It is not Just Empowering: The Implications of Applying Psychological Reasoning in Explanations of Youth Crime

Abstract

Using findings from research, the author discusses the ways, in which concepts of psychology and risk have been used to understand youth crime since the birth of adolescence in the early 1900s. Although psychology is often applied to help and extend social understandings of youth, this knowledge has also allowed for the identification and control of deviant youth. This has led to young people being pathologised and marginalised by the adult society. There is a need for people to use psychological knowledge to have some understanding of the ways psychology can limit the understanding of youth deviance.