How are the Competing Explanations of Deviance Relative to Juveniles who are Serving Life Sentences in Prison?
America is the only country that incarcerates persons under the age of 18 to a life sentence in prison (Knafo 2013). Scientist says that the full level of maturity is not reached until a person is in their mid-20. Immature children without an adult brain are committing adult crimes and are serving adult time. Why? The answer unfolds in the explanations of deviance.
Statistics states that nearly 3000 juveniles who are put in American prisons are given a life sentence without the option of parole (EJI). Each case has extensive evidence that deviant behaviors led to bad actions and eventually a life sentence in prison. For example, Sara Kruzan was introducing to a life of socially deviant behavior. She was forced to prostitute and be under the dominating controls of a pimp. Eventually, the amount of deviant behavior she was exposed caused her to reach her boiling point and to kill her pimp. So, the result was deviant behavior caused another form of deviant behavior which lead to Sara Kruzan serving a life sentence in prison at the tender age of 13. Thankfully, the state the crime was committed in set new laws and Sara was later released from prison (Knafo 2013). Unlike Sara, many other juvenile serving life sentences are still waiting to be released. In this paper I would like to discuss three of those juveniles and the congruent explanation of deviance. The layout will be as follows:
1. Cyntoia Brown (Biosocial Explanation)
2. Jacob Ind (Psychological)
3. Erik Jensen (Sociological)
Three Explanations of Deviance
Understanding the three explanations of deviance reveals the complexity or deviant behavior each j...
... middle of paper ...
...are relevant to those juveniles serving life in prison.
Works Cited
Bikel, O. (Director). (2007). When kids get life [Documentary]. USA: WGBH Educational Foundation.
Birman, D. H. (Director). (2011). Me facing life [Documentary]. USA: Cinema Guild.
Deviance. (2001). In World of Sociology, Gale. Retrieved from http://www.credoreference.com/entry/worldsocs/deviance
Equal Justice Initiative. (n.d.). Children in Adult Prison. Retrieved November 14, 2013, from http://www.eji.org/childrenprison
Knafo, S. (2013, September 20). Here Are All The Countries Where Children Are Sentenced To Die In Prison. The Huffington Post. Retrieved November 14, 2013, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/20/juvenile-life-without-parole_n_3962983.html
Thio, A., Calhoun, T. C., & Conyers, A. (2010). Readings in deviant behavior (6th ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
The youth control complex is a form of social control in which the justice system (the prison system) and the socializing and social control institutions (school system) work together to stigmatize, criminalize, and punish inner city youth. Accordingly, these adolescents’ are regarded as deviant and incompetent to participate within U.S. society. On that note, deviance is created based on socially constructed labels of deviances; otherwise, deviance wouldn’t happen without these labels. Once an individual engages in a deviant behavior, it results in a response, often times, some type of punishment from the justice system. The youth control complex creates social incapacitation (social death) among juveniles. This ubiquitous system of social
Heinous crimes are considered brutal and common among adults who commit these crimes, but among children with a young age, it is something that is now being counted for an adult trial and punishable with life sentencing. Although some people agree with this decision being made by judges, It is my foremost belief that juveniles don’t deserve to be given life sentencing without being given a chance at rehabilitation. If this goes on there’s no point in even having a juvenile system if children are not being rehabilitated and just being sent off to prison for the rest of their lives and having no chance getting an education or future. Gail Garinger’s article “ juveniles Don’t deserve Life sentence”, written March 14, 2012 and published by New york Times, mentions that “ Nationwide, 79 adolescents have been sentenced to die in prison-a sentence not imposed on children anywhere else in the world. These children were told that they could never change and that no one cared what became of them. They were denied access to education and rehabilitation programs and left without help or hope”. I myself know what it’s like to be in a situation like that, and i also know that people are capable of changing even children when they are young and still growing.
Skyes, Gresham M. and David Matza. 1998. “Techniques of Neutralization: A Theory of Delinquency.” Pp. 105-116 in Juvenile Delinquency: Historical, Theoretical, and Societal Reactions to Youth, 2nd ed., edited by P. M. Sharp and B. M. Hancock. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Butler, Frank (2010) ‘Extinguishing All Hope: Life-Without-Parole for Juveniles’, Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, 49: 4, 273-292
Age is a factor in why Juveniles should not be sentenced to life in prison. As Paul Thompson states in his article Startling Finds on Teenage Brains from the Sacramento Bee, published on May 25, 2001 “ ...These frontal lobes,which inhibit our violent passions, rash action and regulate our emotions are vastly immature throughout the teenage years.” he also says that “The loss[of brain tissue] was like a wildfire, and you see it in every teenager.”. This loss of brain tissue plays a role in the erratic behavior of teens, they cannot properly assess their emotions and thoughts. During this period of brain tissue loss teens are unpredictable, adults do not know what their teen’s next move will be, teens themselves do not even know what their next move will be. As we grow our brains develop, therefore teen brains are not fully developed, so they cannot be held to the same standards as adults.
Jenkins Jennifer “On Punishment and Teen Killers.” Juvenile Justice Information Exchange, 2 August 2011. 7 May 2014.
