Effects of High Risk Neighborhood Residential
Many studies have shown that adolescents residing in low income or high crime neighborhoods are more likely to get involved with deviant behavior or committing criminal acts. (Deutsch, 2012) There are several neighborhood factors that affect the crime rates of the neighborhood such as overcrowding, low economic status, the neighborhood’s reputation and its residential instability. These may create a disorganized community, leading to distrust and cynicism among residents in the community. As a result, there would be a higher rate of opportunities for crimes and delinquency. (Kurlychek, 2011) Thus high rates of crimes and violence are more likely to occur at these areas.
These poor neighborhood conditions may also cause adolescents to be envious of those who are wealthier, discontentment and desires for luxury materials, which may result in committing crimes to satisfy their material needs (Bridge, 1927).
Correspondingly, these poor urban neighborhoods can lead to less effective parenting due to the stress and struggles they are facing, which may cause adolescents to develop delinquent behaviors. Due to the high crime rates in such neighborhood, adolescents are more likely to be exposed to deviant peer groups and gang behaviors, and these may result in a stronger deviant peer effect on the adolescents. (Deutsch, 2012)
A study has been conducted to determine the correlation of neighborhood conditions and delinquency. The parents were asked questions about the neighborhood problems while the adolescents were asked about the neighborhood social cohesion. (Deutsch, 2012)
Figure 2: Statistics for all three model comparison groups
According to Figure 2, statistics have shown that those ...
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... relationship does not affect the adolescent’s behavior, but his academic performance. However, it is proven that adolescents from single parent family are more likely to develop deviant behaviors, and one of the main reasons is that the parent is unable to establish a strong bond with the adolescent, as this bond can be used as a shield, deflecting them to be less willing in engaging criminal behaviors. Other factors, such as poor neighborhood conditions, can also result in poorer parenting, which affects the adolescent’s behavior. Also, children who have suffered child abuse are generally filled with more violence, resulting in their aggressive behaviors due to a accumulated anger. Hence, we can conclude that parenting is the main cause for juvenile delinquency as it has the most influence and direct impact for causing an adolescent to develop delinquent behavior.
According to Price & Kunz, (2003) family structure is a major factor in explaining delinquency. The research aimed at finding a link between cohabiting and other family types with delinquency (Price & Kunz, 2003). They made an important finding that adolescents from cohabiting families are at greater odds of engaging in non-violent delinquency compared to those from biological-parent families. The findings contradict the findings of other studies that show that that youth from broken families are likely to engage themselves in delinquent activities. For example, in one longitudinal study by Juby and Farrington, (2003) they found out that children especially boys who were from non-intact families portrayed negative behaviors compared to those that were from intact families (Juby & Farrington, 2001). Moreover, Prince & Kunz, (2003) performed a meta-analysis involving divorce and juvenile delinquency. They also made a finding that children from divorced homes have a high rate of delinquency compared to those from intact homes.
