Risk Assessment An important and critical development in the juvenile justice system over the last few decades is the implementation of the assessment tools to classify youth by their risk to re-offend (Chambers, 2009). Research has shown that juvenile offenders are more likely to return to the justice system the more they are in contact with the system; therefore, interventions need to be different depending upon whether youth are classified as low, medium or high risk. Furthermore, indicates keeping lower-risk youth out of detention, and results in lower incidence of crime. In the following risk assessment paper, two juvenile offender’s cases have been computed using both the Missouri, and Washington Risk Assessment models. This paper
Juvenile Delinquency and Family Structure Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements CJ 387 Juvenile Delinquency D’Meki L. Murry Mississippi Valley State University Mrs. R. Cobbs April 19, 2012 Introduction In today’s society more and more juveniles committing delinquent acts, we have to stop and ask ourselves why this continues to be a problem in our communities. This paper will provide an overview on juvenile delinquency and the role family structure has in this. Juveniles are more likely to become delinquent when there is little or a weak structure being provided by their family. Even thought there are many factors that entail the cause of juvenile delinquency, this paper will focus on three that encompass all the different factors. The main three I will focus on are family functioning, economic status and a two-parent versus a single-parent household.
The way the juvenile justice system can decrease the rate of returen offenders is to rehabilitate them. The disadvantage to rehabilitation is that more money will need to be invested into the programs to provide proper staff the has the appropriate knowledge needed to analys and treat juvenile offenders. Though the initial cost will burden the justice system, overtime the justice system will save money and accomplish the goal of protecting society. One major disadvantage is convincing society to give the juvenile offenders a second chance. Some crime are committed that society want to see the juvenile be locked up and the key to be thrown away.
From Farringtons study they concluded that the most important risk factors are criminality in the family and poor child-rearing. Suggesting that there is a cause and effect between the upbringing of children and how they will act in their childhood and later on in life. This is shown by the results as there was a positive correlation found between those who had convicted parents and those who were convicted of crime before and after their 21st birthday, whilst those who had parents who were not convicted were far less likely to be involved in crime themselves, many other childhood characteristics were shared between the ‘persisters’. A strength of the upbringing approach to psychology is that it is on the nurture side of the nature vs nurture debate, this is shown through the Farrington study as it found that on their 15th birthday 29% of boys from the disrupted families had committed more crime compared to those boys with intact families. However a weakness of the upbringing approach is that it can be considered a reductionist because it ignores biological causes of crime.
An increased level of concern about public safety and crime rates may be brought about by increased incidences of shoplifting in particular areas. Lastly and most influential to our social framework is the strain and added family problems that result from the shoplifting arrest of a child, as well as the loss of youthful innocence and damage to their future. (Youth Service Council Of Orange, 2004) So why do so many juveniles shoplift? The easy answer is simply so that they can get something for nothing. However the real cause of shoplifting goes beyond this.
Evaluate upbringing as an explanation of criminal behaviour. Upbringing can be defined as the background to an individual’s life where a study by Farrington can explain criminality where he focuses on youth’s backgrounds because we need to look into someone’s past experience whether offender/non-offender which might influence his/hers behaviour later on in life. Theories that use upbringing suggests that what happens during early childhood experiences which can greatly impact on a person’s susceptibility to turn to crime in the future. Farrington had come up with some other predicting factors of crime which include parental divorce and lack of supervision from parents. The study by Farrington et al.
D. Rehabilitation Many youth receive rehabilitative services to become productive upon release. Rehabilitation is defined as the restoration of someone to a useful place in society. The end result is to not return to crime. Analysis The family situation has been shown to have an impact on whether a juvenile is likely to offend. Peer influence has also been identified as an important factor for juvenile offenders.
Unfortunately, some parents are poor examples for their children and show their children bad behavior through example like gang and criminal activities. In some cases criminal behavior is all that people know and all they know is how to take from others and possibly harm or kill them in return to help them survive. It is clear that recidivism is also linked to substance abuse, and single-family
Client’s Name 24 September 2007 Professor’s Name Course # Youth Gang Membership: Reasons to Join Introduction: Focus on Rehabilitation & Preventing Recidivism In the increasing debate of child criminals and their proneness towards crime, there exists the issue of rehabilitation. In point of fact the entire issue of juvenile delinquency hinges upon the ability of the offender to re-enter society not as a criminal but as a changed individual ready to become a working part of society. In the questions that arise from the concern over juvenile delinquency the recurring question is this: Are children who commit crimes rehabilitated by the juvenile court system, or are they more likely to commit criminal acts as adults? In
I will also incorporate the views of people who oppose trying juveniles as adults and their reasons for this. If a juvenile is old enough to commit a serious crime, then he or she is old enough to face serious consequences. First, criminologists who deal with juveniles believe poverty, family factors, the environment, media influence, and declining social morality are the main reasons for juvenile crime. It is considered out-dated to say that poverty causes crime, but nearly 22% of children under the age of eighteen live in poverty. Disorganization, dilapidation, deterioration, and despair are all associated with social isolation and economic stress, which are two main factors of poverty (O’Connor, 2004).