Juvenile Crime There has always been alarm and despair over escalating juvenile crime. In the 1950s there were reports about the mushrooming problems with youthful gangs in the big cities. In the 1960s we began to hear about a surge of juvenile crime in areas that had been regarded as virtually crime free. In the suburbs as well as the inner cities, youngsters were dropping out of school, using drugs and committing crimes. In the 1970s and 1980s, juvenile court dockets became increasingly jammed with criminal cases. According to the Department of Justice, the percentage increases in arrests from 1985 to 1994 have been greater for juveniles than for adults. During 1994 alone, 2.7 million juveniles were arrested. During the latter part of this century, juvenile courts that customarily provided social services in order to rehabilitate rather than punish lawbreakers were faced with an onslaught of children who were not simply wayward youths, but hardened repeat offenders. The 1980s witnessed an increasingly desperate outcry for courts to take more extreme measures to contain juvenile crime, which is assuming ever more serious forms. It is almost a daily occurrence to turn on the nightly news and hear stories of ever increasing youths committing crimes. Even more alarming are the ages of these offenders. In Lake Station, Indiana, three first-grade students were plotting to kill a classmate. They even went so far as to draw a map of where the slaying was to take place. In California a six year old boy was charged with attempted murder of a 3 month old baby. In Southern California, three 17 year old girls were charged with false imprisonment, conspiracy, aggravated mayhem and torture when they held a 15-year-old runa... ... middle of paper ... ...ming Explosion of Teenage Crime," Policy Review, Winter 1995, Heritage Foundation, 214 Massachusetts Avenue NE, Washington, DC 20002, (202) 546-4400 Sheppard, D. (1999). Strategies to reduce gun violence. OJJDP fact Sheet, (No.93) Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Snyder, H.N., & Sickmund, M. (1995). Juvenile offenders and victims: A national report. Washington, DC: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Snyder, H.N., & Sickmund, M. (1997). Juvenile offenders and victims: 1997 update on violence. Washington, DC: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Ted Gest with Victoria Pope, “Crime Time Bomb: Seeking solutions to rising juvenile crime,” U.S. News, 3/25/96 Tutman, Lisa. Girls accused in murder plot. http://www.msnbc.com/local/WMAQ/99362.asp
Within the last five years, violent offenses by children have increased 68 percent, crimes such as: murder, rape, assault, and robbery. Honestly, with these figures, it is not surprising at all that the Juveniles Courts focus less on the children in danger, and focus more on dangerous children. This in fact is most likely the underlying reasoning behind juveniles being tried as adults by imposing harsher and stiffer sentences. However, these policies fail to recognize the developmental differences between young people and
Richman, Sheldon. "The Seen and Unseen in Gun Control." The Freeman 1 Oct 1998: 610-611
This paper will analyze the different theoretical issues pertaining to the modern juvenile court, determine their origin, and suggest a course of action for resolving these issues to the best extent possible. It is important to note, however, that the juvenile justice system alone cannot ever prevent all juvenile crime, respond perfectly to every situation or treat every suspect fairly. Furthermore, an effective antidote to modern juvenile crime would necessitate far broader action, addressing underlying social structure inequalities that breed poverty and social disorganization.
From 1990 to to the present there has been a sharp increase in juvenile crime across the United States. From 1996 to the present there has been a slight decline from the statistics in 1995(OJJDP). What was the cause for this uprise in juvenile delinquincy? I will discuss 2 different theories to why there was such an increase in juvenile crime rates. I will analyze the rise of the "Gangsta-Rap" culture in the early 1990's and how it may have affected teenagers that are in lower-income families. Many people believe that the increase in real life violence on television is a cause for violence in juveniles. I will discuss the evidence for this theory. It seems to me that the best theory to explain the rise in juvenile crime is the social constructionist theory. Different sub-cultures of teens have higher crime rates than others because of their interests, whether it be the music that they listen to or the types of television programs that they watched as child.
Crime rates across the U.S. for juveniles is at all time high. Juveniles across all demographic have been punished more severely than those of the past. Contributing factors including lower socioeconomic areas such as the Detroit Metropolitan Areas & Chicago. This paper will discuss the apparent issue within the system focusing on juveniles in urban areas.
There is no doubt that youth justice practises have changed throughout the years, these changes have been made to adapt to the new challenges that present themselves today. Crime in general, but particularly youth crime is a consistent problem for society.
