bernard, Snipes & Gerould, 226-227). Thus, the labeling process can have negative effects such as stigmatization and encourage these young people to become outright criminals, as portrayed by the criminal justice system. According to symbolic interaction theory, the above approach would create a self-image for people to help them define themselves (Bernard, Snipes & Gerould, 226-227). Unfortunately, these young people not only create a positive image of themselves, but they also create a criminal image of themselves. In 1938, Frank Tannenbaum defended the idea of ​​a theory of labeling based on an example of conflict between young people and adults in an urban neighborhood (Tannenbaum, 20). For example, young people played like children when they were young children (Bernard, Snipes & Gerould, 227). When these children become adolescents, they might try something exciting or dangerous to play, which would deteriorate relationships between adult neighborhoods (Bernard, Snipes & Gerould, 227). These adults would describe them as good children who did bad things. (Bernard, Bécassines and Gérould, 227). However, if the conflict between youth and adults escalates, then the adult's will portrays the youth as evil (Bernard, Snipes & Gerould, 227). Tannenbaum concludes: “The person becomes the thing he describes himself as being” (Tannenbaum, 20). Therefore, if a young person is unable to shake off the image he has of himself as a criminal, then he describes himself as a real criminal. On the other hand, Eadie and Morley argued that the youth would become even more offensive once he was labeled a criminal. (Eadie and Morley, 552). Today's young offenders may find themselves ridiculed by the current juvenile justice system and gradually become real criminals. For example, Seen and Heard noted in their 1997 research that approximately 78% of young people reported that Australian police did not treat them with respect (Seen & Heard, 84). However, Lemert provides an explanation on labeling people's future behavior and describes the difference between primary deviation and secondary deviation (Lemert, 17). Primary deviation can refer to the initial deviant (White & Haines, 79). Following Tannenbaum's example of conflict between youth and adults in an urban neighborhood, Lemert describes youth who engage in this deviant behavior as a primary deviation (Lemert, 40). Secondary deviation can refer to when a person engages in a form of primary deviation (White & Haines, 80). For example, the police apprehend a young person, they will classify him as deviant. But this young person will begin to act differently and become stronger in order to counter the ridicule of the neighborhoods or to be monitored by the police (White & Haines, 80). The above example coincides with Eadie and Morley's research, they found that today's youth would slowly accept the role that society has assigned to them and begin to mix with other people who have also been labeled like them (Eadie and Morley, 552). Therefore, based on the labeling theory and its examples proving that the current juvenile justice system is ineffective in controlling juvenile delinquency. minimal intervention. Becker argued that the criminal label takes precedence over other labels, so that outsidersgenerally think that people who are labeled are criminals (Becker, 34-35). For example, if a person previously served in prison, they would be ridiculed by the public because the public has a criminal stereotype (Becker, 37-39). This situation influences these people who cannot get a normal job and this can force them to return to crime to survive. For example, in 2011 the Australian Institute of Criminology and the Victorian Safe Communities Network organized the Young People, Risk and Resilience conference in Melbourne (Australian Institute of Criminology, 4). This conference brings together police officers, researchers and practitioners to help today's young offenders in order to protect them from being penalized for their offenses. Diversion programs have been established because they have the potential to reduce the number of juvenile offending in Australia. For example, Victoria Legal Aid (VLA) offered a diversion program to divert young offenders from formal criminal justice processes to reduce unnecessary negative labeling and stigma. Additionally, diversion programs like Pasifika operate in all states to reduce the number of juvenile offenders in custody (Mission Australia, 1). White and Haines argued that limitations on publicity in juvenile cases and restrictions on fingerprinting juvenile offenders would help them divert from the formal criminal justice system (White and Haines, 84). Victoria's Tattoo Removal Scheme is a program for young offenders aimed at helping them rebuild a new image, as tattoos were once a symbol of deviance (White & Haines, 84). Thus, diversion programs help to facilitate the functioning of the juvenile justice system today, which would avoid any negative labeling and stigmatization effects, and would help to reduce the number of young offenders. In the 1930s, the American sociologist Robert K. Merton adapted Durkheim's theory to American society and developed deformation theory (Bernard, Snipes & Gerould, 154). Merton argued that tensions within social structures within society can lead people to commit crimes (Bernard, Snipes & Gerould, 154). The major concepts of the theory of constraints encourage the individual to seek greater wealth in order to achieve the “American dream” (Bernard, Snipes & Gerould, 154). Thus, it has become a psychological motivation for the public, which persuades the individual to work harder to achieve certain social goals. However, Merton argued that opportunities are not equal for everyone and therefore not every individual can achieve a social goal (Merton, 188). Individuals who achieve wealth may identify as middle class, but those who fail to achieve their social goal may remain in the lower class (Bernard, Snipes & Gerould, 155-156). Merton argued that it is social structure, not social culture, that explains why the rate of crime committed by the lower classes in America was higher than in other classes (Bernard, Snipes, and Gerould, 156). For example, people who receive a poor education will not obtain a well-paying job and may be willing to commit crimes in order to enrich themselves or change their status. Therefore, if opportunities are unequal in a society, some individuals will find themselves in poverty to commit crime. Depending on the opportunities available in a society, people must choose a way to achieve their goals. Merton describes these adaptations to this theory of..