What is Juvenile Delinquency?
Juvenile delinquency and crime is a problem in the United States. Research has established that a sizeable majority of young people admit to engaging in some types of delinquent behavior. Although only a small number are ever apprehended by police officers, even fewer are ever referred to a juvenile court.
Definitions of juvenile delinquency vary according to statutory definitions in each state. Most states define a “juvenile” for jurisdictional purposes as a person between the ages of 10 to 18 years of age; although in some states 16-and 17-year-olds may be treated as adults when they have committed a crime.
A “delinquent child” is defined generally as a child who has violated any state or local law; a federal law or law of another state; or who has escaped from confinement in a local or state correctional facility.
What Kind of Crimes Do Youth Commit?
The majority of crimes committed by juveniles are offenses such as theft and shoplifting, vandalism, drug and alcohol use, disorderly conduct, and simple assaults – hitting, kicking, and fights that do not result in serious injury.
Youths engage in behavior such as curfew violations, running away, disobeying parents, school truancy, and alcohol violations. These are referred to as status offenses because they apply only to juvenile-age youth and children, and are not punishable under a state penal code.
Paradoxically, statistics indicate that juvenile arrests have been on the
decline for more than a decade in the United States. Nevertheless, some troubling patterns persist and these vary greatly by geographic location, offense, and demographic group.
Why Do We Care About Juvenile Crime if it’s Not Serious?
Most serious property and personal violent crimes are committed by adult offenders over the age of 18. Considerable attention is directed at delinquent behavior and juvenile offending, however, for at least two reasons:.
1) Juvenile-age youth commit a disproportionate number of crimes (compared with their proportion of the population)
2) Delinquency prevention efforts are the first step in reducing crime and violence committed by adult offenders.
Given these findings, which are documented in scientific studies, criminologists, social scientists, lawmakers, and policymakers have focused their efforts on examining the causes of juvenile crime, and on developing programs and public policies to prevent delinquency and correct juvenile offenders.
What is Juvenile Justice?
Juvenile justice is the area of criminal law applicable to persons not old enough to be held responsible for criminal acts. In most states, the age for criminal culpability is currently set at 18 years (again, in some states 16-and 17-year-olds may be treated as adults when they have committed a crime).
Juvenile law is mainly governed by state law and most states have enacted a juvenile code.
The parens patriae doctrine was the legal basis for court jurisdiction over juveniles and was central to the juvenile court philosophy because children who violated laws were not to be treated as criminals. Children were considered less mature and less aware of the consequences of their actions, so they were not to be held legally accountable for their behavior in the same manner as adults. Under the juvenile justice philosophy, youthful offenders were designated as delinquent rather than as criminal and the primary purpose of the juvenile justice system was not punishment but rehabilitation (see Mennel, 1972, and Davis, 1980).
History of Juvenile Justice
The American juvenile justice system has developed over the past century with a number of differences that distinguish it from the adult criminal justice process. Juvenile justice advocates supported the differences on diminished youthful offender accountability and legal understanding and youths’ greater amenability to treatment.
The first juvenile court was established in Chicago, Illinois, in 1899. There is still debate a century later over the goals and the legal procedures for dealing with juvenile offenders. The question of whether juvenile offenders should be tried and sentenced differently than adult offenders elicits strongly held opinions from citizens, policymakers, and professionals.
Transfer provisions – the practice of waiving juveniles offenders from the juvenile system to the adult system – are on the uptick, though they remain controversial for reasons that the research shows that the outcomes are less than satisfactory.
Originally, the juvenile justice system was established on the principle of individualized justice and focused on rehabilitation of youthful offenders. While due process protections were considered important, they were considered secondary in importance given the court’s emphasis on care, treatment, and rehabilitation for juveniles. It was believed that youths could be held responsible for their unlawful behavior and society could be protected through an informal justice system that focused on treatment and “the best interests of the child.” This approach is still appropriate and effective for the majority of juvenile offenders, whose crimes range from status offenses to property offenses to drug offenses.
Reform; Not Punishment
The juvenile courts sought to turn juvenile delinquents into productive citizens by focusing on treatment rather than punishment. The laws that established the juvenile courts clearly distinguished their purpose as different from the adult penal codes.
A ruling by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in the case of Commonwealth v. Fisher in 1905 supported the juvenile court’s purpose, and illustrates how the court’s role in training delinquent children superseded the rights of children and their parents:
The design is not punishment, nor the restraint imprisonment, any more than is the wholesome restraint which a parent exercises over his child. . . . Every statute which is designed to give protection, care, and training to children, as a parental duty, is but a recognition of the duty of the state, as the legitimate guardian and protector of children where other guardianship fails. No constitutional right is violated. [Commonwealth v. Fisher, 213 Pa. 48 (1905)]
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court thus supported the juvenile court’s treatment objectives over the rights of the juvenile or the parents.
Because the purpose of the juvenile court was for the protection and treatment of the child and not for punishment, the juvenile proceeding was more civil than criminal and also informal (unlike the more formal, adversarial criminal court process).
Juvenile reform efforts were also based on the growing optimism that application of the social sciences was more appropriate for handling juvenile offenders than the law.
Delinquency was viewed more as a social problem and a breakdown of the family than a criminal problem.
Sources
Mennel, R.M.(1972). ‘Origins of the Juvenile Court: Changing Perspectives on the Legal Rights of Juvenile Delinquents,’ in Crime and Delinquency 18: 68-78.
Discussion Questions
Why do you think youth become involved in delinquent activity?
What kinds of delinquent activity did you observe among peers growing up? Did you become involved at any point with this activity? If not, how were you able to stay out of trouble? Who do you credit as having a favorable influence in your life to help you avoid being labeled a “troubled youth.”
What do you think about “zero-tolerance” policies for youth offenders?
I think youth become involved in delinquent activity because of their parents and who they hang out with. I feel a lot of times it is because parents neglect their children by not giving them the time of day or paying attention to them and making sure they are disciplined. I also believe that you can be a good parent, but it is who your kids’ hangout with, and that is what makes them get involved in delinquent activities. Growing up I didn’t see too much of it, but I would say as I became more of an older youth, I think drugs and alcohol was the big thing. I never got involved doing drugs or drinking alcohol young and I have never done drugs before to this day. But I think the reason why I was not a troubled youth, was because of my mom for sure, and being involved in baseball as much as I was. I was always involved in the sport, and I feel I didn’t have time ever to go out and do dumb stupid things. I think the zero-tolerance policy is a little over the top. I think it needs to be a basis to basis and it depends on the crime that was committed. But I do think we need to make sure we stay on top of kids being bad, because if we let up at all, kids will know that and continue to push the limit even further then they try right now.
I think youth become involved in delinquent activity because of the environments that surround them. For example, if a juvenile grows up in an area with a high robbery rate and they see this everyday, they will be more likely to do this as they see this action as socially acceptable. I was never involved in delinquent activity, but I have seen kids do delinquent activity like vandalism. I think these kids are involved in this activity because they were considered the ‘rejects’, so for them to feel bonded to each other I think they used bad behavior. I did not have a ‘troubled youth’ myself because my mom would make sure I did not get involved in anything bad and would do anything to keep it that way. I think to help these kids we need to give them some sort of punishment and not let them think they can get away with it because then they will progress with these actions.
