Introduction
At-risk youths are adolescents experiencing acute behavioural problems and emotional problems, causing them to be a safety liability to both themselves and others (Janis, 2002). This also impedes their ability to learn and cope in various social settings. Often at-risk youths end up incarcerated in a juvenile facility and are often labelled as a menace to our society. They are prone to suicidal behaviours that sometimes leads to a fatal outcome. According to the CDC, suicide is the third leading cause of death between the ages of 15-24 and sixth leading cause of death between the ages of 5-15. At-risk youths also typically engage in drug use, drop out of school, and practice early un-protected sexual behaviour as well as violent crimes.
Advocacy
At risk youths require special attention from the people who surround them on a daily basis. Having consistent, positive influence and guidance will enable them to mature responsibly and make better decisions. Advocacy programs have played a large role in helping the youths at risk. Youth advocates offer individual and family counselling as well as a variety of other helpful services. They help connect the youth and their families to existing community programs. They work towards creating an environment where everyone works together to provide coordinated support for the youth. In addition, they provide counselling services to all ages through elementary, middle and high school. They are also involved in alcohol and drug prevention and intervention, juvenile court diversion and family support and assistance.
During this intervention social worker advocate employs various methodologies. One of the methodologies used by the advocates is development approach. It involves the advo...
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...s supposed to be voluntary and have the informed consent. Since Josie is a minor the consent of the parents is required.
Conclusion
Adolescence is a unique period of the lifespan. It is full of changes and challenges, but also of growth and opportunities. Adolescents are particularly susceptible to high-risk behaviours. so it is imperative that parents and other concerned adults support youth as they go through this period. The process surrounding high-risk behaviours can be complex, and often it is not enough just to tell a child to ‘say no’ to engaging in these behaviours. Risk-behaviour prevention must cover a wide range of issues that adolescents face in order to be most effective. This is because, the well-being of our society depends on our ability to prepare well adjusted; responsible, well-educated young people to step forward as the older generation passes.
In 2012, there were an alarming number of suicides among young people in Kent and Sussex counties in Delaware (Fowler, Crosby, Parks, & Ivey, 2013). According to a collaborative investigative report that was done by the Division of Violence Prevention (DVP), National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC), and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there were eleven suicides committed by young people who ranged in ages from 12 to 21 years old within a five month period of time in Kent and Sussex counties in Delaware (Fowler et al., 2013). In that same five month period of time there were 116 youth who attempted to commit suicide (Fowler et al., 2013). These incidents drew a great deal of community alarm for two primary reasons. The first reason was the number of suicide deaths in the first quarter of 2012 exceeded the number of suicide deaths typically reported in this two county area in an entire year (Fowler et al., 2013). According to Fowler et al. (2013), from 2009-2011, the typical annual number of deaths by suicide among young peop...
A 17 year old boy, Douglas Stewart, came home from school to find his mother lying on the sofa with a strained back. Being concerned for her he rubbed her back briefly then put on some easy listening music. Douglas then proceeded downstairs to his bedroom. Two of his friends came to the door. His mother waited to see if he would return to answer it; minutes later she answered and then yelled for him to come up. When he did not come, she went downstairs to get him. That is when she found him strangled and her son’s body dangling from the ceiling. This is a senseless tragic sight for a mother to endure. The mortality rate from suicide in 1996 showed 9.5 per 100,000 for 15-19 year olds. This also shows boys are four times more likely to commit suicide then girls. However, girls are twice as likely to attempt suicide. (American 1996) It is imperative to reverse this trend and in doing so we need to understand the characteristics, behaviors and events associated with youth suicide.
Youth take their own lives for a plethora of reasons, although none of these reasons should actually constitute an attempt at suicide. What is it then, that brings a teen to commit suicide? What factors lead to suicidal tendencies on the part of the adolescent? The enigma of youth suicide is multidimensional. As we will discover herein, the major theories on youth suicide can be categorized into three fundamental causes. Adolescent suicide is the result of one, or a...
The events may pile up, as the student may not know how to externally or internally handle the situation. If the adolescent does not have a healthy way of managing the stressors, than he/she may turn to self-destructive behaviors. These behaviors may include alcohol and personal drug use, prolonged crying and sadness, running away from home, and impulsivity or recklessness. In today’s society, adolescents may turn to the use of marijuana, alcohol and tobacco because these substances provide an opportunity to demonstrate autonomy, challenge authority, or simply relieve the stress of growing up (Wilson, Hockenberry, & Wong, 2015, p.
Suicide in adolescents is the third-leading cause of death in the United States between the ages of 10 though 19 (National Center for Health Statistics, 2012, 292). More adolescents who think even about attempting suicide are mostly the ones who are unsuccessful at it. Females for example, are more likely than males to attempt to commit suicide by either over dosing on sleeping pills or self harming. Most adolescents’ girls will not succeed in actually committing suicide. Males on the other hand, use more drastic ways of committing suicide, adolescent boys usually with a firearm rather than another meth...
Each year, thousands of our children are dying, not from cancer or car accidents, but by their own hands. They make the choice to take their lives. The number of teenagers who take their lives is rapidly increasing each year. Teen suicide has increased four-fold in the last few decades and is now the third leading cause of death among youth 15-25 years of age('Teen Suicide,';NP). In youth 5-14 years of age, suicide is the sixth leading cause of death('TeenSuicide,';NP). Teen suicide is out of control and no one seems to realize just how bad the issue is becoming. Society needs to be more aware of the causes and warning signs that often lead to suicide in young children.