A large proportion of all crimes committed throughout the United States are committed by juveniles. In the United States there are roughly 73.8 million youths; youth being defined as being under the age of eighteen years old (CrimeSolutions). The total U.S population is roughly 317,800,000 million people making juveniles account for about twenty-three percent of the whole population (Census Bureau). Although there are not as many juveniles as there are adult’s, juveniles account for a good portion of crimes that are committed. For violent crimes about twenty percent of the crimes are committed by juveniles and twenty-five percent of property crimes (FactSheet). Although, the total amount of juvenile offenders has gone down throughout the years, there is still more that needs to be done to prevent the crimes that are being committed by juveniles. There are many different programs that are out there to help prevent juveniles from committing crimes or recommitting a crime. There have been many different studies to show the specific time period juveniles commit crimes most throughout the day, which programs help juveniles and what ones do not, and studies that show the sex and race of the most juvenile offenders that are convicted.
Peterson, R, Krivo, L, & Hagan, J. (2006). The many colors of crime. NY: New York University Press.
OJJDP: Juvenile offenders and victims, 1999 National Report. (n.d), National Report. Retrieved November 19, 2013, from http://www.ncjrs.gov/html/ojjdp/nationalreport99
The Justice Department estimates that about 10 percent of all homicides are committed by juveniles under the age of 18. Nearly every year, the FBI arrests more than 33,000 young adults under the age of 18 for offenses (Khan). This clearly shows Juvenile offenders are not taking the justice system seriously. The justice system was created to provide individualized rehabilitation to young offenders that have committed minor crimes. However, juveniles are committing violent crimes because they believe their age will get them off easy. “In order to provide justice to victims and their families and to prevent more and more juveniles from committing violent crimes, the United states must hold criminals accountable; regardless of their age, and impose a tough punishment system. To that end, juveniles should sometimes be tried as an adult.”(Mary). This shows juveniles are manipulating the justice system, and in fact old enough to take responsibility for the crimes they commit. In today society. They are being tried every day in juvenile courts, they are receiving shortened sentences, and they are being released and given a clean slate and the opportunity to continue living their lives in peaceful and happy bliss, all while their victims and their families are left to suffer forever. Because the courts and juvenile rights advocates believe that second chances shou...
Snyder, Howard N., and Sickmund, Melissa. 2006. Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report. Washington, DC: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Web. 9 Apr. 2015.
June/July 21-26. Eldelfonso, Edward. A. Law Enforcement and the Youth offenders: Juvenile Procedures. New York: Wiley, 1967. Hyde, Margaret O. & Co.
The problem of juvenile violence has become one of the most overwhelming problems of our time for Texas and for the United States. The problem is spread throughout the United States. The serious crimes are usually thought to be problems of the urban city, but this is no longer a problem just for the inner city. The problem has spread through the suburban areas of the city in cases just like the first example. Citizens are spending tons of money trying to fight the problem on their own. They purchase everything they can to combat crime. Women have mace, cars have alarms, houses have burglar bars and alarms, and many schools have metal detectors to try to control the overwhelming effects of violence (Defending 93). However, these efforts are not enough to overcome the effects of violence, such as man pictured below with an automatic weapon in the streets of his neighborhood (Gest p.29). All jail and court information leads to the outcome that there is a wide diversity of criminals in jail. There is no longer a predictable profile for a juvenile criminal. However, most of the criminals still come from the inner city. Due to a 21% estimated rise in the number of 15 to 19 year olds by the year 2005, the problem will get worse without a better plan. The American juvenile justice system is supposed to be the system that prevents juveniles form committing crimes, but the system was designed over 100 years ago to prevent minor crimes from occurring (LaCoya 12/2/94). The current system in Texas and throughout most of the United States allows juveniles to receive a less severe penalty than an adult who is convicted of the same crime. The current Texas system does not allow juveniles to be prosecuted as an adult until they are eighteen unless...
Loeber R., and D.P. Farrington. “Serious and violent juvenile offenders: Risk factors and successful interventions.” Thousand Oaks. 1998. First Search. Feb 2007
The history of juvenile crime over the course of the last hundred or so has ben a change of practicality to formability. Crime has been alive since there has been opportunity and something of value to other and means to get said valuables, notwithstanding age. Parameters have historically been put in place to counteract, penalize those who committed wrongdoing. When the first s...