I believe youth engage in delinquent behaviors for a variety of reasons. But an aspect in particular I am going to discuss is the communities in which the youth grow up. For example, if a child grows up in an impoverished area, it is usually a run-down neighborhood with little to no supervision from anyone. It is relatively easy to get away with things in a poor neighborhood because crime is usually common, and committing crime is how most people survive. Within a poor area, you might see children stealing from stores because they do not have the money to buy the products they require or desire. Their parents most likely do not have money to provide them, so they end up stealing.
Another drawback of living in a poor community is that young people are easily influenced by those around them, so if they see others committing crimes, they are more inclined to do the same because it is deemed acceptable. I say this because as a child, I often wanted to do the same things as my siblings or the older kids. That being said, I was completely influenced by what I observed others doing around me, which may explain the influence that others have on children. We may not recognize it at first, but witnessing other people’s actions deemed acceptable gives children an assurance that they, too, can do it. What people consider criminal or violent differs among the middle and higher classes from impoverished places since those people grew up with criminal behavior as a societal norm. It is difficult to believe something is not right when you witness it in all aspects of your life, especially when you are so young. Children do not understand the distinction between right and wrong; all they know is the act of attempting to survive alongside their community and family.
The youth can get themselves into delinquent activities because of various reasons. Youth is often influenced by what happens at school based on who they hang out around with, or what their family life is like. Schools are a big influence because of the groups of people a kid can hang out with that can be not as good compared to other students. This also collects into the idea of peer pressure. If the youth wanted to fit in or be accepted to a social group, they could either engage into delinquent activities such as shoplifting or vandalism. So, the people that the youth hangs around will greatly affect if they get involved into those types of delinquent crimes. Family is another reason why youth might get involved in delinquency. There are many difficult family situations where a youth could be neglected or abused. These factors may turn a teenager into someone they did not tend to want to be and can result in getting into delinquent behaviors as a way to cope for themselves. Having the family issues also goes hand to hand to having the lack of supervision of the youth teenager. If the kid does not have guidance, such as a positive mom or dad, delinquent activities can be a way to have fun for them.
First of all, according to the many criminology researchers, criminal behavior is not something that an individual is born with but rather something that is learned. Based on this basis I believe that the youth pick up delinquent behaviors from the environment that they grow up in. As the strain theory states, similarly to adults when youth find themselves blocked from conventional opportunities they become frustrated and strained. Thus they may choose to participate in delinquent activities in order to release that frustration and stress. As I grew up it was not surprising to see fellow students getting involved in delinquent activities. The most common delinquent behavior I witnessed growing up was most definitely substance abuse. Fortunately, I did not become involved in such behaviors mainly because I refused to become a part of the “troubled youth”. Others had different mindsets, however that does not mean that they should not be given an opportunity to strive for something better.
Youth become involved in delinquent activities for many different reasons. There are delinquents who were pressured into this behavior as a method of survival. Let’s look at shoplifting for example. A juvenile delinquent coming from a poor neighborhood or background with the struggle to attain food would possibly steal a bag of chips and/or soda from their local corner store. This is not necessarily intended to commit a crime, but a way to survive through a difficult time. Another reason juveniles tend to become involved in delinquent activities is blamed on influence. During adolescence, juveniles try to understand and fit into life while also understanding themselves and their place in society. Because of this process, juveniles look towards those in their life as a source of guidance, however, many juveniles who come from low-income or “hotspot” areas don’t have the best influences. To this view, youth become involved in delinquent activities for this reason. As for zero-tolerance policies for youth offenders, this policy tends to fall on students of color or those from low-income neighborhoods. Although the effects of zero-tolerance policy revolve around the desire to decline the number of crimes in certain areas and to enforce the law in a more severe fashion, however, the policy becomes unfair when we consider the reasons why youth commit delinquent activities. Furthermore, juveniles are only at the beginning stages of their life and possessing that criminal record will prevent them from obtaining many quality opportunities of employment in the future.
As a High School student of the early 90’s growing up in Beaver Falls, seeing delinquent activity like drugs sales, drug abuse and prostitution, was commonplace for me. On the block of the Carnegie Library, on the Main Street, you could always drugs dealers hanging on the corner. Down a block down around another corner, women of the night would be out hanging out after dark just waiting for customers. In school, some of my friends who were crack dealers, would flash their large folds of cash, flashy clothes and shoes. They were the richest kids in school and would sometimes show me how they kept the crack in their pockets, in tic-tac plastic containers mixed with mints. I actually gave a couple people who were known drug dealers, rides to the mall if they filled up my gas tank. I guess I am lucky I never got trouble, but others I knew were not so lucky. Of the group of friends I hung with, my parents were the only ones married and not divorced. Growing up in a two parent household was definitely favorable for me as it was harder for me to get away with the same things my friends did. It seems my friends with parents that were divorced, had more freedoms and less restrictions that I had. My parents would probably have labeled me as a troubled youth before I joined the military for over twenty years ago. My father worked full time in the mill, but having my mother and grandmother, who lived with us, giving me adult supervision at all times kept me from going down the wrong path.
I think youth become involved in delinquent activity because of the people that raised the kid. It could be the parent or if the parents weren’t around their legal guardian and they may have not payed attention and could have been bad influences. Also another reason is the crowd they hang out with can cause them to feel peer pressured into doing something they wouldn’t do alone. Some delinquent behaviour I witness was my brother he was a good kid played basketball and was a good student then started hanging out with the wrong group of people and started smoking every once in awhile. Then turned into a everyday thing and started caring more about getting high then what he had going on with school and sports. Then I had gotten involved because I was around these kids everyday on the way to school and way home and would be forced to or I would have no ride home or ride to school. But also made me realise how dumb that stuff is and to not take things for granted. For the zero-tolerance policies for youth offenders is a bit to much. Every crime is not a violent crime which means it does not need to be that harsh on those kids that don’t commit a violent crime.
I think the youth become involved in delinquent activities as an escape to the reality they’re living. Most of the time youth act out in those ways because they have a difficult time processing a situation in their life. Whenever I was younger I observed a lot of delinquent activities. I used to be involved in the “wrong crowd”. Growing up I had a lot f friends who would do things we would call delinquent and it was easy to fall into those situations myself. In middle school I found myself getting involved in things I probably shouldn’t have because I wanted people to like me and think I was cool. I was always trying to be a show off and I found myself getting in school suspension or lunch detention a bit. I never got into any serious trouble, I was never suspended out of school or anything. I was getting in trouble for the little things like throwing food at someone during lunch or not listening to a teacher in class. In high school I was friends with the party crowd so I did my fair share of underage drinking and partying. luckily I never got an underage, but there were a fair amount of partied that were busted by the cops whom my friends and I ran from. I eventually grew up a little and decided I no longer should be hanging out with the party crowd around my junior year. I was able to get my grades up by focusing on my studies and I really worked hard at my basketball career. I realized if I ever wanted to go to college to play ball I couldn’t be partying all the time.
I think youth become involved in delinquent activity becasue we as humans compete and learn from others. Growing up I was the youngest one in the group and I saw a few things such as stealing, fighting, and even cheating. I was never into those things I would argue sometimes but only after being provoked. I was always hanging with teachers it got to a point were I would rather help a teacher with work then go to the cafateria. I would say my mom helped me but I also never wanted to be known as a trobled kid so I worked hard to keep my temper under control. I think that we all have to be responsible at some point the real world is hard.