The suicide rate for adolescents has increased more than 200% over the last decade.[2] Adolescent suicide is now responsible for more deaths in youths aged 15 to 19 than cardiovascular disease or cancer. Recent studies have shown that greater than 20% of adolescents in the general population have emotional problems and one-third of adolescents attending psychiatric clinics suffer from depression.[3] Despite this, depression in this age group is greatly underdiagnosed, leading to serious difficulties in school, work and personal adjustment which often continue into adulthood.
Suicide is “the action of killing oneself intentionally” (New American Oxford Dictionary). According to the Center for Disease Control, suicide is the third leading cause of death in adolescents ages 10 to 24 (2014). Adolescent suicide is quickly becoming an epidemic. As shown in the chart, between 1993 and 2000, suicide rates were decreasing. Between 2000 and 2010, however, the rates have been increasing to alarming numbers. “Deaths from youth suicide are only part of the problem. More young people survive suicide attempts than actually die” (Center for Disease Control, 2014). Studies show that adolescents who struggle with violence, low academic performance and substance abuse are more likely to commit or attempt to commit suicide.
The definition of motivation according to Kennedy (2000), “[t]he internationalist view asserts that internal and external factors influence the change process From this perspective, motivation is seen as an interpersonal process that can be influenced in a positive way by the professional (para.18). A high-risk youth is defined as a male or female between the ages of 12-17 years old who has had some contact with the law or is at risk of becoming an offender. There is a lack of motivation in some high-risk youth to positively change their lives around. According to Stinson (2009), risk factors associated with juvenile delinquency include “poor academic performance, early childhood aggression, and hyperactivity; lack of parental involvement/interaction and inadequate parental supervision and monitoring; and community/environmental factors, including access to drugs and weapons, and lack of access to community resources due to poverty” (p. 11). At risk youth that engage in community based programs in Ridge Meadows, B.C. such as KidStart, Connex, Yardworks, Community Work Service, sports and leisure and counseling, are more successful later on in their young adulthood versus high risk youth who do not attend such programs. The KidStart program is a mentoring and one-on-one program that works with youth who are at-risk and experiencing difficulties in their lives. According to PLEA (2010), “[t]he primary objective of the program is to strengthen the young person's resilience to the risk factors that are known to lead to victimization, violence and criminal activities” (para. 1). Yardworks is a program that provides youth with work experience and life skills to allow them to enter the workforce and work alongside with a PLEA staff membe...
Youths who have entered the justice system have often been diagnosed with mental disorders or diseases. “A majority of adolescents formally involved in juvenile court have at least one, if not more than one, significant emotional or learning impairment, or maltreatment experience” (Mallet, 2013). The existence of these diseases often effect the juvenile’s stability and ability to make rational decisions. Which may result in them engaging in criminal activities The prevalence of disruptive behavior disorders among youths in juvenile justice systems is reported to be between 30 percent and 50 percent (The mental health needs of juvenile offenders). The difficulties of these disorders are often
Suicide is the third leading cause of death for 15 to 24 year olds, and the sixth leading cause for 5 to 14 year olds. Suicide accounts for twelve percent of the mortality in the adolescent and young adult group. Young males are more common than young woman suicides. These are only children who followed through with the suicide. For every successful suicide there are fifty to one hundred adolescent suicide attempts. In other words, more than five percent of all teenagers tried to commit suicide, and the number is still rising. It is scary to think that four percent of high school students have made a suicide attempt within the previous twelve months. In a small safe town like Avon, in the Avon High School where you and I practically live, you can see the faces of 22 students that have tried to commit suicide. That is enough to fill a classroom.
Now the eighth-leading cause of death overall in the U.S. and the third-leading cause of death for young people between the ages of 15 and 24 years, suicide has become the subject of much recent focus. U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher, for instance, recently announced his Call to Action to Prevent Suicide, 1999, an initiative intended to increase public awareness, promote intervention strategies, and enhance research. The media, too, has been paying very close attention to the subject of suicide, writing articles and books and running news stories. Suicide among our nation’s youth, a population very vulnerable to self-destructive emotions, has perhaps received the most discussion of late. Maybe this is because teenage suicide seems the most tragic—lives lost before they’ve even started. Yet, while all of this recent focus is good, it’s only the beginning. We cannot continue to lose so many lives unnecessarily.
transcends into adulthood (Casey, 2008). During adolescence there are examinable changes in various areas of life. These changes occur physically as the adolescent goes through puberty, as well as psychological changes where high emotional reactivity emerges, and social development is at its height (Casey, 2008). Adolescents are more likely than adults or children to engage in risky behaviour that can subsequently lead to death or illness by drunk driving, carrying weapons, using illegal drugs, and engaging in unprotected sex, which in turn can lead to STD’s and teenage pregnancies (Eaton, 2006). The prior is proof that adolescents do engage in risky behaviour. Through this essay we will explore the various theories of why risky behaviour is at its height during adolescence.
Dryfoos, J. G. (1990). Adolescents at risk: Prevalence and prevention. New York: Oxford University Press.
In February I went to Hillside to acquire knowledge of the services provided by this agency. Among the many child intervention professions that this agency provided there were different levels of youth advocates. I was referred to a youth advocate and spent a day at Joseph C. Wilson Magnet High School shadowing a level two youth advocate. Throughout this day I was exposed to the daily proceedings of a youth advocate and the major functions of the program inside of a high school.