Klaus Boehnke and Dagmar Bergs-Winkle, the authors of this journal article, are attempting to show that when juveniles encounter conditions of rapid social change they will begin to display serious delinquent acts and possibly criminal intentions. They propose two succinct hypotheses. The first hypothesis is that rapid social change leads to feelings of injustice among youth which then turns into delinquency. The second hypothesis is that the stress of rapid social change brings about decreased parental control and the delinquency-reducing effects of parental control, thus leading to increased adolescent delinquency and maladjustment. Their second hypothesis has a profound connection to the "Family Stress Model" first introduced by Conger, Rueter & Conger, (2000).
             According to the "Family Stress Model" posited by Conger (2000), family contributes to emotional distress (e.g. depression) and family dysfunction. Family distress causes problems in the relationship between adults that are, in turn, linked to less effective parenting – a complex notion that involves insufficient surveillance, lack of control over the child's behavior, lack of warmth and support, inconsistency, and displays of aggression or hostility by parents or older siblings.
             The factors that make up rapid social change are time-bound economic and politico- ideological processes. These include changes in per-capita GNP, change in legal borders, and change in "historic time". The authors suggest that periods of rapid social change are characterized by economic disturbances and politico-ideological unrest, and cannot last forever, but rather are time bound. Increased juvenile delinquency can be seen as an indicator for a deteriorating social life under the conditions of rapid social change. Criminology theories suggest that these actual conditions do not produce delinquency itself, but are a sure stepping stone. Consta...