I believe there are many reasons why some youth become involved in delinquent activity. Today, a large number of adolescents play video games or even watch television shows that are violent. These games and television shows can expose a minor to violence, causing them to be aggressive at an early age leading them to want and mimic what they are seeing. Also, having a low socioeconomic status can be a factor. A teenager might want to buy new shoes that everyone else has to fit in but can not afford them. This can cause them to steal the shoes from a store. Being in a family with abusive parents, can lead a child to run away and try to find love somewhere else. This can lead them to join a gang to feel accepted. A student might lash out toward a teacher, because they are disinterested in school or simply because they have a hard time learning and do not know how to ask for help. A huge factor is living in a neighborhood that experiences high crime and thinking you have no other option but to become part of it. These unfortunate kids know no other life. These are just a few examples I believe cause a juvenile to become involved in delinquent activity.
I grew up in a lower class community where delinquent behavior was very present. Originally, I am from here in Pittsburgh but for the first 7 years of my life I was raised in Houston, Texas and Atlanta, Georgia where at that age I was not exposed to anything. I went to private schools and participated in a variety of activities. I became exposed to different things when I moved back to Pittsburgh. I went to the neighborhood schools where I seen kids fighting daily, stealing, cussing teachers out. It started out as little things like that while I was in elementary school. When I got to middle school I noticed people were becoming more involved in drinking, smoking, having parties etc. Kids were selling drugs, robbing people. starting their own gangs, staying outside late causing trouble but my mom never allowed me to get involved in those things. By the time I got to high school I had already lost friends to the streets and a jail cell. I was able to stay out of trouble because I knew what was going on was just wrong. Of course I have my parents to thank but I was never the following type, I never found anything they were doing intriguing. I played sports and did my own thing, I seen first hand the result of all those behaviors. Youth become involved in delinquent behaviors because some want to look “cool” and others do not have a choice. Currently I live in a upper-class community where the same behavior goes on just about but it’s not published because of the community. The only difference is these teenagers in this community pick this lifestyle because they think its “cool” but where I’m from those kids did not pick the lifestyle. They were born into and had no choice, no help, nothing. I believe the “zero-tolerance” policies for youth offenders is a bit extreme. Every crime is not a violent crime which means it does not need to be that extreme.
What kinds of delinquent activity did you observe among peers growing up? Did you become involved at any point with this activity? If not, how were you able to stay out of trouble? Who do you credit as having a favorable influence in your life to help you avoid being labeled a “troubled youth.”
When I was growing up, I observed quite a bit of delinquent activity that my peers were involved in. I was in middle school when I started to seriously observe these activities. Some of the girls would be involved in a lot of things that I thought was a bit advanced for the age that we were. I have seen girls in sixth grade smoking weed, cigarettes, and drinking. These girls came from nice families but their parents were never present. They would always talk about having parties at their houses because their parents were never home. These girls would always be involved in drama at school and would get suspended quite often I never wanted to do the drugs and the smoking and drinking that they would do and I never did do it. My parents get all the credit for being present in my life and being parents that I have been able to go to about anything.
I think youths become involved in delinquent activity for many reasons. Most of the youths that I have heard about started doing delinquent activity due to peer pressure. It is difficult growing up with peers in your friend group telling you to do delinquent things that you may not be comfortable doing. I have heard people saying that you cannot just say no to doing what your “friends” tell you to do but you can say no. Some people are afraid to say no because they do not want to be the person who gets kicked out of the friend group. They would rather have friends peer pressuring them than to be alone without a friend group. Another reason why I think youths become involved in delinquent activity is that they may not have a lot of money so they partake in stealing. In their mind, it is the cheapest way to get what they want when they do not have the money to pay for it. In reality, it is not the cheapest way because if they get caught, they will have a record because of it. Some kids might start doing delinquent behavior when they think that they are older than how they are being treated by adults. This type of delinquent behavior might include stealing the car, sneaking out, and breaking curfew. Even though some delinquent behavior may seem not that bad, the small delinquent behaviors may lead to doing crime in the future like more minor crimes. In some instances, it might lead to a person committing bigger crimes but most stick to minor crimes.
What kinds of delinquent activity did you observe among peers growing up? Did you become involved at any point with this activity? If not, how were you able to stay out of trouble? Who do you credit as having a favorable influence in your life to help you avoid being labeled a “troubled youth.”
When I was growing up many of my peers mostly stayed out of trouble until they reached high school. When we got into high school mostly drugs became an issue, and the “bad” kids were skipping school, selling drugs, robbing people, and drinking. Although most of the kids drank and smoked weed occasionally, it was only the black kids in the school who were looked down upon because of it. I remember two black high school football players jumped another black boy in the locker room, and it was all over the news. When they showed their mug shots they looked like men, and the news made it seem like animals. One of the boys (that had jumped the younger black boy in the locker room) I was really good friends with, when he returned to school I remember talking with him and just asking him what actually happened? He said he had nothing to do with it, and they were charging him just because he was there, and just like that, his life was ruined. He was the sweetest man, the most kindest person I knew at the time, and I knew whatever happened he had regretted. Now, he is in a better place and has a full-time job, but others aren’t so lucky. I was always friends with the “bad” people in school, but my dad never influenced my friendships. Growing up I had an extremely rough and abusive childhood so I grew up really quickly. I knew what sex was when I was 4 years old, I knew about drugs by the time I was 8, and by the time I was 14 I was fully supporting myself. How did I stay out of trouble? Well, I did that by not having friends, and only socializing in school. I knew from my childhood experiences and seeing my friends (when I did have them) what people can do. So from the ages of 13-17 I didn’t “hang out” with any friends outside of school, and it was very lonely, but it was better than the alternative. When I finally did let my self be free I was sexually assaulted, and I found myself again back at my childhood, people cannot be trusted. However, I credit my father because he never influenced my decisions, and he always let me make them for myself. I think that’s why I chose to completely eliminate myself from all my peers to keep myself from temptation.
I think that youth become involved in delinquent activity because it might seem like a right of passage to rebel and behave poorly. For some it starts out as engaging in delinquent behavior. Such as violating curfew, running away, disobeying parents, and alcohol violations. However some youths would be done after disobeying like this but the ones that don’t stop eventually become a delinquent committing crimes. It’s also interesting to note that delinquency was viewed more as a social problem rather than it being treated as a criminal problem. Which makes some sense because one isn’t born a delinquent they simply become one based on their environment. This exhibits how youth become involved in delinquent activity, simply by being influenced by social determinants.
After reading the article and digesting Kimmel’s focus points, I find it intriguing as to how Kimmel’s variables correlate with the predictions of violence. Some of the variables are social interactions and influences among school, living environment, friends and media. As an adolescent or child, we are influenced the most by our peers and the media. Youth’s involvement in delinquency is influenced by their wants to fit in within a crowd. For an example gangs. Gangs tend to recruit the youth at a young age simply because it’s easier to manipulate and persuade them to do what they please. Within this generation, social media and smart phones play a major role. With apps such as Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook, people are able to upload images or videos of themselves smoking weed, drinking and waving guns around because it’s a culture that they grew up around. The juvenile justice system is a system that has many flaws. The Juvenile justice system is stuck between the ideologies of harsh and relaxed punishment. Although their goal is to deter juveniles from recommitting crimes and ending up back in the system, there’s a lack of effort to educate the youth of their actions.
