Delinquency spiral
The delinquency spiral is a psychosocial mechanism that helps understand the involvement in delinquency of certain individuals, whether adults or minors. It concerns the onset and worsening of delinquency in adolescence. It is during adolescence that young people are first confronted with peers who have delinquent values and/or behaviors. They may experience a discrepancy between their own values and behaviors and those of their peers. To reduce this dissonance, young people may either increase their involvement in delinquency or decrease it.