Delinquency, or departure from the accepted norms of behavior, is an individualized problem whose causes vary from person to person. I know, because I've worked with hundreds of delinquent young people, and no two have problems alike. There are some clues, though, to how the process begins, so let's look at these.

Two things happen as children grow. First, they learn from their experiences at home, in school, on the streets, in church, on TV, wherever they go. They are amassing files and files of information on how to act, who they are, and what they believe. At this point they are simply storing input from the world around them.

Second, at some future point they begin a process of owning that input. All children put aside the values they have gathered thus far in life and evaluate them, subconsciously asking questions like: "Do they fit with my experience?" "Are they true?" "Do they work?" Remember, not all kids step as far back from their values or stand away from them for as long as their peers might, but all young people go through this process.

The average young person with a stable home, consistent modeling of values, and a sufficient dose of love and self-worth, makes it through this period with a minimum of rebellion or moving away from his family's values.

Occasionally though, a traumatic event occurs in an otherwise average young person's life-the death of a loved one, divorce, an experience of personal failure-that can trigger a deeper questioning and doubt of those family values. Often this leads to a rejection of a value or set of values, and in extreme cases, a headlong plunge into a counter value. Thankfully, this does not usually last long; as Proverbs 22:6 says, "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it" (NASB).

But then there is the young person who never had a consistent experience while growing up. He saw parents, peers, circumstances, and his environment constantly giving strong but conflicting messages. Maybe Mom was an alcoholic; the family often went hungry while surrounded by TV's messages of affluence; peer influence was often aimless or even destructive.

What does that inconsistency mean to the young person? First, it leaves him without a foundation as he enters this crucial period of value examination. Contrary to the "normal" teen who is rebelling or testing learned values, this teen has no system or values to test. It creates a time of turmoil and fear, of questioning his very existence. "What is this world all about?" "What am I about?" he asks.

Second, this young person is in a "Catch 22" situation. Without a base on which to build, he needs all that much more support, love, and direction than the child who comes from a more stable home. But, the lack of these things is the very reason the young person has no value system in the first place.

This is the source of deepest delinquency. The child from a stable, loving home has the tools to grow through this period of testing. The child with no consistent home, peer, and community base finds himself without values and thus without identity. Delinquency is merely acting out this experience of confusion and aimlessness.

The causes of delinquency are varied and complex. Test your own home situation with these simple questions. First ask, "Does the child have a strong foundation for testing values?" Then ask, "Has any trauma brought about a temporary and serious questioning of values?" And ask finally, "Are resources available for the young person to fall back on-the love, consistency, and direction it takes to formulate a healthy self-concept and value system?"