Juvenile justice and youth delinquency is a very different case load to study, these children which are under the age of eighteen are having these criminals’ acts or behaviors which lands them in an alternative program. I believe as if that these programs or the companies running the system have many problems within itself. In today’s world young kids are carrying around guns committing murder and commit horrible crimes need to be helped a different way as if some kid acting up in school but isn’t into gangs. These kids that are committing these petty thefts or selling drugs need their own different type of rehabilitation. There need to be more studies conducted in order to help these children the right way and have less punishment and more rehabilitation.
Juveniles are not just born to be delinquents they grow and up follow the acts of others that’s how the become delinquents. Most juveniles grow up in a home where that’s where they learn all the wrong things. Although most think your home is where you should be taugh all the right things in life sometimes that’s not true. In my opinion I believe most teens fall in the wrong path trying to make friends. Ha going around the wrong people at the wrong time. One thing that caught my attention within this post was the drop out rate. Never did I know the drop out rate was that low. Now days you’ll see a lot of teens dropping out and turning to the streets. Most juvenile may become a delinquent for providing for his family. Maybe they were taugh to go out in the streets and get money instead of a legal job. I just feel not all delinquents are where they are because of there choice
Youth Delinquency is a huge problem that every teen faces. The problem is that kids commit very minor offenses and most of the time never get caught doing them. After committing all of these minor crimes and never getting caught, it causes a lot of potential crime in the future. Kids think that it is okay to do whatever they want, until they receive serious consequences. The consequences can be so severe that they could potentially ruin their future. That is why I think it is very important for kids to get involved in after school activities or clubs to help them stay out of trouble. Everybody needs a strong, influential person in their life to help lead them down the right path. If kids do not have someone like that in their life or do not have any hobbies, then that can potentially cause problems for them later in life.
I feel that most juvenilles start committing some acts that could be considered criminal in some point in their lives, however I also feel this is more rebellion based than actual maliciousness, and when its not based in rebellion and consists of far more serious crimes than its usually more based on their environment rather than their deposition. I myself only really observed such minor crimes, mostly weed based or alcohol based, and while I did sometimes drink underage with friends that was it. Though this was more because of lack of oppurtunity and just not being social enough than any moral concious decision. As for zero-tolerance policies, I’m against them in general, so obviously I’m also against them for juvenilles.
Juvenile Justice is a pretty wide area of study that comes down to children under the age of 18 and criminal behavior. I think there are many flaws in the system of Juvenile Justice. I think it is sometimes to harsh on kids who made a bad decision. Now, kids who murder and commit horrible crimes need to be evaluated and treated different, but if a 16 year old kid commits a robbery or sells drugs we cannot continue to harshly punish them. This introduces them to “the system” at an age where they should be in school and socializing with their peers to become well-rounded adults. The recidivism rate for juveniles is way to high. There needs to be more education and less punishment when it comes to kids.
I think that youths’ involvement in delinquent activity arises mostly from a rebellious need or because it is perceived as “cool,” or a “bold move” to do something illegal. Sometimes it is out of curiosity and often its due to peer pressure or to gain social status. Delinquent activities occur in wealthy as well as urban or poor areas. I know of several HS in wealthy areas outside of PGH with serious drug and alcohol problems and its related crime. Those schools do not have metal detectors or armed police at the entrance, like the schools in poorer or urban areas. At my former high school, the police at school issue citations for infractions, so what may have been a scuffle at one school without a police presence, is now considered assault and the “delinquent” is tried before a magistrate to determine further action. This is definitely the school to prison pipeline. Kids in poor or urban areas are doomed, they are viewed as delinquents just because they reside there, and the slightest infraction causes the long arm of the law comes down on them hard. They never have the opportunity to navigate the course of right or wrong on their own. Because of their youthful foolishness the “cool” or “bold move” or because they were curious or pressured, they have entered the system that will probably dictate their future for years to come.
I feel as if juveniles are no born as delinquents. I believe that they simply learn from the environment in which they were raised and where they grew up. Parents have a role in this, but also peers of the child. Throughout school, juveniles learn how to communicate with others both in a negative and positive way usually. Often though, they make fun of and curse and all sorts of other stuff with their friends and then back talk teachers and principles. Growing up with a few delinquents living by me, I still hung out with them at school and on the bus, but I always stayed away from their house. I knew what went on in their houses, but never knew who to tell back then. In early December of 2018 though, the one house that I had a bad feeling about growing up (one of the delinquent’s house) burnt to the ground because a crack pipe caught the floor on fire and spread. When It comes to the zero tolerance policy works to an extent. I feel programs that require hard labor or community service would work as well.
The justice system cares about Juvenile Crime because they believe it is the first step to reducing crime and violence, and an attempt to prevent juveniles from becoming adult offenders. In my opinion our youth are becoming involved in delinquent activity for many reasons, but I know the biggest reason is trying to fit in with the wrong crowd. As a child/teenager you want friends outside of your siblings and most times they fall in line with the wrong people because of the eager feeling of having your own clique outside of your family. Another reason why our youth are becoming delinquents is their family and peers as stated before. Parents are the first two people to guide the child on the right track and teach him/her from right or wrong, but that all changes when the child reaches middle and high school. Their peers become a stronger influence on them then the parent’s and that is absolutely expected. Where the child lives or grew up is a significant factor regarding youth delinquency, because every child is seeing something different. One child’s view could possibly be seeing people in their neighborhoods walking their pets just living in a good “society”, while the other child’s view is people in their neighborhood selling drugs, getting shot, skipping school, robbing people, just living in “poverty”. There are many different factors that pertain to why our youth are becoming delinquents, and the kind of delinquent behavior I witnessed among my peers was skipping school, running away from home, and disobeying their parents.
It is established that a majority of young people are involved with delinquent behavior. The age is currently set at 10- 18 years old. Some even at 16 or 17? Do you think this is fair being that these children/teens are not fully developed yet? I also believe that children now are more likely involved with delinquent behavior because of our society. Technology can contribute to why these acts of behavior happen. Overall each individual grows up in different households and family life styles. These contribute to how we act on a day to day basis. If we start to solve problems earlier on in childhood maybe it could prevent acts of delinquent behavior.
Youth become involved in delinquent behavior because of the way they are raised. Family and peers have a big influence on how an individual turns out to be. Majority of the time when youth grow up in a home where their parents set rules and mentor them while they are growing up. When children who have divorced parents or who have lost a parent, they tend to not have as many rules or as much mentoring with the parents which causes them to go out and do whatever they want. If children who grow up with parents that are delinquents already, they tend to follow their actions which causes them to become delinquents also. Also, the peers of the children play a role in youth delinquents. If someone who has never done anything bad hangs around their peers who are delinquents, eventually these children tend to follow their peers and start following their peers in what they do. Lack of parenting and who these children hang around play a big role of these children becoming delinquents.
