Environmental factors in juvenile delinquency: A systematic review of the situational perspectives’ literature

ABSTRACT

This paper aims to summarise and integrate the accumulated knowledge on recent literature analysing the situational factors of juvenile delinquency and draw future avenues for research. A review of recent empirical papers published on two relevant databases allowed us to gather a sample of 88 papers published from 2010 to 2017 that analyse the role of situational factors of delinquent behaviour using quantitative methods and applying one of the situational theories. The results highlight the robustness of some situational and environmental variables for a deeper understanding of juvenile antisocial behaviour by putting it into context. There is a considerable amount of evidence to corroborate the impact of unstructured leisure activities on antisocial behaviour, or the role of home location in establishing a geographic area of action. However, there is ambiguous evidence on other aspects: i.e. guardianship needs to be understood and measure in a more complex way, and the role of physical design of the places where juvenile delinquency happens deserves further analysis. Future research lines from this perspective are needed and will offer relevant improvements for better understanding juvenile delinquency and designing more effective preventive measures.

KEYWORDS:

• Juvenile delinquency
• antisocial behaviour
• routine activity theory
• rational choice theory
• crime pattern theory
• situational action theory

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Department of Education of the Basque Government under Grant [PRE-2017-2-0011].

Notes on contributors

Alexander Trinidad

Alexander Trinidad is a PhD candidate in Psychology at the University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, awarded with a grant from the Department of Education of the Basque Government.

Laura Vozmediano

Dr Laura Vozmediano is a Lecturer in Environmental Psychology and Environmental Criminology at the University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, Spain.

César San-Juan

Dr César San-Juan is a Senior Lecturer of Criminal Psychology and Forensic Psychology at the University of the Basque Country and the Director of the International Research Center on Crime, Marginalisation and Social Relationship.