The first reason of the high rates of juvenile delinquency is the negative influence of commercialized mass media.

Publishers of books or program producers are more concerned with profits than with the quality. Thus books or movies may have negative effects on children. Taken obscene books and violence movies as examples. They are very dangerous to children. Once the children are exposed to violence or bad and dirty ideas are introduced into their mind, there will be lifelong harm. Some young children watch hours of murders, fights and crimes every week, with no adult to tell them that life is not like that most of them. The effect of the heavy does of violence is to suggest to children that violence is an ordinary way of life, and that shooting and cheating are ways to succeed. Such an misbelieve usually leads them to a wrong way in near future.

The second reason of high rates of juvenile crime is that modern youth are more revolutionary and more independent that the elder generation. When this tendency goes to an extreme, problems arise. Some of the young want to throw away all the traditional principles and beliefs, most of which are very good for self-cultivation. They are reluctant to listen to the advice from elder generation. If they behave in the way, as they like, they might commit crimes without realizing it.

Self-Esteem as a Factor in Delinquent Behavior There is evidence in the research to demonstrate that low self-esteem may also be one of the contributing factors to delinquent behavior. However, one must be careful to understand how self-esteem factors into delinquent behavior for not all children and youth who experience low self-esteem necessarily fall into this pattern of behavior. One specific study points to the fact that Kaplans Self-Derogation Theory of Delinquency has been the primary tool used in the research on the connection between low self-esteem and delinquent behavior. One critique of the Kaplan theory notes that it is based primarily on the assumption that people want to feel good about themselves and will engage in behavior that will boost their self-esteem.

When low self-esteem is experienced, individuals are motivated to take action to restore positive self-regard. This self-esteem motive is evident during adolescence, when most boys and girls develop favorable views of self within the confines of commitment to conventional reference groups (e.g., family relationships and mainstream friendship networks). (Mason, 2001, p. 84).

The notion that people want and need to feel good about themselves is not particularly new. In Kaplans theory however, young people are emotionally vulnerable. When young people

experience rejection by their peers, some react by seeking out deviant peers in order to be accepted by people their own age. boys and girls who are rejected by mainstream reference groups will experience lowered self-esteem, decreased commitment to the reference group, and increased motivation to establish deviant peer associations based on involvement in delinquent behavior (Mason, 2001, p. 84).

Kaplans theory also states that when individuals feel rejected by peers, there is an initial sense of elation when they are accepted by other young people their age even if they are engaging in delinquent behavior. The theory is predicated on the notion that young people are not necessarily seeking to engage in delinquent behavior but rather acceptance by their peers. Mason (2001) suggests that the research connecting self-esteem to delinquency has been weak and filled with some contradictions in its results. Yet, Mason is not ready to abandon the research. Instead, he seeks to modify the ways in which research is conducted. Mason (2001) suggests using latent growth curve modeling as a means of studying the connection between self-esteem and delinquent behavior. ). Latent growth models are unique in that they incorporate information about the means, as well as the variances and covariances, of measured variables. These models, therefore, focus on both the group and individual levels of analysis (p. 87).

Mason implemented a research study using latent growth curve modeling to support the hypothesis that participating in delinquent behavior will have the effect of enhancing a young persons sense of self-esteem. Sub group analyses revealed that delinquency was selfenhancing for boys initially low in self-esteem, but not for boys initially high in self-esteem. This is consistent with both theory and past research (Mason, 2001, p. 93). Mason goes on to suggest that by using this research model, it is possible to support Kaplans theory that involvement in delinquency may be an adaptive or defensive response to feelings of low selfregard, which serves to elevate levels of global self-esteem (Ibid).

Mason suggests that this area of research requires more in-depth studies on the development of low self-esteem in young people. Mason also states that there are limitations to the study he conducted. The demographics of his study included only White boys from a higher socioeconomic status. The author admits that these demographics severely limit the applicability of this research, but it represents a start in the right direction. Individual wellbeing, the overexposure to television as a means of recreation In my opinion, I am in complete agreement with the above arguments over the causes of child delinquency. Along with the parents and friends of the delinquent, I also believe that one's

social class and race play a big part in his or her behavior. Being in a low social class, it is obvious that these people are not equipped with the same opportunities as the rest of us. They are just making it by and they are not "cool" enough to fit in with the innocent people of their age group. This causes them to find comfort in other people like them, who are more times than not, delinquents themselves. The same goes for one's race, according to a study done by Rolf Loeber and Larry Kalb. In Pittsburgh, of the over five-hundred delinquents interviewed, over threehundred of them were African American, while the remaining were Caucasian in race.