The Soaring Juvenile Crime Rate
It is comforting to know that, according to recent crime statistics,
crime rates are dropping among adults. However, for teens the crime rate is
soaring. Between 2000 and 2004, the rate at which adults age 25 and older
committed homicides declined 22%; yet the rate jumped 16% for youths between 14
and 17. This age group surpassed the 18 - 24-year-old group in the early 2000's
as the most crime-prone. (Between 1966 and 2001, 18 - 24 showed a 62% increase
in homicides; 14 - 17 showed a 124% increase in murders.) It is this age group
that will be booming in the next decade (currently 39 million under 10).
However, the American Civil Liberties Union, in a fact sheet on juvenile
crime published in mid May of this year, stated that contrary to public
perception, the percentage of violent crimes committed by juveniles is low.
According to one estimate, only 13% of violent crimes are committed by young
people (Gallup Poll Monthly, Sept. 2004). The ACLU further suggests that the
public also holds greatly inflated perceptions about the violence of today's
juveniles, claiming only about 0.5% of young people commit violent crimes. (³
Crime Time Bomb,² U.S. News & World Report, March 25, 2006)
Current social trends do little to contradict the dire predictions made
about youth crime rates. Nearly all the factors that contribute to youth crime
-- single-parent households, child abuse, deteriorating inner-city schools --
are getting worse. At the same time, government is doing less (spending less)
to help break the cycle of poverty and crime.
Predicting a generation¹s future crime pattern is, of course, risky.
Especially when outside factors remain unpredictable (Will drug use be up or
down? Will gun laws be tightened?). Also, from year to year, crime rates can
fluctuate much like the stock market. What goes up generally comes down, and
what goes down generally comes back up.
It is probably no surprise to hear that crime rates among juveniles vary
across race (structural limitations/discrimination, self-fulfilling prophecy,
etc.). Minorities, especially Blacks, have a higher arrest rate for violent
In the passage of the Narrative of Fredrick Douglass, the author masterfully conveys two complimentary tones of liberation and fear. The tones transition by the use of diction and detail. The passage is written entirely in first person, since we are witnessing the struggles of Fredrick Douglass through his eyes. Through his diction, we are able to feel the triumph that comes with freedom along with the hardships. Similarly, detail brings a picturesque view of his adversities. Since the point of view is first person, the reader is able to be a part of the Douglass’ struggles with his new freedom. With diction, detail, and point of view, the reader is able to get a rare glimpse into the past of Fredrick Douglass.Fredrick Douglass’ diction is powerful as he describes his life as a slave and with his new freedom. Fredrick Douglass calls being enslaved an act of “wretchedness,” yet he was able to remain “firm” and eventually left the “chains” of slavery. Fredrick Douglass expresses that being enslaved is a wretched act and that no man should ever deserve such treatment. Despite being a slave, he kept strong and eventually broke the chain of society. However, Fredrick Douglass experienced great “insecurity” and “loneliness” with his new freedom, and was upon a new “hunting-ground.” His new freedom brought other devastating factors, being a new state without any friends, which caused his loneliness. In this new state, he grew insecure for he was in a new danger zone where at any time his freedom could be rejected. With new freedom come new obstacles, which are described in the diction of Fredrick Douglass.
The tone established in the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is unusual in that from the beginning to the end the focus has been shifted. In the beginning of the narrative Douglass seems to fulfill every stereotypical slavery theme. He is a young black slave who at first cannot read and is very naïve in understanding his situation. As a child put into slavery Douglass does not have the knowledge to know about his surroundings and the world outside of slavery. In Douglass’ narrative the tone is first set as that of an observer, however finishing with his own personal accounts.
Fredrick Douglas was born in Maryland; he does not know the date of his birth, as did most slaves. He never really had a chance to know his mother, only having seen her four or five times. Fredrick taught himself how to read and write despite it being against his slave-owners wishes. He could not let his knowledge be known to anyone except for other slaves. Fredrick saw his knowledge of words both as a blessing and a curse. White men were given supreme power over their black slaves and it corrupted their character.
One of the most famous works on the topic of slavery is the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave by Fredrick Douglass. Written in 1845, this work has not lost its relevance. In fact, many modern scholars are trying to find something new and interesting in this work, in particular with respect to modern realities. I have found a few articles, each of which is addressing a particular aspect of this work. The value of the articles is the fact that they give me a great opportunity to understand not only this work, but also the writer's position as a whole. The main feature of the five articles is that they analyze Douglass’s ideas on freedom, slavery, and the role of Christianity as the dominant ideology.
Frederick Douglass was a noted writer, abolitionist, orator, and former slave; in fact, his oratory ability was so good that there were those who were among the most ardent opponents of slavery who could not believe that he had been a slave. His best known work is Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, a book of eleven chapters and an appendix. The purpose of the book was to provide a well-written account of a slave’s life for northern readers who might not yet be convinced of the abolitionist cause. Thus, the book was both a memoir and a polemic against the institution of slavery.
