UC Merced Undergraduate Research Journal

This literature review examines different factors that influence adolescent delinquency such as sibling relationship quality, birth order, and normalization of violence. The review uses a psychosocial approach to observe how these factors can affect an adolescent’s behavior. This research will contribute to the field of Psychology by emphasizing that outcomes associated with adolescent delinquency can be traced to specific points. The main points of this research are further supported by the Briley brothers’ case study, siblings involved in violence: homicide. A strength of this research is that, although the studies do not specifically focus on the Briley brothers’ case, the main point of each article can be connected back to the case. An array of research has been conducted indicating the negative impacts birth order and sibling relationship can have in development and the Briley brothers illustrate the outcomes that can occur. The Briley brothers case demonstrated how parental influence may not have been a contributing factor to the murders; instead, the psychosocial issues within the brother’s stem from the manipulation of the eldest-Briley brother. Adolescent delinquency is an important topic and must be researched further in order to reduce delinquent behavior among adolescents. Further research may be used to create preventive plans to reduce adolescent delinquency.