age and crime

• Age and Crime – Official Statistics

  • There is a strong link between age and crime.
  • Younger people, especially young males, are more likely to commit crimes than older people.

  📊 Example:

  • In 2015, in England and Wales:
  • A higher proportion of males aged 15–20 were found guilty of or cautioned for indictable offences (serious crimes)
  • Compared to men aged 21 and over
• Self-Report Studies – Age and Crime

  • ask people to confidentially admit whether they’ve committed certain offences — even if they weren’t caught.

  🧾 Key Findings:

  • Most young people do not engage in crime.
  • When young people do commit crimes, they are usually:
  • Minor offences (e.g. petty theft, vandalism).
  • Occasional, not frequent or serious.

  📊 Example – 2004 Offending, Crime and Justice Survey:

  • 74% of young people said they had not committed any of the listed offences in the past year.
  • Of those who did offend:
  • Crimes were mostly low-level and infrequent.
• Sociological Explanations:

  🏠 Inadequate Socialisation – Functionalist/New Right View

  • Functionalists believe the nuclear family is key to teaching norms and values.
  • New Right theorists argue:
  • Poor parenting, lack of discipline, and fatherless families lead to crime.
  • If children are not properly socialised at home, they may become delinquent.

  🏫 Secondary Socialisation – Schools, Religion, and Media

  • Other agencies of socialisation are also blamed:
  • Schools may lack discipline.
  • Religion has less influence in modern society.
  • The mass media (TV, films, music, games) may glamorise violence, gangs, and crime.
  • These factors can lead young people to adopt deviant values instead of society’s norms.