The biggest lie kids tell themselves is that they are indestructible. They can fly free from pain and consequence; that they can not be bothered with the rules and regulations of life. However, all too often this juvenile mentality comes to a screeching halt when they have done something that their quick, witty minds can not get them out of, a crime. As a young adult, the punishment may not be as serious, but it is still all too real. Juvenile crime is an epidemic that the American society needs to prevent through the utilization of youth programs that focus on instilling good habits before delinquency sets in.
It is a person's natural instinct to repeat what they see is being done, so if children grow up seeing crime being committed they
…show more content…
“In 1999 there were approximately 26,000 gangs and 840,500 gang members in the United States” (Patton 5). Since gang activity is strongly linked with alcohol and drugs, it only makes sense that “the number of juveniles held for alcohol or drug violations has risen by fifty percent in the last five years” (Levert 74). Gang crimes seem ridiculous when you compare them to some cases that “are not petty ones, but heinous crimes, like rape and murder” (“A Moral Boost for Juveniles” 1). One example would be where “one nine-year-old and two eleven-year-old males were charged with rape of an eight-year-old female in an overgrown field” (Macko 21). Why are a nine-year-old and two eleven-year-olds even thinking about having sex? They should be going to the skatepark or even doing homework. Another example would be “in Fort Myers, Florida, a group of teens shot and killed a high school band teacher” (Macko 21). Why did these kids kill the band teacher? Is is because the teacher gave them a bad grade or is it because the teacher made them mad? This is learned behavior whether it is from their parents or video games, they somehow thought it was acceptable …show more content…
Schools should be enforcing stricter school laws because juvenile crime is happening the most during school hours. One law schools should enforce stricter is kids missing school and the fine that goes with it. If they are stricter with this law then parents who are being fined would be sure that their kid is getting to school and going. To class.There are “numerous programs that have attempted to lower this rate”, of delinquency and cutting class during the school week (Saminsky 1). One program that is proven to prevent delinquent habits is head start. Children that are enrolled into some sort of youth program at a young age are less likely to develop delinquent tendencies. One local program that kids can go to is Campus Life. Campus Life allows kids to have a quiet place to do homework and it is a place where they can have fun without getting into trouble.Some other programs that kids and teens can get involved in are extracurricular activities such as sports, 4-H or FFA, and other clubs such as a chess club. It is important for kids to be involved in extracurricular activities for many reasons, one being that between school and that activity kids do not have time to go and get into trouble. Another lesson kids learn from extracurricular activities is how to get along with others and how to
Tommy G Thompson in his article “Juvenile law needs to come in to ’90s” argues; “Children who rob and murder should be punished in accordance with the severity of their crimes, not the “tenderness” of their age. Youths who run with gangs, terrorizing their neighborhoods, are as frightening as adults; more so, in fact, because they are corrupted so early”. He also states; “gangs are able to use those youths to commit crimes, knowing the punishment won’t be as severe”. In agreement with Thompson, most juvenile delinquents are “run by” gang members and criminal master minds but instead of punishing these young people with adult prosecution and sentencing why don’t we capture the true perpetrators behind it all and clean up our streets from drug dealers and gang
From 1990 to to the present there has been a sharp increase in juvenile crime across the United States. From 1996 to the present there has been a slight decline from the statistics in 1995(OJJDP). What was the cause for this uprise in juvenile delinquincy? I will discuss 2 different theories to why there was such an increase in juvenile crime rates. I will analyze the rise of the "Gangsta-Rap" culture in the early 1990's and how it may have affected teenagers that are in lower-income families. Many people believe that the increase in real life violence on television is a cause for violence in juveniles. I will discuss the evidence for this theory. It seems to me that the best theory to explain the rise in juvenile crime is the social constructionist theory. Different sub-cultures of teens have higher crime rates than others because of their interests, whether it be the music that they listen to or the types of television programs that they watched as child.
Crime rates across the U.S. for juveniles is at all time high. Juveniles across all demographic have been punished more severely than those of the past. Contributing factors including lower socioeconomic areas such as the Detroit Metropolitan Areas & Chicago. This paper will discuss the apparent issue within the system focusing on juveniles in urban areas.
