However, the proportion of youth crime is rising as the general level of crime went down in many countries:
1. Great Britain
2. Canada
So, what are the main causes of youth crime?
I think the main causes ( and those which we are most aware of) are:
1.Poverty, which is likely to lead to property crime.
2.Troubled home life or domestic violence. People who were offended at home feel themselves right to treat others in a same way.
3.Alcohol/Drugs use, which sometimes leads to antisocial behaviour and even crime commitment.
4.Poor school education, when pupils are ill-informed about social norms and values, or unstrict rules within schools, which allow offence to happen.
5.Peer groups, which has the most significant effect on young people's behaviour. Different subcultures form their rules of behaviour, present their norms about what is right and what is not.
6.Godlessness, which is argued by some people as a cause of youth crime. I find this true to some extent, as almost every religion restricts violence and with the rising popularity of atheism people feel themselves free from 'God punishment'.
7.Labelling. It has been found out the person labelled as 'criminal' is more likely to commit a crime.
8.Media e.g. movies, tv programmes, games, music..
Another feature of youth crime is 'Male phenomenon'.
Males tend to present the greatest part of the young criminals. That happens not only because males are biologically more powerful and aggressive.
A psychological factor also affects male behaviour: parents always treat boys as future defenders and bring them up in a way that boys are likely to express they masculinity. So, some of them choose to do that through commiting crime.
Moreover, 'Аdolescent males who possess a certain type of variation in a specific gene are more likely to flock to delinquent peers' (wiki)