Many juveniles get involved with delinquent activity through their background. This includes where they live at, lack of education, family background, and so on. A huge factor is the location in which they live in. Cities that are in major poverty subject to a spike in juvenile delinquency. Growing up being around crime 24/7, that’s all they learn and know. Not to mention, cities that are going through poverty lack education to teach the youth. Family members that have a criminal background also influences juveniles in getting involved in delinquent activity. Over the time, getting exposed through these certain activities, juveniles tend to process this and inherit their family members criminal habits.
Children are more susceptible to delinquent behavior in today’s society than in previous years. One of these factors could be attributed to how technologically advanced our society is. Growing up, I was jealous of all my friends who had the latest Razor or the iPod. Now there’s so many generations of iPod’s and all sorts of technology that can clean your floors without you having to do it yourself. Some of these kids who are seen with petty thefts often times come from an area where they don’t have money to afford these things. I also believe that juveniles will act out because of the lack of parenting that goes on in a household, or even growing up watching a parent break the law and being told its okay to do so. Seeing my parents have a glass of wine at dinner having a few beers “with the guys” was a norm in my house. When I got older I realized that a lot of my friends parents do not drink in front of their kids. To me that was strange since I was used to seeing my parents have a drink every once in a while. The lack of parenting can also lead to juvenile delinquency. If a child is not receiving the proper care or attention from their parents, they are often times going to act out to try and get that attention. Often times, we see the same kids acting out multiple times even after being caught.
We all grow up in different places and different ways. Morals are different in some households and I think that can affect a youth in being involved in delinquent activity or not. There are many factors other than morals that can play roles in a youth’s life when being involved in delinquent activity. Peer pressure, adrenaline, broken family, family with history of criminal activity and on.
When I was younger I moved around a lot, and lived with other kids that ranged from my age and older. Most of them partook in delinquent activity. They would stay out after curfew, steal, lie and drink. As I got older and lived in a more permeant place, I made friends who also partook in these activities and eventually I started to too. I would stay out after curfew and lie about my whereabouts, I went to parties and drank underage a lot. I learned the hard way and kept doing it until I got caught with the law. After getting in trouble I realized that wasn’t who I wanted to be because I was being raised better than that. I might have had a rough start as a child but I wanted to make sure I wasn’t going to end up being labeled as “troubled youth”.
I credit my grandma and aunt for being my favorable influence.
Some zero-tolerance policies I find can be unreasonable because people do make mistakes. Should someone who generally stays out of trouble be punished for a small mistake? I think it should be enforced after a warning has been set in place.
Why do you think youth become involved in delinquent activity?
I think that there are multiple reasons why youth become involved in delinquent activities. There isn’t one specific factor but numerous “smaller” factors to contribute to their behavior. From personal experience, juvenile delinquency is a tricky subject to completely understand. Let’s use theft as an example, one of the more acceptable theories is that juveniles will steal something from a store because they simply cant afford it or their parents may have not taught them that it is wrong. However I’ve had friends that grew up in healthy house environments, went to a good school, had everything they could have needed yet still shoplifted before. Now this is not because his parents didn’t raise him correctly, he had great parents. Perhaps this was his attempt to “fit in” or try to gain some respect from a different crowd, maybe tougher or maybe popular.
Another possibility can be linked between juvenile delinquency and broken home families. Troubled youth act out in many different ways, some in forms to express themselves, and others in acts to get attention. The United States has always had one of the highest divorce rates among all the nations, there have been studies that show there is a positive correlation between divorce and delinquency. Divorce isn’t easy on a family especially younger kids, anger and fear can be used to describe how one may feel during their parent’s separation process. Most juvenile’s are arrested for property crime and things like theft, larceny, and burglary. Non-violent crimes and acts of taking. From this information, I do not think that most juveniles are looking to hurt others, but acting out for attention or maybe even trying to use material possessions as a way to cope with a less fortunate home environment.
I think that youth become involved in delinquent activity because of family (bad parenting or abusive parents) , peers are involved as well, and/or even the media. I do know from experience, that some juveniles shoplift because they want something and their parents either won’t get it for them or can’t afford it.
When I was little I didn’t really see much because I was too busy with school and my multiple sports, but when I was a junior/senior in high school, I started to go out and meet new people and by being out in the streets more I started to see what they did. I know most of them would never sleep at their houses during the week, they would do graffiti’s on walls, they would buy alcohol without being the legal age, and many more. I never became involved in those actions because my parents taught me better than their parents. Whenever this events would happen I would just walk away and then go back or I would go back home.
I think that the “zero-tolerance” policy should be placed once a youth commits a offense more than once or twice.
Reflecting back on when I was at the age that is typically defined as a “youth,” I can imagine why some children get involved in such detrimental behaviors. Sometimes it is hard for children to figure out who they are. The people around them normally help with that. So, if they spend time with people that get into trouble, whether they are normally in trouble or not, they are more likely to take part in activities that result in trouble simply to fit in better. By the time they get to the age where they truly realize how bad these behaviors were, they are usually in too deep and these behaviors are a part of them. I personally believe that I was surrounded by more positive than negative people during my youth. I did know people that would have been considered troubled youth. Most of them stole small items, smoked cigarettes (them eventually marijuana), and drank alcohol at an early age. Because of how impressionable children are, I am not sure how I feel about the zero-tolerance policy for youth. It depends on the circumstances and the crime. Everything should be handled differently, but that also is not fair to the youth that get the more strict side of the deal.
One thing that stood out to me was that the highest population that lives in poverty was juveniles under the age of five. This really stuck out to me because for a five year old to be put through poverty at such young age could be detrimental for them. I believe for a five year old it would be very tough to get out of that as he/she grows up, unless the family members are able to fix that. The second thing that stuck out to me was the list of the different crimes juveniles tend to commit, such as theft, vandalism, and drug and alcohol usage to list a few. This could be an issue for the future of the juveniles as they grow up. As they grow up worse crimes could perhaps be committed and repeating crimes could also grow for the juveniles. A positive thing that I read was that the juvenile high school dropout rate has been decreasing. If this number continues to decrease over the years, juveniles may become better educated on possible right and wrongs in life and hopefully steer them away from crime in the future.
In response to the Kimmel article one of the biggest observations made was that a lot of school shootings involved white boys. Kimmel talks about a lot of factors that can lead to someone deciding to shoot a school, but some that really stood out to me where gender roles as well as lack of support for the shooters.
When talking about gender roles Kimmel talks about Columbine as well as “Jockaracy” which means that the stereotypical jocks were seen as the superior men compared to the rest of the boys at a school. This Jockaracy gave the stereotypical jocks power in the schools “social classes” and since they had that respect and power, the jocks were able to get away with more than other groups. This made other boys in schools feel the need to question their masculinity because they did not fit into that jock stereotype. In the Columbine situation the active shooters were constantly being targeted and their sexualities being specifically targeted which would then question their masculinity. Since their manliness was being questions I feel as though that they thought they needed to “prove their manliness” and the way that these shooters tried to do that was to shoot their schools up.
When talking about lack of support, I feel as though that these events could have been stopped and prevented if the shooters got the support that they needed. In the Columbine situation again the shooter was constantly harassed and even tried to commit suicide, which was a huge cry for help from the school, but it appeared that the school did nothing to help the shooters them which without that support the shooters probably felt trapped and that the only way to escape was to shoot up the school. Those in my opinion are the two largest factors in the article that lead to the shootings.
