Following on from this, Gudjohnsson carried out a study involving a case study about a 17 year old boy who confessed to crime and was subsequently imprisoned for one year. Later it was found out that his confession was false and he was not guilty of committing the crime. Gudjohnsson wondered how false confessions can arise. The aim of the study was therefore to document the case of the false confession of a youth who was at the time of the confession distressed and susceptible to interrogative pressure. In 1987 two elderly women were found battered to death in their homes, their savings were stolen and there was evidence of sexual assault.
(Beautrais, Annette 2001) Also in 2003 the National Youth Risk Behavior Survey showed that 16.9% of teenagers in high school had seriously considered committing suicide and 8.5% attempted suicide in the past year. (Cho, Hyunsan, Guo, iritani, & hallfor 2006) So why do teens commit suicide and how can we help them? Is it their environment, or is it biological? Studies have shown that both of these are possibilities. Cleveland and Wiebe in there 2003 study showed that symptoms of suicide such as depression, aggression, and substance abuse are hereditary.
Teen homelessness is alarmingly high in the United States. “Approximately 1.6 million youth ages twelve to seventeen had run away from home and slept on the street in the past twelve months.” (1800Runaway.org) Fifty-percent of those teens will be trafficked for sex in the first forty-eight hours of leaving home. (National Runaway Hotline) Members of society often think that runaway kids are disobedient and rebellious, preferring to live on the streets rather than following the rules. The most prevalent reason children and teens runaway is because of the maltreatment they experience at the hands of parents or caregivers. Eighty percent of runaway and homeless girls reported having ever been sexually or physically abused.
Heavy drinking during adolescence years, when the brain is still developing causes lasting impairment functions such as memory, coordination, and motor skills. Drinking interferes with good judgments leading adolescents’ intolerable behavior and making the vulnerable to sexual coercion. Adolescence girls who consume alcohol for the same reasons adolescents boys do are faced with challenges boys do not have to experience: for example drinking can delay puberty in girls while abusing alcohol can cause endocrine disorders during puberty. Teenage girls who drinks are more likely to have unprotected sex putting them at an increase risk of pregnancy and sexual transmitted diseases. Statistics have shown each approximately 5,500 young people at the age of twenty-one died of the result of underage drinking; this includes about 2,000 deaths in automobile crashes, 3,000 as a result of homicides and 500 from suicides.
In 2001, for the seventh consecutive year, the rate of juvenile arrests for Violent Crime Index offense murder, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault declined (2001). There has been an increased crime rate involving females under the age of 18, and minorities. Between 1994 and 2001, the juvenile arrest rate for Violent Crime Index offenses fell 44%. As a result, the juvenile Violent Crime Index arrest rate in 2001 was the lowest since 1983. From its peak in 1993 to 2001, the juvenile arrest rate for murder fell 70% (2001).
Presto! He is now a nonviolent offender.” (Bond, 2010) In 2004, the Bureau of Justice Statistics studied that 95% of inmates arrested were arrested prior. 33% of nonviolent offenders had history of violent crimes. 8% used a weapon
Along with being involved in drugs and alcohol Malcolm and his good friend Malcolm “Shorty” Jarvis became involved with burglary while they were in Boston, Massachusetts. Malcolm Little was known by his friends and family as Red for the color of his hair. In 1946 Red and Shorty were sentenced to 10 years of hard labor in a maximum security prison. Malcolm was paroled after serving 7 years. While in prison Malcolm spent the first few months in solitary confinement.
To answer this question, we must first understand why children as young as 12 have no home to go to OR why they choose life on the street as a better alternative to living at home. Let me introduce you to Dale, his story is typical of street kids. At the age of 13, Dale was homeless. His mother was a crack addict and her boyfriend was a violent user who brutalised Dale and his mother regularly. Dale had spent time in intensive care after one of his step father’s vicious beatings.
Substances such as drugs and alcohol used within the household by a parent or child, increases a higher chance of a teen runaway. Further, about 75% of teens end up resorting to alcohol or drugs to help them cope with traumatic experiences in their past,
Why Kids Drop Out of High School The high school drop out rate has been called a national crisis. Nearly one-third of all public high school students leave the system before graduating (Swanson 2004) and the problem is more severe among students of color and students with disabilities. (Greene &Winters 2005) Every year, over 1.2 million students drop out of high school in the United States. That’s a student every 26 seconds or 7,000 per day. (dosomething.org) Dropping out of high school is an issue facing many teens today.