Ageism and Risk-Taking Behavior in Juvenile Justice

570 Words2 Pages

One potential form of oppression in this case is ageism. Johnny is 17 and in juvenile court. A main reason Johnny is involved in the court system is due to risk taking behavior. While risk taking behavior is developmentally appropriate for his age and stage, the courts do not always see it in that light. A study conduced with young adults, the average age being nineteen, explored what impact risk taking had on the social process and what impact ageism had on risk taking. Essentially, this study tracked the risk taking behavior of individuals who were placed in social situations where risk taking could have a social benefit as well as being surrounded by ageist attitudes such as the fact they are young means they will take risks. Risk taking included substance use and sensation risk taking which ranged from risky sexual acts to violence. This study showed a positive correlation between ageist attitudes and social benefits in regards to risk taking (Popham, Kennison, Bradley, 2011). Many judges take this risk taking behavior into account, and it can be hypothesized that judges display agist attitudes when working with …show more content…

This socially rampant drug use is also the culture he grew up in. Johnny’s family has a history of substance use, as does the section of town he resides in. Substance abuse may have been normalized at an early age. “It was found that most of the users had initiated substance abuse…with peer influence…and socialization were the main reasons for maintenance. Non-users never gave into substances because of personal values, awareness of the impact of health an family values” (Gopiram and Kishore, 2014, p 59). This was addressed by education regarding the biological and emotional effects of substance use as well as a discussion of the type of life he would like to lead. This discussion correlated with building social skills for positive social

Show More
Related

  • Analysis Of High Price By Carl Hart

    2362 Words  | 5 Pages

    Dr. Carl Hart had a very rocky childhood and through his own determination to not repeat the past has gotten to where he is now in life. He comes from a broken family plagued by domestic violence, divorce, and a lack of support while he was growing up. Dr. Hart’s views on; social support, addiction and the physiological effects on the brain, factors to take into account when assessing drug abusers, drug policies influencing discrimination, and decriminalizing drug use are well articulated through his book High Life; in which enabled the audience to have raw reactions to his personal views.

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of The Adult Criminal Justice System

    1133 Words  | 3 Pages

    Thus, the shifting perceptions of the justice system has transformed what it means to be a child and an adult due to their pervasive, and punitive approaches to crime and delinquency. Although adolescents today enjoy many new freedoms and greater time to experiment, those that don’t conform to “normative behaviors” and engage in socially constructed definitions of delinquency, often end up under the firm hands of the juvenile justice system. Despite the creation of this phase in an adolescent’s life, the injustices within the adult justice system have breached into the juvenile system, thus, blurring the lines of what it means to be an adolescent in modern times. Thereby, the adolescent stage is constantly being manipulated to conform and match the social construction of crime and delinquency, and the rise in the practice of trying juveniles as adults within the court system and mandating life sentences is evidence of this

    Read More

  • Juvenile Court: Dealing with Underage Defendants

    1131 Words  | 3 Pages

    Juvenile court is a special court that deals with under age defendants that are charged with crimes, who are neglected, or out of their parent’s control. The average age of the Defendants are younger than 18, but juvenile court doesn’t have jurisdiction in cases in which a minor is charged as an adult. The procedure of juvenile court is to involve parents or social workers and probation officers in order to achieve positive results and prevent minors from future crimes. However, serious crimes and repeated offenses can result in the juvenile offender being sentenced to a prison, with a transfer to a state prison when they reach adulthood. According to the film “Prison States”, Christel Tribble’s was a 15-year-old from Kentucky who was diagnosed

    Read More

  • Discrimination In Ageism

    1525 Words  | 4 Pages

    When an individual unintentionally enters a room full of an unfamiliar crowd, he or she is bound to be embarrassed, but also have an apprehensive sensation of how others in that room will distinguish them. A situation like that establishes a moment in which that person realizes that all eyes are gaping at that individual. Just when that person could consider forgetting what just happened, unfortunately judgments start circulating among the unfamiliar crowd. As most people know, judgments are based off of a person’s appearance, race, religion, or a quality that doesn’t appeal to the person analyzing them. Obviously, judging is something that takes place whether someone likes it or not, but there are certain limits to it that many cross by adding

    Read More

  • America's Juvenile Justice System

    3741 Words  | 8 Pages

    The Juvenile Justice system, since its conception over a century ago, has been one at conflict with itself. Originally conceived as a fatherly entity intervening into the lives of the troubled urban youths, it has since been transformed into a rigid and adversarial arena restrained by the demands of personal liberty and due process. The nature of a juvenile's experience within the juvenile justice system has come almost full circle from being treated as an adult, then as an unaccountable child, now almost as an adult once more.

    Read More

  • Sociological Perspectives Of Aging Essay

    738 Words  | 2 Pages

    Prominent musician, Celine Dion, once said, “There’s no such thing is aging, but maturing and knowledge. It’s beautiful, I call that beauty.” To many, growing old is just a natural, beautiful part of life. It is inevitable. It is inescapable. The functionalist perspective of sociology states that the elderly perform a function in order to keep society running with ease. Functionalists focus on the disengagement theory and how people tend to disengage from society as they approach death. Symbolic interactionists focus on how environmental factors and relationships with others affect the aging experience, focusing on the activity theory and the continuity theory (Carl, 2011, p. 220). Conflict theorists focus on the discrepancies that arise between different age groups. They also focus on the economical side of aging and the issues that may arise due to an active elderly population (Carl, 2011, p. 221).

