Violent behaviors among adolescents are dangerous and can ultimately lead to injury or even death. Moreover, adolescents and children who encounter or observe violent behaviors might undergo emotional trauma. It is noteworthy that the primary contributors and victims of violence are adolesents. This paper analyzes how prevalent delinquency is among adolescents in today’s society. Delinquncy is prevalent in adolescents, as the United States juvenile justice system has a large portion of inmates under the age of fifteen (Cloward, & Ohlin, 2013).
The alarming statistics that relate to youth violence are alarming and over whelming. Upon review of a study about youth violence, The Center for Disease Control (CDC) states that in 2007, 5764 young people aged 10-24 were murdered, that’s an average of 16 each day (CDC2010). With that said murder is the second leading cause of death for that age group. Other less severe crimes, but still inexcusable are also on the rise. Assaults committed by young people ages 10-24 were responsible for more than 656,000 injuries treated in an emergency room (CDC2010).
Cases of juveniles being abused both physically and sexually as well as the suffering they endure in adult prisons have been rampant in the world today. Luck of proper facilities, information and law enforcement officers being left at their own discretion to decide on where to hold a minor when they are arrested have largely contributed to this problem. The question that everybody asks is how do you handle underage criminals who are a threat to public safety without exposing them to more harm? Statistics show that majority of the victims who commit suicides in jail are underage. As much as jails are meant to correct bad behaviors, there is a loophole when it comes to distinction between juvenile and adult jail.
Other problems that exist with mental ill offenders can which include multiple contact within law enforcement, and cost of incarceration. Offenders who suffer from mental illness are more prone to have multiple contacts with police. This may include individual with mental illness making calls to the police reporting things they perceive as criminal activity. The police can also be called on individuals for suspicious behaviors. There are also problems with the cost of incarcerating offenders with mental illness.
According to the CDC (2010), sexual activity between men which constitutes the majority of prison rape, accounts for more than 50% of all new HIV infections in the United States. Rates of HIV and confirmed AIDS cases are more than five times higher among those incarcerated in prisons than in the general population of the United States. Another consequence that is long-term stemming effect of juvenile child abuse in prisons is the emotional and psychological damage that follows them into adulthood. According to the National Prison Rape Elimination Commission (2009), sexual abuse can lead to major depression and posttraumatic stress disorder. Juveniles who have been sexually abused may face problems with anger, impulse control, flashbacks, dissociative episodes, hopelessness, despair, and persistent distrust and withdrawal.
Since the aging and mentally ill inmates are the most vulnerable and easily victimized, this portion of the inmate population posses problems for the whole system. The aging population is more likely to get sexually assaulted, beaten, threatened, or killed. They tend to have the
It offers recommendations for change, but its main value possibly lies in the depth and thoroughness of its research, which provides detached examination of the range of problems presented by mentally ill prisoners. The report provides a detailed look at the situation behind the numbers that have been compiled in numerous other reports. Prisoners have rates of mental illness two to four times higher than those occurring in the general population, and according to this report, there are three times more mentally ill people in U.S. prisons than in mental health hospitals. Between two and three hundred thousand people incarcerated in federal and state prisons suffer from severe mental illnesses such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. On any given day, about 70,000 are psychotic.
We have one of the worst adolescent suicide rates in the world. On average 294 youths die from suicide in a year. These rates have tripled since 1970. For every completed suicide there are an estimated 30 – 50 attempts. Suicide affects 1 in 13 Canadians.
● A strong interest in or commitment to a project or cause that brings people together: community service, environmental concerns, neighborhood associations, animal rescue groups, etc. Suicide in other countries Suicide has become a major social and medical problem around the world. The World Health Organization (WHO) reported that one million people worldwide died from suicide in the year 2000. That is a global mortality rate of 16:100,000—or one death by suicide every 40 seconds. Since the mid-1950s, suicide rates around the world have risen by 60%.
I compared the two studies, and you can see that minors being tried as an adult have more of a chance to at least one psychiatric disorder. Minors being tried as adults can lead to children having depression more often than adults do. It could also lead to minors wanting to do suicide. There was also a large number of youth who were in need of a psychiatric service in order to help them. (Office of Justice Programs.)