Gang Violence Among Adolescents

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In today’s society, a person is judged by their actions and their age. Some actions are more acceptable at different ages. For example, if a four year old stole something, they would not be punished to the same extent as a sixteen year old. There is a relationship between crime rates and age. In relation to other age groups, adolescents are more likely to commit crime. Offending increases in adolescence and peaks in the late teenage years and then starts to decrease as a person ages. Shulman, Steinberg and Piquero (2013) found that, “rates of offending rise and fall between ages 12 and 24 with the highest proportion of offending occurring at age 15” (p. 853). This study was mostly compromised of property offenses, which usually peak earlier …show more content…

Gang violence is prevalent in many cities because there are 24,000 active gangs within the United States. Kelly (2010) states that “most gang violence is committed against… adolescents aged 12-19” (p. 61). Seeing this violence within their community or especially being victimized can lead to the internalizing of the seen behaviors and result in the use of violence. Many adolescents join gangs for a sense of security or even belonging. Gangs are one reason why crime rates increase and peak during …show more content…

The elderly do commit crimes, just at a lower percentage compared to other age groups. Miller (2011) included data from the FBI that claimed, “individuals age 50 or older accounted for 775,870, or 7.3 percent of arrests” (p. 223). The majority of crimes committed by the elderly are property crimes. In addition, the elderly are more likely to be given leniency for petty crimes compared to offenders of a younger age. There is a greater probability that when charged with a petty offense, if it even gets prosecuted, that elderly offenders would get fines over jail time. Miller (2011) presents some reasons why the elderly are granted leniency. One reason is that aging can cause structural changes to the brain, which can result in behavioral changes and brain processes. Additionally, jails and prisons may not be equipped to all the needs of elderly inmates. By 2004, at least sixteen states had created separate buildings to hold elderly inmates. But some elderly inmates may need extensive health care, and the court decision of Estelle v. Gamble forces states to pay for all the costs of an inmate’s health care. “In 2004, one researcher at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated the cost of supporting an elderly inmate to be $70,000 a year” (Miller, 2011, p. 231). Therefore, to house an elderly offender would cost the state a lot of money, which is detrimental when

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