DEVIANCY and YOUTH

Most youth cultures are deviant in the sense that they adopt dress codes and behaviours that go against the norms of society. Young people are often associated with criminal or anti-social behavior and sometimes this association is through committing the offence, but sometimes it is about being the victim.

Gaining valid and reliable data on young people is difficult because of the sensitive nature of the subject. Reasons why crime may never be reported to the police = people are scared of the people who committed the crime (fear of reprisal), they mutually know the person (friend or family), the crime is considered as too trivial, or parents will choose to dicipline their child themselves. Reason why crimes are never recorded by the police = Mutually know the person (friend or family), too much bother (long/trouble) or it could be a first offence.

The dark figure of crime refers to the crimes that have not been reported or recorded by the police. This may account for as much as 90% of all crimes committed. An alternative way of gaining data on young people and deviancy is through self-report studied, whereby you report the crimes that you have committed yourself (however, members would almost always be likely to give socially desirable answers and not tell the truth). In 2004, a quater of 10-25 year olds…