In many of the school shootings that have terrorized the countries school system, there happens to be a tendency among the shooters. That is that they are white men. In Kimmel’s study, he looks at multiple different variables that have the ability to show a possible school shooter. He also puts a lot on the politics aspect of the question. Congress is separated as to the best method of dealing with these problems, and by not taking action, could lead to more school shootings across the U.S.
In response to Kimmel’s “Angry White Boys” the one thing that I don’t agree with Kimmel is that race,religion, political class, gender, and culture aren’t something you can assume that is the main cause of mass school shootings. Most kids that do these mass murders are those kids that are on the edge of wanting to hurt themselves or wanting to hurt others, they have no support system, and they have no friends as well. I don’t think someone can predict the ways of someone if they don’t know what is wrong with them, this is where Kimmel is wrong. Some may be born into thinking shootings are okay but majority of the school shootings those kids have psychological issues which makes them an outcast leaving them with the feeling they need to hurt others because they’ve been hurt too.
The Sandy Hook, Virginia Tech, and Columbine school shootings were all committed by young white men. I believe all three of these were driven by being bullied, but I am sure there were other factors involved as well. This article does not mention anything about the Amish School house shooting, but this incident occurred about a mile down the road from my house. A younger (not juvenile, but I believe about 25-30) white male walked into a one room school house and ended up shooting the school up and later killing himself. Now Kimmel references politics having to play a role, I would say most school shooters are young and probably do not care much about politics yet. Gun laws in where the school shootings may play a role but I do not think that it has much affect as well. Hunting is extremely popular around here in PA but I do not see a ton of school shootings happening that would lead to this issue. But I do believe teachers and school faculty should have training at some point to maybe be able to help detect this kind of behavior. To like look for the warning signs and hopefully maybe be able to help stop and seek help for the individual.
When reading about Kimmel’s points, it is interesting to read that the majority of the type of shooters are white. I like how Kimmel discusses the different variables and how they can predict gun violence. Those variables are local gun culture, local gender culture, local school culture, political ID, race, religion, and region. I believe that someone can be affected most would be around home and school. If a male does not fit in as the perfect male type, then that person might be faced with issues, especially in school. I believe that high school is where many students face challenges. Bullying can play a big role in school shootings. It is interesting to hear about the details of school shooters and hear about the connections between them.
Kimmel’s theory in school shootings is very interesting to me. I did a report on mass shooting a little over a year ago and slowly found out some of the same things. We both learned that most shootings or in my case mass murders are done by white males! He then goes on to try to figure out what makes them more likely to become one. He goes into social patterns to reflect school shootings and how they potentially predict this gun violence. His list of social patterns are local gun culture, local gender culture, local school culture, political ID, race, religion, and region (zip code). These variables are definitely a key to solving the school shootings. We need to dig deep into these variables so we can help out the ones in need or the ones more likely in risk of becoming one.
Kimmel mentions that it always seems to be a white male who commits the mass murder but I don’t think there are any major distinctions one can point out to find the answer as to why it is always a white male. I believe that is just coincidental. I believe being bullied is a huge cause of these shootings, many kids will not express enough emotion to even show they are hurting let alone talk about it. I think many of the kids committing these mass murders were bullied and had bad ties with many people and not a lot of friends. So when they were having issues being bullied and what not, they had no where to run to let out the anger and frustration so they’d take matters into their own hands, and unfortunately the answer for some has been slaughtering others. I don’t agree with Kimmel that race, religion, political thoughts and what not play a role into these school shootings. I think they are caused by harmful and traumatizing events caused upon them.
Kimmels Angry White Boys Reflection:
After reading, I found it very interesting with the different factors that have been discovered with the causes of mass shootings. From the environment in the child’s home to bullying at school. Causing psychological problems to the point that the child wants to hurt others or harm himself. I believe that rampage really does take over in that the child blanks out and doesn’t realize what they have done. Its fascinating that they have found that only white boys are ones to commit mass shootings in schools. I think there needs to be better surveillance within the schools to help stop children from committing these shootings. The teachers need to take special training to recognize warning signs they give off.
One variable discussed by Kimmel that I don’t really feel would have much to offer when attempting to predict school shootings would be political ID. I may be wrong, but along with being white males, most school shooters are also pretty young. Therefore, I doubt that politics are something they are concerned a great deal about. Also, local gun culture should not be blamed as a possible cause, but it does not hurt to analyze it anyway. Areas where hunting is quite popular do not seem to be at greater risk for school shootings than areas where hunting is not popular. One thing that makes predicting school shootings so hard to predict is that the only pattern is that it usually tends to be a white guy. Does that mean all white males should considered as possible school shooters? No, obviously not. When Kimmel was researching school shootings, there was not much information to analyze. However, there is much more information available on the topic today, which is why it would be interesting to see if any other patterns have emerged.
I think that Kimmel’s theories about school shootings are well founded. While I myself have never been severely bullied I have been teased and bothered to the point of loosing my cool in highschool ( I simply yelled at the person) and then I nearly got in trouble for defending myself. There is only so much some can take, and a lot of the bullying the shooters went through seemed so excessive that eventually one would snap without help from any administration. The gender aspect of this also makes a lot of sense, last semester i wrote a paper focusing on the effects of gender socialization and the excessive pressure put on males to be “masculine” has proven to lead to uptakes in crime and abuse. The theories that kimmel presents makes sense in combination with mental health issues that made these boys more susceptible to violent influences and tendencies. I feel like one of the main solutions that should be focused on is reducing the stigma on mental health issues especially in schools, if awareness of such issues and learning how to spot them was made a norm then it could mean less likely bullying of the person and more attention payed to them by administration in the way of helping them. Though this was not something really mentioned in Kimmels work i think is a solution getting easier to implement in the current generation as more people are open to understanding and dealing with issues of mental health.
From reading Kimmel report, mass shootings are becoming a bigger social issue, especially in schools. He thinks that social patterns play a big role in these shootings like local gun culture, gender culture, race, religion, and politicals. I somewhat agree with the points he gave like race, gender, and culture. When shootings happen, people tend to look at race and religion more but yet there are some many things that could lead up to mass shootings. The cases he mentions in the report are all schools shootings that happened and most of the shooters were white males. Some of the social patterns he mentions are all in common with the school shooters. Nowadays, violence is exposed everywhere and guns are easy to access and this could be one of the many issues why shootings are becoming a big concern.
The shooters of the Sandy Hook Elementary School, Virgina Tech, and Columbine High School were all young white men that I believed also had in common that they were bullied. I believe being bullied in a school setting where all you want to do is fit in takes a toll on you. These men really had nothing to lose because in their mind they felt like everyone was out to get them. So can we really fix this problem. I don’t think so. There is always going to be rage inside of a person and them wanting to take it out on people is something no one can control. They can stop being bullied but will it stop the mass shooting, I’m not sure.