    Read More

  • Ageing Case Study

    966 Words  | 2 Pages

    Ageing is a natural process, which presents a unique challenge for all sections of the society. With gradual improvement in health-care delivery services, people in the UK are living longer, but not necessarily healthier lives. As a result, the number of people who require care in their old age is increasing dramatically. There are currently three million people over 80, and this number is expected to almost double by 2030. There are also an increasing number of elderly people living on their own, increasing the demand for specific elderly care.

    Read More

  • The Prescription Drug Abuse Crisis

    1696 Words  | 4 Pages

    Drugs cause an overall disturbance in a subjects’ physiological, psychological and emotional health. “At the individual level, drug abuse creates health hazards for the user, affecting the educational and general development of youths in particular” (“Fresh Challenge”). In youth specifically, drug abuse can be triggered by factors such as: a parent’s abusive behavior, poor social skills, family history of alcoholism or substance abuse, the divorce of parents or guardians, poverty, the death of a loved one, or even because they are being bullied at school (“Drugs, brains, and behavior”) .

    Read More

  • Juvenile Recidivism

    3195 Words  | 7 Pages

    Introduction: Recidivism or, habitual relapses into crime, has time and time again proven to be an issue among delinquents, which thereby increases the overall juvenile prison population. This issue has become more prevalent than what we realize. Unless a unit for measuring a juvenile’s risk of recidivism is enacted and used to determine a system to promote effective prevention, than the juvenile prison population will continue to increase. Our court system should not only focus on punishing the said juvenile but also enforce a program or policy that will allow for prevention of recidivism. So the question remains, how can recidivism in the juvenile prison population be prevented so that it is no longer the central cause for increased juvenile delinquency? Simply put, we must create a means of measuring juvenile’s level of risk and in turn, form an effective rehabilitation program that will decrease their risk level for future recidivism.

    Read More

  • Ageism: The Categorization Of The Old Age

    1158 Words  | 3 Pages

    “If I can buy enough pills, cream, and hair, I can avoid becoming old” (Esposito, 1987). Western cultures are champions of stigmatizing the complex, delicate, remarkable process that is aging. Generally, people rely on physical cues to categorize each other in races, genders, and ages. What comes to mind immediately when the word “old” or “elderly” comes about? Quick identifiers like white hair, wrinkles, and slow-moving, are always associated with the elderly. Simply, the labels that are given i.e. elderly, old people, seniors, and senior citizens contribute to the categorization of this group of people. Like prejudice or discrimination, “ageism” refers to the adverse attitudes, stereotypes, and behaviors focused toward older adults based

    Read More

  • Ageism Dbq

    1280 Words  | 3 Pages

    As of 2025, it is predicted in the developed counties more than ¼ of it’s population will contain the ages of sixty five or older. The word ageism refers to the social oppression of a person based on their age. It is similar to how one may prejudice another for their race or gender. Some of the most obvious forms of ageism is that of biased comments. If someone refers ton another as “grandma”, “grandpa”, “old man” “old lady”, asks you of what your plans for retirement are going to be, says your best days are in the past and says they want a younger image for the company; it is an ageist comment. If one where to look around their environment and see a difference in the people around them, such as: everyone is younger and the younger persons

    Read More

  • The Older Age: The Importance Of The Old Age

    1068 Words  | 3 Pages

    As the years pass and we began to age we all notice a change and this change that comes is not the apparent physical change but rather the attitudes and personification people have as we enter our old age. It seems as though, as we begin to age we notice that a sense of respect begins to build from the younger generation. According to the book “social perspectives on aging, “ it states that ‘today most social gerontologists prefer activity theory, which assumes that older people benefit both themselves and their society if they remain active and try to continue to perform the roles they had before they aged.” In other words the elderly are benefiting from what they built on their own over their lifetime and they are also benefiting from society

    Read More

  • The Principle of Persuasion

    1297 Words  | 3 Pages

    Simons-Morton, B.. (2007). Social Influences on Adolescent Substance Use. American Journal of Health Behavior, 31(6), 672-84.  Retrieved May 5, 2011, from ProQuest Psychology Journals. (Document ID: 1390074281).

    Read More

  • Peer Pressure Essay

    1310 Words  | 3 Pages

    The research done for this study specifically focuses on smoking, underage drinking, and sex. Poor parenting practices, high levels of conflict in the family and a low degree of bonding between children and parents appear to increase risk for problem behavior including the abuse of alcohol, and other drugs (Farrell & White 1998). “Generally gateway models show that youth are likely to start with beer and cigarettes, later try marijuana still later use upper, and only then move onto drugs such as downers, PCP, or heroin” ((Farrell & White 1998) Oetting & Beauvais, 1987). Drugs are a common form of peer pressure as stated before it begins with cigarettes then develops to more harmful drugs. “ In addition, transitions to increased levels of smoking have been linked to friends’ encouragement and approval, and the message conveyed that smoking promoted popularity” ( Kobus,

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On Ageism

    1510 Words  | 4 Pages

    My presentation topic is going to focus on ageism. Ageism is a term that was deemed by Dr. Robert Butler, that states there can be discrimination performed because of someone’s age (“A History of Ageism Since 1969”). Some of these discriminatory actions are the older adults have a harder time finding a job, they have their health issues dismissed by hospitals and professionals, they are portrayed in negative stereotypes, and they are questioned by their peers about their worth (“A History of Ageism Since 1969”). While ageism affects all genders, it focuses in on the female population heavily. One study that was done measured how the callback rates of job applicants in the age groups 29-31, 49-51, and 64-66 (Robaton). This study showed that older women suffer more than older men, where in one section administrative assistant jobs were 47% lower than women in a younger age bracket (Robaton).

    Read More

More about Ageism and Risk-Taking Behavior in Juvenile Justice

Open Document