A deep look into juveniles in adult prisons. Touch bases on several smaller issues that contribute to juveniles being in and effects of adult prisons. The United States Bureau of Prisons handles two hundred and thirty-nine juveniles and their average age is seventeen. Execution of juveniles, The United States is one of only six countries to execute juveniles. There are sixty-eight juveniles sitting on death row for crimes committed as juveniles. Forty-three of those inmates are minorities. People, who are too young to vote, drink alcohol, or drive are held to the same standard of responsibility as adults. In prisons, they argue that the juveniles become targets of older, more hardened criminals. Brian Stevenson, Director of the Alabama Capital Resource Center said, “We have totally given up in the idea of reform of rehabilitation for the very young. We are basically saying we will throw those kids away. Leading To Prison Juvenile Justice Bulletin Report shows that two-thirds of juveniles apprehended for violent offenses were released or put on probation. Only slightly more than one-third of youths charged with homicide was transferred to adult criminal court. Little more than one out of every one hundred New York youths arrested for muggings, beatings, rape and murder ended up in a correctional institution. Another report showed a delinquent boy has to be arrested on average thirteen times before the court will act more restrictive than probation. Laws began changing as early as 1978 in New York to try juveniles over 12 who commit violent crimes as adults did. However, even since the laws changed only twenty percent of serious offenders served any time. The decision of whether to waive a juven...
In a study on juvenile offenders, researchers discovered that over 83% of juveniles showed signs and symptoms of disorders that may antedated their offenses. (Arline, May 2005). Problems with behavior may have been misunderstood for a lack of discipline instead of a disorder, and many juveniles with disorders came from a home with abuse present. In cases of juvenile offenders the courts are not doing enough evaluations on juvenile families, and eon the few that they do have on file their families are stated to be stable (Arline, May 2005). However, many juvenile offenders went through unthinkable circumstances with the members of the community they live in, parents, and agencies who played a role in their life prior to being in adult criminal system (Darden, 2014). A lot of juveniles who are in the criminal system have common elements in their non-profit profiles like regretful choices, mistrusting adults, robbed childhood, and being disappointed (Darden, 2014). For instance, a juvenile offender name Jennifer Pruitt, went through physical abuse, being exposed to drunken behavior, father sexually abusing her, and domestic abuse (Darden, 2014). She ran away fro home and confided in her neighbor as someone she could trust, but her neighbor convinced her to rob another neighbor (Darden, 2014). During the attempt to the rob the neighbor Pruitt ending up witnessing a murder, and was convicted of a felony murder that landed her more than twenty years in prison (Darden,
In the article “Juveniles Don’t Deserve Life Sentences”, by Garinger, she argues that juveniles should not be treated as adults if they commit horrible crimes. Garinger states that juveniles should not be sentenced to life in prison without parole. She states that the court is considering life in prison without parole for juveniles who commit capital crimes. Garinger says that juveniles are immature, and still developing, so they can not be held to the same standards as adults. The writer adds that as a juvenile court judge, she has seen how juveniles can change and may become rehabilitated.
Social deviancy is the violation of social norms. A deviant is someone who rejects folkways and mores. Any action that violates the values or rules of a social group is deviant behavior. In order to actually be characterized as a deviant, the individual must be detected committing a deviant act and be stigmatized by society. A stigma is a mark of social disgrace, setting the deviant apart from the group. Criminality is healthy for society. Deviance affirms our cultural values and norms. Responding to deviance clarifies moral boundaries and brings people together. There will always be people who break society’s rules and that’s important.
Steinberg, L., & Scott, E., (2010). Should Juvenile Offenders Ever be sentenced to Life without the Possibility of Parole? Human Development, 54, p. 53-54. DOI: 10.1159/000288207
For instance, juveniles do not deserve life sentences because their brain isn’t fully developed yet and lack awareness of their actions. In the article “Startling Finds on Teenage Brains” by Paul Thompson, he explains the development of the brain and how in some situations the brain isn’t ready and it can affect the person. This effect in divergent ways; psychologically and emotionally. Thompson's article introduces the case of Nathaniel Brazill, at age 14, charged with second degree murder, trial as an adult and sentenced to life in prison without parole. After some serious research, it has shown that as many other juveniles who have committed a crime they are “far from adulthood”.
In Criminology, a behaviour that is not considered to be a norm in society is known as deviance. This may differ throughout the world as some cultures have a different interpretation of norms (Phofl, 1985). The bulk of deviant behavior will be looked as discontentment from those in society or even punishment from the system. Deviance can fall into many classifications such as addictions and delinquency. We will look at deviance and about how and why people are deviant. Some theories support the idea of deviance being biological while others refute this and believe the idea of it being caused by your social construction.
As a society we often find it difficult to swallow the fact that children are capable of engaging in and committing crimes. The thought of a child, a being that represents innocence, would perform an act that deviates to social order shocks and confuses society. The questions of, how could you do that? What were you thinking? Which, then leads to statements like, “We did not raise that way! ” or “You know better than that!” when trying to comprehend the concept of the unacceptable actions of juveniles. Suicides, runaways, and later life offending seem to have a common link of juvenile delinquency. Children deviating from societal norms can affect the future of society because offending. Juvenile offending can be the result of a plethora of culprits and perhaps, as a society we can to come to terms with there not being one exclusive answer to explain why juveniles deviate from social norms.
The forgotten few: the juvenile offender population. Seldom thought about, but yet are the foundation and underpinning of the origin of the crime in the United States. This is an inquiry as to what has been done to the adolescents and children with regards to sanctions that have not yet been really brought to light. The problematic history of juvenile offenders is one of the United States dirty little secret. The literature shows the nations children who deviate from the norm are presumed to be deviant and treated like its adult criminal population. Teenagers, kids, adolescents are presumed to be treated as if they are of age. What is lost is the cognitive development and nourishment when such negative actions occur. The basic and fundamental formative academics that have shown effectiveness are not being implemented into the sanctions for these juvenile offenders. There is a linear correlation between low education obtainment levels, mental illness and juvenile offending and recidivism. This is a significant dynamic risk factor that has the potential to eliminate the deviance of the youth in the nation. The development of our youth mentally can indeed have lasting positive effects for sustaining positive results during their rehabilitation stints and most importantly decreasing recidivism.