Kimmel Reflection:
I think Kimmel brings up a very good point about the paradox of school shootings. We see in the news that some other high school/college white boy shot up a school. How is this? The majority of our male youth aren’t mass killers, but the majority of school shooters are white males. I feel as though something is off in their minds, as we talked about it class. These boys that are committing these acts have some problem with them. They may be bullied, they may have girl problems. Whatever it is to set these white boys off may be unknown. But this is a crucial time for males. The high school ages is where they are developing and maybe that is something to look at, if the white boys committing the crime are a little behind in development, or something along those lines. I agree with Kimmel that there is a problem, we just need to figure out what it may be.
Kimmel discusses school shootings and why is it always the white man. But ultimately , to review his findings he used an an inter-sectional theoretical approach to study crime and its victims. this shows the patterns of transmission in the United States that go beyond aggregate factors such as race, age, gender, and income. On an individual level, social networks ; the people one hangs out with can predict such results. However , the high-profile mass shootings all share youth in common, as sociologist Kimmel points out, they all share race and gender in common too. Researchers seek to find out what looks like the vast majority of white men do not engage in high-profile/school shootings, yet the vast majority of these types of shooters are white men a given person’s likelihood of being shot and killed.
Yes, he does use an “intersectional” theoretical approach. Good catch!
It is interesting that Kimmel’s points out that there is a common thread between race and gender. The vast majority of white men do not engage in a type of high-profile shooting but yet they are the majority when these types of shootings occur. There are so many variables to account. For example local school culture. The high school I attended was revatitly small. About 500-600 students across 7th to 12th grade. Everyone knew everyone, including their first and last name. It’s much easier for a smaller school to assist the students and notice a change in demeanor since the ratio is smaller. My town wasn’t also big on guns. For the most part the only people who would have guns would be law officials. Near the end of my highschool experience my school started increasing their use of “Stop & Frisk”, it was effective. So when Kimmel brings up a possible proposal it kind of makes sense. It’s the argument of how much privacy are you will to give up to have higher security. They blocked off all entry of the school and only allowed us to enter the school through the main entrance. They also started to gate off the halls and only allow us to be in the cafeteria until 10 minutes before class to when we were allowed to enter the locker halls.
To see a social issue like mass shootings, especially in schools, that prima facie seems rather simple; related simply to gun access or desensitization of violence from video games or media, in fact turns out to be a very complicated issue with many many facets that all play some role is a very fascinating feeling. On further analysis certain patterns are made visible: all the shooters were white males, many of the school shootings occurred in rural rather than urban schools, and there are a number of social factors that are common among these incidents. These boys that commit these horrible atrocities are not born murderers, they are made into them. Most of them were bullied often and gay-baited, told that they were failures as men. They were made social outcasts, undesirables, even less than human. Rarely did they have a trusted friend to confide in or reaffirm their self-worth. Red flags that they often gave off themselves went unnoticed by parents, school administrations, teachers. Indeed these are complicated and go far deeper than simply banning guns on school grounds, adding resource officers, or restricting access to video games.
The three most important things I learned about juveniles offenders and victims from the nation crime report was:
1. Violent crimes committed by juveniles less than 18 years of age have actually declined in the past several years. I found this important because since there have been so many school shootings recently, many would probably think that violent crimes committed by juveniles have increased and not decreased.
2. In some states 16-and 17-year-olds may be treated as adults when they have committed a crime. I think this is important because many people think that juveniles never get any harsh punishment. When in fact, many of them do. Which is what leads to a high level of suicides among young juveniles and other negative impacts.
3. Nearly one million (906,000) children were victims of abuse or neglect in 2003, a rate of 12 victims per 1,000 children ages 0–17. This proves that not all young delinquents want to be committing crimes, but many feel they need to as a way to survive or get out of their current conditions. That is why it is so important to help young juveniles break out of the system as best we can. Most are just kids with no hope or guidance but have wants and needs just like everyone else.
I honestly do not agree with how Kimmel predicts potential gun violence. I think that local gun culture, local gender culture, local school culture, political ID, race, and region (zip code) actually really do not have much to do with being able to predict gun violence. The only aspect I agree with him on is that religion could be used. I agree with religion because I feel like religion helps make predictions because some religions are based more around violence than others, and teaching people that violence is OK. (Even though it’s even rare for that to be the case unless we are talking about more radical religions which aren’t as common in our society.) However, the other aspects I do not think easily help predict gun violence. Many of the individuals who have committed school shootings grew up in cultures where gun violence or weapons being brought into local schools was not a issue. Where gun violence is a huge problem, such as in cities, we do not see many school shootings.
After Reading “Youth Delinquency and Violence” I learned that Juvenile delinquency and crime is a problem in the United States. A majority of young people admit to engaging in some types of delinquent behavior and the majority of crimes committed by juveniles are offenses such as theft and shoplifting, vandalism, drug and alcohol use, disorderly conduct, and simple assaults such as hitting, kicking, and fights that do not result in serious injury. But what I found it interesting that “On average, between 1980 and 2002 about 2,000 juveniles were murdered annually in the United States and In 2002, on average, four juveniles were murdered daily in the United States.” Morever, I did know that Juvenile Courts lean more to Rehabilitation rather than imprisonment for youths before reading the article.
The three most important things that I learned about juvenile offenders and victims from the National Report are:
1. Kids between the age of 7 to 17 are likely to be victims of suicide as they are to be victims of homicide.
2. Children are more at risk of victimization in school than else where.
3. The leading cause of death for children are accidents and unintentional injury.
One thing that interested me while reading this article is that two out of three killings that happened to juveniles occur at home because as a child you are always taught to not talk to strangers and to be aware of your surroundings. Most Juvenile killing are proximity killings which means these juveniles are being killed by people that they know and trust as opposed to mysterious strangers. Another thing that interest me while reading this article is that more juveniles died from suicides than homicides. This was intriguing to me because I had previously thought that juveniles were less likely to die from suicide. I thought this because stressors of being an adult would factor into suicide more than juvenile problems unless the juvenile was in a violent or unstable household.
One statement that really stuck out to be in the report was “Persons ages 7-17 are about as likely to be victims of suicide as they are to be victims of homicide.” It’s almost as if you will encounter suicide or homicide in that time frame. Unfortunate as it is most youth who do commit suicide see no other way out. I’m not shocked that suicide is a leader cause of death among youth. Another thing I learned from the report is that the southern states have a higher pregnancy rate than the north. I always thought of the southern states to be a more republican and that they are more likely to enforce the sham that comes with being a teenage parent. However the same reasoning can be said to as to why they aren’t educating the youth on teenage pregnancy. I would like to believe that there are trends and patterns among juveniles. If they are involved with skipping school, violence and have some sort of social disconnect among their peers, and the area having a strong gun culture that should be a red flag.If society didn’t teach males to hide their feelings I strongly believe that those who have commit school shootings could of possibly sought out professional help.
I think the most important thing I learned from this is the victimization a lot of juvenile delinquents go through before offending themselves. It seems to speak a lot to the way we take care of people in our society and how that contributes to the cyclical nature of crime and those committing them. It also connects to a paper I wrote about how gender socialization shapes children and their actions, and how in some cases it can lead to more crimes being committed (mostly by young boys, but occasionally girls in acts of defiance of those roles). I think the points show how much we really have to work on out society at a younger level in order to prevent crime (at both juvenile and adult levels because of the carryover effects).
