A Comparative Analysis of the Influences on Juvenile Delinquency in Brazil and the United States

• In Event: International Research on Juvenile Justice

Abstract

Criminology has historically reflected a Global Northern bias. As a result, although research has identified a number of risk factors for crime, the extent to which these factors influence youth offending in other countries, particularly those in South America, remains underexplored. Drawing on structural and cultural theories of delinquency, I advance this literature by assessing the risk factors for juvenile delinquency in Brazil and the United States. Using existing survey data, I investigate differences in levels and effects of risk factors that might differentially impact offending among youth in the United States and Brazil. I hypothesize that economic, familial, and peer-based risk factors may exhibit different patterns of influence on youth in the two countries, with economic factors potentially impacting Brazilian youth more due to greater socioeconomic challenges, with family and peer dynamics varying by cultural context. The goal is to identify factors leading to juvenile delinquency and to suggest effective, culturally tailored interventions for crime prevention in Brazil and the United States.

Author

• Stephanie Ossovski Richter, University of Colorado Boulder