Although Fredrick Douglass’ account of his interment as a slave outlines in many ways the typical life of an American slave, his narrative utilizes a subjectivity and in-depth perception of his treatment which creates a looking glass of 19th century American slave experience. The narrative itself works in part to both display Douglass’ personal and unique experiences as a slave while at the same time acting as a “cookie-cutter” for the American slave experience itself, that meaning that so many slaves existed in similar conditions to that of Douglass’ that the work doubles as a synopsis for slave lifestyle as a whole. This paper will analyze and expand on the experiences had by Douglass and also attempt to better explain the incidents he experienced throughout his life. Such examples will include Douglass’ account of life on the plantation, his culture shock from being transplanted to Baltimore from the plantation lifestyle and finally the overview of his life as a freedman in the state of New York. Using these particular points from the narrative, an overview of the slave experience with regards to psychological and psychosocial influence will also be reviewed and expanded upon to give the reader a more clear and concise understanding of Douglass’ work.
67. Politicians, responding to the nations fear of crime, have attempted to outdo each other in being “tougher of crime”. This attention toward our nations fear of crime has resulted in the addition of police officers, the building of more prisons, extending the death penalty to cover sixty federal offenses, and mandating longer sentences. The homicide rate in the United States was more than twice the homicide rate in Canada and many times that in other countries. However, the victimization rates for assault and robbery were lower for Americans than for Canadians, Australians, and Spaniards. Outbreaks of violence have occurred throughout history starting with the post-Civil War era. This was eventually followed by organized crime and an increase in the murder rate throughout the 1930’s. During the 1950’s crime rates decreased only to increase once again in the 1980’s. Today crime rates are down whether Americans choose to accept this or not. Murder rates are well below the record setting 1930’s and violent crime has decreased 33 % since 1993.
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.
Juvenile crime in the United States is ballooning out of control along with adult crimes, and politicians and law enforcement officials don’t seem to be able to do anything about it. Despite tougher sentencing laws, longer probation terms, and all other efforts of lawmakers, the crime and recidivism rates in our country can’t be reduced. The failure of these recent measures along with new research and studies by county juvenile delinquency programs point to the only real cure to the U.S.’s crime problem: prevention programs. The rising crime rates in the United States are of much worry to most of the U.S.’s citizens, and seems to be gaining a sense of urgency. Crime ranks highest in nationwide polls as Americans’ biggest concern (Daltry 22). For good reason- twice as many people have been victims of crimes in the 1990s as in the 1970s (Betts 36). Four times as many people under the age of eighteen were arrested for homicide with a handgun in 1993 than in 1983 (Schiraldi 11A). These problems don’t have a quick fix solution, or even an answer that everyone can agree on. A study by the Campaign for an Effective Crime Policy has found no deterrent effects of the “Three Strikes and You’re Out” law recently put into effect by politicians (Feinsilber 1A). It has been agreed however that there is not much hope of rehabilitating criminals once started on a life of crime. Criminologist David Kuzmeski sums up this feeling by saying, “If society wants to protect itself from violent criminals, the best way it can do it is lock them up until they are over thirty years of age.... I am not aware of any treatment that has been particularly successful.” The problem with his plan is that our country simply doesn’t have the jail space, or money to ...
In Frederick Douglass’ Narrative, Christianity is a prominent feature of both slave and slave-owners’ lives. However, Douglass highlights the discrepancies between the religions of these two groups, finding the Christianity of slave holders to be false, malicious and hypocritical. Though he makes clear he is not irreligious himself, Douglass condemns the insincere ideology of slave owning America.
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, brings to light many of the social injustices that colored men, women, and children all were forced to endure throughout the nineteenth century under Southern slavery laws. Douglass's life-story is presented in a way that creates a compelling argument against the justification of slavery. His argument is reinforced though a variety of anecdotes, many of which detailed strikingly bloody, horrific scenes and inhumane cruelty on the part of the slaveholders. Yet, while Douglas’s narrative describes in vivid detail his experiences of life as a slave, what Douglass intends for his readers to grasp after reading his narrative is something much more profound. Aside from all the physical burdens of slavery that he faced on a daily basis, it was the psychological effects that caused him the greatest amount of detriment during his twenty-year enslavement. In the same regard, Douglass is able to profess that it was not only the slaves who incurred the damaging effects of slavery, but also the slaveholders. Slavery, in essence, is a destructive force that collectively corrupts the minds of slaveholders and weakens slaves’ intellects.
Slavery had been established in American history from the time of European settlement in the colonies (1619) until the Thirteenth Amendment officially ended the practice. During that time, a slave was bound to endure hard labor and often led a life in constant fear of his master. Frederick Douglass, in his autobiography, The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave, rises against the injustices done to his people by presenting insight into the power imbalance between slaves and their holders. Douglass asserts throughout his account that the “poison of irresponsible power” the masters maintain has a detrimental and dehumanizing effect on their moral behavior (39). Douglass addresses the barbarity that overcomes the slaveholder in a testimony against slavery and discusses the negative results through deep characterization, emotional scenes, and plausible evidence.
To explore the problem of not only revisionist history but of slavery itself we turn to 19th century American writer Fredrick Douglas. Douglas was an escaped slave, and also one of the few that were able to write down and get published his account of his treatment from plantation owners and overseers. His account is very detailed and at sometimes rather graphic, and compares his treatment from many different masters thro...