Residential inequality created by Macrosocial patterns is an important factor of violence and crime in poor inner city neighborhoods. This leads to social isolation of poor blacks and ecological concentration of of blacks and other disadvantaged people. The structural barriers include good schools and universities,employment opportunities, protection by the police, institutions like churches, and more barriers from organized community organizations. The people of these communities have fewer legal opportunities compared to the middle class to achieve success in legal ways and can influence the involvement in crime to find success and
Juvenile Delinquency is a complicated subject because researchers and scholars have tried different methods to reduce it. Research shows that the methods which have had better results are those that are implemented in a way where the family of the juveniles gets involved in the process (Laub, 2014). A policy that will be advocated is the policy in the city of Santa Ana, CA: The Santa Ana Police Athletic and Academic League (SAPAAL). If we want to reduce delinquency and crime then we should focus on prevention rather than intervention. There is not one theory that explains why people commit crime, on the contrary, there are multiple well-known theories that argue for different explanations of delinquency. As learned through lectures
These crime-ridden communities (or ghettos) are springing up all through the country, mainly in and around major metropolitan areas. These areas are the most populated, so that means that within these areas are the most people there to be influenced by the crimes committed by fellow people. In Male's reading he shows statistics that prove the fact that once the poverty factor is taken away then teen violence disappears. He later adds, “That if America wants to rid of juvenile violence than serious consideration needs to be given to the societally inflicted violence of raising three to 10 times more youth in poverty than other Western nations.” (Males p386)
Delinquent acts are influenced by “the absence of the father from the home [and] is related to the child's inability to tolerate delayed reward or gratification when offered by a male adult in an experimental setting. (McDavid & McCandless, 1962)” It is an educated assumption that insufficient child-rearing and parental relationships can shape a teen’s life, predisposing them to risky behavior such as delinquent acts, early sexual behavior, and poor academic performance. McDavid and McCandless also state, “School itself seldom provides satisfactory outlets or experiences of success for the delinquent. It is possible that many delinquent acts may spring directly from the frustration of boredom.” Teens’ attitudes about risk-taking behavior are evident in their decisions about their sexual behavior, as well. According to Kowaleski-Jones, L., & Mott, these teens are more likely to:
In school we are always taught about the lighter parts of Canadian History, but only until recently have Canadian students been taught about the darker parts of our history. Residential Schools were included in these dark parts of Canada’s history. In the 19th century, the Canadian government believed that Residential Schools were responsible for educating and caring for the country’s aboriginal people. The goal of these schools was to teach the aboriginal children about Christianity and Canadian customs, in hopes of them passing these practices on towards their own children and it would eventually be adopted into the aboriginal culture. The Canadian
Burglaries, robberies, and shootings, all of which may leave victims or innocent bystanders severely hurt or dead, are now frequent enough to concern all urban and many suburban residents. Living in a dangerous environment places young people at risk of falling victim to such malicious and aggressive behavior observed and learned from others. Social institution such as education, family, religion, peer groups, etc., play a major role in the influence of crime in the urban neighborhoods that Anderson describes. As said in the essay, "although almost everyone in poor inner-...
Grunwald, Lockwood, Harris, and Mennis’s (2010) examine the effects of neighborhood context on juvenile recidivism to determine if neighborhoods influence the likelihood of re-offending. Grunwald, Lockwood, Harris, and Mennis made two hypotheses. Hypothesis one was that “neighborhood indicators of social disorganization found to predict delinquency will continue to predict recidivism after controlling for individual and family contexts” (Grunwald et al. 2010, p.1069). Hypothesis two was that “individual and neighborhood predictors of juvenile recidivism will vary depending on recidivism offense type” (Grunwald et al. 2010 p.1069). For this study Grunwald and his team used data taken from the Program Development and Evaluation System database of Philadelphia Family Court. This database measured: family demographics,
Firstly, children are all born innocent in to earth therefore, no child has the view in which family or class he/she is born into. Poverty is correlated with crimes by adolescence due to the negative factors that arrive by poverty. While in poverty adolescence in and out of families are easily subjective to mental illnesses, deprivation, and sorrow. Furthermore, mental illnesses are commonly seen in the poor rather than the rich. This can be caused by many factors such as the lack of money, food, housing problems, etc. Although, it is proven that many poor households with youth have mental disorders which commonly are depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia. These illnesses can affect adolescence by clouding their thought and perception which later pushes them to be involve in illegal activities. According to Wright (2013), “Teens are invovlved in drugs and illegal activity not only because of stress and family problems, but mainly because of their family’s financial problems. In other words, poverty.” In addition, deprivation is a constant factor in the crimes that adolescence commit from low income households. When a young adult is deprived of money and food and other items they try in whatever means to receive it which leads to crimes.
