Is concern over youth crime a moral panic? Answer with reference to recent policy changes. The concept of societal concern over ‘youth crime’ is nothing new, from Victorian ‘street urchins’ to the modern day ‘yob’. Crime however comes in various forms from extreme acts of murder to minor vandalism or drug use, given how varied crime can be it would appear also that some crime is given more focus than others. This was first brought attention to by Stanley Cohen’s book ‘Folk Devils and Moral Panics’ (1972), he pointed out that some crime is given more attention and exaggerated so the societal response is likewise.
President Mark Soler of the Washington, D.C., Youth Law Center points out that adolescents/children are required by law to be incarcerated separately from adults. However, the overwhelmed juvenile justice system lets the adult criminal justice system handle many youth offenders. This causes numerous negative effects for convicted juveniles. The law recognizes that adolescents/children are less equipped to make important decisions than adults are. Yet the law fails to distinguish between adolescents/children and adults when it comes to spending the rest of their lives in prison for crimes they have committed before their 18th birthday.
Adolescent abuse: 1) Title of article 1: Physical Discipline, Escalation, and Child Abuse Potential: psychometric Evidence for the Analog Parenting Task 2) Title of article 2: Predictors of physical assault victimization: Findings from the National Survey of Adolescents * In both of the articles I found for adolescent physical abuse they seemed to touch on how adolescents that do experience physical abuse more often than not tend to have a higher likelihood of aggression and antisocial behaviors. In the first article I read it focused more on parents abusing their children it stated, “ abusive parents frequently engage in excessive harsh physical discipline and the use of physical punishment.” It was stated that some researchers have proposed that corporal punishment and physical abuse maybe be continuous constructs that differ in degree of severity. In the second article if focuses more on victimization towards the child by anyone, not pin pointing a specific person doing the abuse. They looked more on the symptoms of the children being physically abused and based it off of the DSM-IV requirements. Based on the DSM-IV there had to be three avoidances, one intrusion and two arousal symptoms.
These children are more likely to be runaways and fall into becoming victims of sex trafficking. We can prevent these children from running away in the first place if we can stop child violence, such as child abuse from adults or even other children or siblings. An example of micro factor would be active recruitments into prostitution from peers or pimps. Victims may be talked into these acts, believing that this is the best way to make money. We, as social workers, should inform these teens with workshops and
Treatment can not only help a juvenile offender get past the actions that caused him/her to be an offender in the first place but also can help the juvenile from repeating the same mistake again. There are many different treatment options available for juveniles I believe the decision should be based on the nature of the crime that they committed. A juvenile delinquent crime where I live, which is the state of New Jersey, is considered anyone under the age of 17 that commits a crime. There are many different types of crimes in the United States and outside of the more serious ones such as murder and rape. Smaller crimes by juveniles can be tough to judge because they can be based on so many different factors.
Gender and Family Influences in Delinquency In today’s society, more and more adolescents are committing delinquent crimes. The juvenile justice system’s officials constantly are trying to establish what provokes an adolescent to become a delinquent and descend into this lifestyle. Adolescents are more likely to become juvenile delinquents if there is too little structure provided for them in their families or loss of inner feelings and pride in their particular gender. This paper explores how an adolescent’s gender and family life influences delinquency. Several different variables focus on leading adolescents into delinquency such as gender differentials, masculinity hypothesis, family function, impact of family disorders, and two parent households.
Informative Speech SPCH1315 Dr.Donnie Kirk Gang Injunction TITLE: Gang Injunction INTRODUCTION/ATTENTION: In the words of Rodney King “Can’t we all just get along” today. PREVIEW: Modern day crime has detoured and deprived our youth from a promising education. Gangs stunt our children’s future by preying on their vulnerabilities. Nationwide, law enforcement has cracked down and come up with new ideas to suppress gangs. The most controversial idea law enforcement agents have come up with is that of gang injunctions.
Young Offenders and the Criminal Process – Youth Justice Conferencing (a) Describe the issue and the history of this issue The issue of youth justice conferencing arose as a result of minor offences tying up matters in court, which in the end did not facilitate for the crimes committed by juvenile offenders. This fell under the broader category of restorative justice, as society and victims did not feel as though the restitution matched the severity of the damage incurred. As a result, there were a number of diversionary schemes established for young offenders all over Australia. These schemes were designed to divert juveniles who commit less serious offences away from the courts and into a graded system of alternative ways of dealing with anti-social behavior. The issue of youth justice evolved into the concept conferencing, which can be considered as an option if a young person has committed an offence that is covered by the Young Offenders Act 1997 (cwlth), but is too serious to be dealt with by way of police warning or formal police caution.
Youth that hang around people their age that are making bad choices and not abiding the law will involve in crimes with friends who are doing the same. Their environment can cause them to act out in negative ways, the lack of positive adults, abuse and neglect, and too much idle time and not enough planned activities. Children should not be tried as adults. “The United States Supreme Court has ruled that there are limitations on the punishment juveniles can receive even when they are tried in adult court. The law considers youth crimes to be less culpable than adult, therefore juvenile punishment should not be as severe as those available for adults, even for the exact same crime.” The punishment of a 14 year old, Arkansas teenager who wasn’t the triggerman at a video rental store that he and his robbed was fair.
Re-Entry of Sex Offenders Francina Moore CRJ422: Criminal Justice Capstone Professor: Robert Jackson February 16th, 2011 One of the worst crimes in the world is a sex crime. Sex crimes are committed by both men and women from all ages. These are crimes that is committed when an individual have sex with an individual without their consent. Statutory rape is when the sex may be consensual, but one person may be old enough to be the victim mother or father, and that person can