There is no doubt that youth justice practises have changed throughout the years, these changes have been made to adapt to the new challenges that present themselves today. Crime in general, but particularly youth crime is a consistent problem for society.
In today’s society there is a lot of crime going on that involves minors and the first thing that some people do is blame parents for the misbehavior. What if the minor lives in the home with an alcoholic mom, and a drug addict father, and the minor feels as though he/she is in the world alone. The definition of a minor is “an infant or person who is under the age of legal competence”. (http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/minor) The minor starts hanging with the wrong crowd to feel wanted and decides to rob a bank, he goes to jail, and is sentenced to prison. Now there are clearly things that contributed to the way the minor committed this crime but it does not make it okay either. He was not getting any attention at home so he
In today's society juveniles are being tried in adult courts, given the death penalty, and sent to prison. Should fourteen-year olds accused of murder or rape automatically be tried as adults? Should six-teen year olds and seven-teen year olds tried in adult courts be forced to serve time in adult prisons, where they are more likely to be sexually assaulted and to become repeat offenders. How much discretion should a judge have in deciding the fate of a juvenile accused of a crime - serious, violent, or otherwise? The juvenile crime rate that was so alarming a few years ago has begun to fall - juvenile felony arrest rates in California have declined by more than forty percent in the last twenty years. While California's juvenile population rose by a half a million since the middle and late 1970's, juveniles made up less than fifth-teen percent of California's felony arrests in 1998, compared to thirty percent in 1978; according to the Justice Policy Institute. The juvenile arrests have dropped back, even as the population of kids between ages of ten and eight-teen has continued to grow, and the number of kids confined in the California Youth Authority (CYA) has fallen. With all the progress our society has made in cutting back in juvenile crimes there is still a very serious problem. But if locking kids up is the best way to address it, how do we explain a drop in crime when there are more teens in California and fewer in custody? First we must look at the economy around us. With so many job opportunities available more and more teenagers find honest ways to keep busy and make money. Our generation has a brighter future than the generation a decade ago. Next we look at successful crime prevention efforts: after-school programs, mentoring, teen outreach programs, truancy abatement, anti-gang programs, family resource centers. There is evidence that these programs are beginning to pay off. Sending more, and younger teens through the adult court system has been a trend across the country in reaction to crimes, such as school shootings and violent rapes. Yet evidence shows that treating youth as adults does not reduce crime. In Florida, where probability wise more kids are tried as adults then in any other state, studies found that youth sent through the adult court system are twice as likely to commit more crimes when they're release...
As minors commit violent crimes without being held accountable, they can grow up to be real criminals and they can be very dangerous. Without a solid foundation of what is right and wrong, these minors will grow up believing that their actions are the norm. For this reason, minors need to be held accountable. They need to be taught that they cannot get away with their crimes. In 2007, courts with juvenile jurisdiction handled an estimated 1.7 million delinquency cases. Delinquency cases include vandalism, shoplifting, robbery, and murder. These are just some of the crimes minors can commit. This was up by forty-four percent from 1985. If a minor grows up believing that crime is acceptable, they will repeat the pattern. Without interrupting the pattern and making them accountable, these minors will always have a twisted sense of right and wrong. A sense of what is right and wrong is important and can be learned at any age. Minors learn very young, what...
Many theories, at both the macro and micro level, have been proposed to explain juvenile crime. Some prominent theories include Social Disorganization theory, Differential Social Organization theory, Social Control theory, and Differential Association theory. When determining which theories are more valid, the question must be explored whether people deviate because of what they learn or from how they are controlled? Mercer L. Sullivan’s book, “Getting Paid” Youth Crime and Work in the Inner City clearly suggests that the learning theories both at the macro level, Differential social organization, and micro level, Differential association theory, are the more accurate of the two types of theory.