Another thing I found important in this is the focus on rehabilitation for juveniles rather than punishment. I for one think that children are very much a result of their upbringing, so in the case of rehabilitation it is, in a way attempting to change their view from their upbringing and it is extremely important to preventing future crime. I recently say a report on TV going into an adult prison and trying techniques that helped changed the intimates way of thinking about things, contrary to their upbringing. If these are similar to methods that are being used at the juvenile level then I can see how it would be successful.
The final important thing I learned from this is the correlation between gun culture and school shootings. Like the other 2 important factors I feel like this one is also a result of socialization at a young age. They all seem to suggest a need for change on how we handle issues like gun safety and violence at a juvenile level , as well as for how we treat children overall.
from reading youth delinquency and violence i feel that the three things that i learned was how the main goal is to rehabilitate the juveniles, the number of juveniles that are killed each year, and youths that are about like to be victims of suicided as they are to be victims of homicide. i pick these three things because i think that the youth can be saved if they are given the help and means to change. i think this works better then punishment. the fact about youth deaths was very surprising to me because it was a high number that i wasn’t expecting. lastly i think that something need to be done about the youth that are victims of suicide.
The three most important things that I learned from the National Report were:
1. That juveniles between the ages of 12-17 were two times more likely than adults be the victims of violent crimes, this just shocked me because I never knew how many juveniles were actually involved in violent crimes.
2. In 2010, 4 juveniles were murdered daily on the US. I honestly didn’t think that young kids were being killed every day for just being kids.
3. Juvenile Courts focus on treatment for the juvenile rather than punishment. This was the most interesting thing I read in the report because yes I do agree that juveniles should get treatment for their problems but I don’t think they should get treatment for violent crimes because if they know that committing a crime is wrong then they should be locked up. Sometimes you can’t help someone who finds it fun to kill people even if they are juveniles, once they get released from treatment they are more likely to commit a crime rather than being locked up and then being released and committing a crime.
One of the many things that stuck out to me from reading this report is that children between ages 7 and 17 are about as likely to be victims of suicide as they are to be victims of homicide. Just by reading this just surprised me because suicide is become more and more of an issue today. One of the many reasons i think this stat is high up there is because the child is either getting bullied in school or the child has no one to turn to or to open up to someone to talk to them like a parent figure. Next one that stuck out to me was in 2002 on average, four juveniles were murdered daily in the United States. I think this is important because there are a lot of violent things that could influence juveniles from the things they watch or even joining a gang. Another thing i forgot to mention is that we have the internet and children are getting exposed to a lot of things that are going on in social media.The last one that is important is when looking at the chart for most serious offenses is that the two main ones that involved juveniles are violent index offenses and property offenses. It surprising that juveniles have a big violent index offenses which are more serious crimes and its crazy how the number just keeps growing as the years go by. That being said, i think that juveniles should be more informed and punished because getting punished won’t stop them from doing it again.
One of the most shocking things that I realized while analyzing the Offenders and Victims Report is the startlingly high rate of deaths that were brought about by a child accidentally shooting an unsecured firearm. As part of the group assigned to report on teen pregnancies, I saw a trend that the most teen pregnancies occur in the south, and this could be the result of a lack of sex education in schools in the south, which I find very interesting. I was also the dropout rates of some high schools, which generally only leads to dark futures for the children, many of whom get involved in some form of crime.
One of the three things that really stuck out to me was the emphasis on reform not punishment for a juvenile, this topic as a whole is something I agree with. Secondly, the juvenile victimization shocked me. The list of statistics in that section taught me all new things, I had no idea many of those things were happening. Lastly, the third thing that really caught my attention was the suicide rate. I did not know that suicide would be more common than homicide.
One important thing I learned from the 2014 National Report is that young children are killed by family members more than any other group. Also, kids between the ages of 7 and 17 have a similar risk of being a victim of a homicide as they do of being a victim of suicide. Finally, another thing that surprised me was that risk of delinquency increases with early exposure to poverty.
1. The highest population that lives in poverty was juveniles under the age of 5. This is extremely important to understand, and it is something I had never thought about. I would’ve never suspected that children under 5 were even counted as those living in poverty. Also it is interesting to me because I assumed it was people in their mid-twenties, simply because either they dropped out of school and don’t have enough knowledge and/or skills to obtain a well paying job. Or that they have graduated from college, but are in debt because of the student bills.
2. The next thing I learned was that the teenage birth rate has been decreased since 1970 to 2010. I had always heard that teenagers are engaging in more sexual activities and are more likely to not use any form of contraceptive methods when doing so. Even in some of my classes in high school we were told that teenage pregnancy happens often, which led me to believe that it was a going issue among teenage Americans.
3. Another important thing I learned from the National Report was that the juvenile dropout rate has been decreasing over the past 20 years. I didn’t know that the dropout rate was as low as it is. From personal experience, I knew many students that had dropped out of high school and never returned to finish getting their diploma. They also never attended a school that would give them a GED. I do like how the National Report also included the amount of students that dropped out of school and got into legal trouble. These statistics go hand-in-hand together.
One of the three important things I learned about from the report is that about 2/3 of violent crimes with juvenile victims occur at home. I find this very interesting and that when the children get older, that they could be the ones committing crimes. The next important thing was that “youth between the ages 7 and 17 are about as likely to be victims of suicide as they are to be victims of homicide.” I believe that suicide is as likely around these ages because of possibly being bullied in school. The third important thing is that “many youths are subjected to inappropriate and potentially dangerous experiences on the internet.” It is unbelievable what you can find on the internet. Parents should be careful with what their children are looking up.
I am not sure how I feel about a zero tolerance policy for juveniles because each juveniles crime is different. they shouldn’t e put away for life for stealing a car or getting into a fight. If that was the case we would be putting away more then half of our juveniles. I wouldn’t be where I am today if we had a zero tolerance policy, depending on the crime I believe in second chances.
One of the most important thing’s that can be learned about juvenile offenders and victims includes the crimes that are most likely to be committed. Juveniles usually commit offenses such as theft/shoplifting, vandalism, drug and alcohol use, disorderly conduct and a variety of simple assaults according to the article. I also think that it is very important to understand that there could be patterns and trends among the offenders. As you talked about in the article with the Columbine, there may be a trend that we must look into in order to understand what exactly their motives are. Lastly, I really think that adding the picture of all the boys with the caption of mental illness was important. We should invest the time to figure out what is going wrong with our school systems, society, etc. for juveniles to be going out and shooting up schools, or any violence of that matter. The picture shows that these boys have a very different look and demeanor about them.
After reading “Youth Delinquency and Violence” the three most important things I learned was that research reports confirm that suicide is a leading cause of death of young people, a growing number of juveniles are involved in school violence, gang-related violence, and assaults with weapons resulting in fatalities and serious injuries, and the juvenile courts try to turn juvenile delinquents into productive citizens by focusing on treatment rather than punishment. These three things are tremendous because to know the main thing juveniles struggle with, suicide, can be a great way to know what we have to look for and try to fix. Also knowing that juveniles are getting more involved in school violence and gangs we can look deeper into school to see things juveniles are struggling with. Lastly, knowing that juvenile courts are more focused on rehab rather than punishments make me feel better that we can fix all of these problems one step at a time. It might not be right away… might not even be anytime soon, but fixing a juvenile will help much more than punishing one. We would most likely see that individual back in the system again if all we did was punish them.