This theory relates crime rates to the overall characteristics of the neighborhood in which the crime is taking place. A persons location is a huge factor in the possibility that he or she will partake in illegal activities. Strong social relationships can prevent crime and delinquency. According to NCJRS (2003), “When most community or neighborhood members are acquainted and on good terms with one another, a substantial portion of the adult population has the potential to influence each child.” If there are more people involved in the community, then more will become like informal surveillance and care about the behavior of juveniles in that area because they are willing to intervene.
Families serve as one of the strongest socializing forces in a person's life. They help teach children to control unacceptable behavior, to delay gratification, and to respect the rights of others. Conversely, families can also teach children aggressive, antisocial, and violent behavior. In adults' lives, family responsibilities may provide an important stabilizing force. Given these possibilities, family life may directly contribute to the development of delinquent and criminal tendencies. Parental conflict and child abuse correlate with delinquency. Though not all children who grow up in conflictive or violent homes become delinquent, however, being exposed to conflict and violence appears to increase the risk of delinquency. At this point, researchers have not pin pointed what factors exactly push some at-risk youth into delinquency. A child with criminal parents faces a greater likelihood of becoming a delinquent than children with law-abiding parents. However, the influence appears not to be directly related to criminality but possibly to poor supervision.
While the people and cultures within the community change the crime rate remains indifferent. Which leaves the question of why? In areas of high crime it is found that there is weak social control or lack of proper guidance and that the youth are learning their life values from gangs and active criminals. Living in areas of high violent crime and being influenced by criminals it comes as no surprise that youth within these communities are turning to violent criminal
One of the reasons young people join street gangs is because of neighborhood disadvantages. A theory that can contribute to why young people might join street gangs is Social Disorganization Theory. Social Disorganization theory assumes that “delinquency emerges in neighborhoods where neighborhood relation and social institutions have broken down and can no longer maintain effective social controls (Bell, 2007).” Social Disorganization contributes to residential instability and poverty, which affects interpersonal relationships within the community and opens opportunities for crimes to be committed. The break down of neighborhood relation and social institutions create a higher likely hood that young people will affiliate with deviant peers and get involved in gangs. When there is lack of social controls within a neighborhood the opportunity to commit deviance increases and the exposure to deviant groups such as street gangs increase. Which causes an increase in the chances of young people joining street gangs. If social controls are strong remain strong within a neighborhood and/or community the chances of young people committing crime and joining gangs decreases.
There is no one certain theory, regarding juvenile delinquency, that can completely distinguish all the determining factors that makes youth turn to crime; although, the study of all these theories and ideas can bring criminologist one step closer to uncovering the truth about juvenile delinquency. Only the further understanding of juvenile delinquency can help the prevention of future juvenile offenders. This paper will focus on the individual factors of delinquency, as well as the social elements, and provide an explanation of how the combination of the two elements may cause children to engage in criminal activity.
With more parents working today, one perception is that children are being forced to grow up too quickly, which could be why crime among the youth is growing each day. In the past it was thought that, “If parents raise their children properly, they will be law abiding citizens. In contrast, if a child does not behave appropriately, it must be the parents’ fault” (Nakaya 49), however this may not be the case. While there is not one single cause for juvenile delinquency, Graham believes that bad parenting falls somewhere on the list (1719). So the question arises, is it the child’s fault for the crime he or she committed or should the blame lay upon the parent, who if was present in the child’s life and instilling proper discipline, might prevent the crimes from happening at all. This is a somewhat complex question because in order to place blame or punishment on either the child or the parent several factors must be determined first, such as: what type of home life does the child have? Are the parents reliable role models for their child? Do the parents take every necessary action to ensure that their child knows right from wrong and is aware of consequences that may follow bad behavior? How much time does the child spend unattended and during those times are there options for the child to keep them away from unwanted situations? Does the child have any underlying mental or learning disabilities? What types of relationships does the child have at school? After all these initial factors are investigated and if the parent is shown to be doing everything possible to keep their child from doing wrong but the child still does so, would the blame lie with the child offender or with the parent?