Introduction: Recidivism or, habitual relapses into crime, has time and time again proven to be an issue among delinquents, which thereby increases the overall juvenile prison population. This issue has become more prevalent than what we realize. Unless a unit for measuring a juvenile’s risk of recidivism is enacted and used to determine a system to promote effective prevention, than the juvenile prison population will continue to increase. Our court system should not only focus on punishing the said juvenile but also enforce a program or policy that will allow for prevention of recidivism. So the question remains, how can recidivism in the juvenile prison population be prevented so that it is no longer the central cause for increased juvenile delinquency? Simply put, we must create a means of measuring juvenile’s level of risk and in turn, form an effective rehabilitation program that will decrease their risk level for future recidivism.
It is almost a daily occurrence to turn on the nightly news and hear stories of ever increasing youths committing crimes. Even more alarming are the ages of these offenders. In Lake Station, Indiana, three first-grade students were plotting to kill a classmate. They even went so far as to draw a map of where the slaying was to take place. In California a six year old boy was charged with attempted murder of a 3 month old baby. In Southern California, three 17 year old girls were charged with false imprisonment, conspiracy, aggravated mayhem and torture when they held a 15-year-old runa...
The United States has been affected by a number of crimes committed by juveniles. The juvenile crime rate has been increasing in recent years. Everyday more juveniles commit crimes for various reasons. They act as adults when they are not officially adults. There is a discussion about how juveniles should be punished if they commit heinous crimes. While many argue that juveniles who commit serious crimes, such as murder, should be treated as adults, the fact is, juveniles under the age of eighteen, are not adults, and should not be treated as such.
Although a standard definition does not exist, gang delinquency can be defined as law-violating behavior committed by groups of youth and adults, that are complexly organized and that have established leadership and membership rules (Curry & Spergel, 1988). Gangs engage in a range of different crimes, but most significantly in violent crimes, as a means of upholding norms and values in regards to: mutual support, conflict relations with other gangs, and tradition (Curry & Spergel, 1988). They are organizations concerned with territory, status, and the ability to control behavior. For disadvantaged youth, who lack the opportunities to succeed in a socially acceptable manner, gangs effectively provide meaningful social and even economic structures. In gang membership, there is the opportunity to create personal identity, but there are minimal standards of acceptable status (Curry & Spergel,
The first youth court was opened in 1899 in Cook County, Illinois. Before that in 1800s, many reforms were taking place regarding young offenders (Gibleman, 1995). Therefore, it is time to conduct more research on the behavior of youth and their acts, to prepare some strategies and practices to minimize the crime rates in the society. Young offenders are a contrary group whose level of illegal acts committed by them depends on their experience and also from what age they were involved in these illegal acts. For some people it is temporary and for others this is adopted for a long time (Gottfredson, et.
The social environment of teens holds an enormous influence on how the teens act and behave. Teens are easily influenced by their surroundings and they look to others for guidance. Their behavior results from that of the parent and peer influences. Parents play a particularly influential role in their child’s life and it is up to them to make sure that they are leading their sons or daughters in the right directions. A teen’s peers also play a large role in how the teen behaves when the parents are not around. A teen’s social environment, consisting of family and peers, plays a vital role in their life, therefore becoming the ultimate cause of juvenile delinquency.
Juvenile delinquency is one of the major social issues in the United States today. Juvenile delinquency, also known as juvenile offending, is when “a violation of the law committed by a juvenile and not punishable by death or life imprisonment” (Merriam-webster.com). Although we have one justice system in America, the juvenile system differs from the adult juvenile system. Most juvenile delinquents range from as low as the age of seven to the age of seventeen. Once the delinquent or anyone turns the age of eighteen, they are considered an adult. Therefore, they are tried as an adult, in the justice system. There are many different reasons why a child would commit crime, such as mental and physical factors, home conditions, neighborhood environment and school conditions. In addition, there are a variety of effects that juvenile justice systems can either bad effects or good effects. Finally there are many different solutions that can reduce juvenile delinquency. As a result, juvenile delinquency is a major issue and the likeliness of it can be reduced. In order to reduce juvenile delinquency there has to be an understanding of the causes and the effects.