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Relationship between crime and media
Ways in which media can distort crime
Ways in which media can distort crime
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Throughout society, the emergence of technology as well as the dominant mass media influence creates a masked perception of youth. It is difficult to maintain an objective standpoint because of the persistent biases amongst society. While some youth in actuality do participate in criminal behaviors the prevalence becomes inflated because of the use of the media. As a result, the social construction of youth becomes tainted due to harsh headline eliciting fear into the general public. The news article titled “Hamilton Teen gangs: “ Little men playing big men games” elaborates on the killing of a fourteen year old male by the name of Jesse Clarke, taking place in August 2012 in the city of Hamilton. Jesse lived in an Eastern neighborhood where he was attacked by a group of young men, who approached the victim’s house “ Brandishing pipes and bats just before he was stabbed”(Carter, 2014). Throughout this paper I will elaborate on the negative construction of youth as a …show more content…
In society it is evident that individuals are consistently looking for vulnerable targets to blame, especially those who lack power in comparison to those in authoritative positions. It evidently becomes intractable for bystanders to remain neutral and open minded when understanding the truth behind the headlines. What contributes to the negative perception of crime is when journalists use these tragedies to their advantage, thus resulting in mis leading titles. In conclusion, the pessimistic perception of youth will continue to play a role in society unless readers critically evaluate the details behind the story. In order to shy away from generalizations about youth living in lower socioeconomic neighborhoods we must become critical of the mis representation and continue to evaluate social forces as a means that pushes young offenders into vulnerable
Anderson, E. (1998). The social ecology of youth violence. Crime and Justice, 24(Youth Violence), 65-104. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1147583
For example, police and probation officers become involved in non-criminal justice matters at schools and in the community, often times by advising parents and students on academic matter. According to some of the boys in Rios book, probation officers served the purpose of punishing them by branding them criminal in front of the rest of the community, which prompted victimization by peers, stigmatization in the community, and rearrests for minor infractions. Eventually, the youth learned to manipulate the system and increasing recidivism. Rios also notes that some youth were being incarcerated through false accusations, police “step-ups”, entrapments, and forced testimonies that led many of the boys to declare a vow against everyone providing information to police, even when they were the victims. Also, the gang database accentuates criminalization, as it permits police to keep track of most at-risk juveniles and impose tougher policing and harsher sentencing.* In other words, police roles leak into other aspects of juvenile’s lives, which have led to an increase in criminalization. As a result, for many of the juveniles’ detention facilities have become preferred social settings because they provide the structure, and discipline, they don’t receive from their families and the
The relationship between ‘Youths’ and crime is the mainstay of media coverage but, does the media truly reflect what is happening in
Most young offenders get into trouble with the law only once. But the younger children are when they first break the law, the more likely they are to break the law again (Statistics Canada study, 2005). The Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) attempts to acknowledge that different youth need different sentences within the justice system, while ensuring that it is fair and equitable for them. Many people, both in Canada, and around the world, believe that youth are not reprimanded harshly enough for the crimes they commit and that they are, in general, are able to squeeze through the justice system without punishment. Others, believe that the justice system does not treat youth fairly and punishes them without acknowledging that rehabilitation
Few social issues get as much media attention as youth crime. Statistics Canada reported a 3% increase in crimes committed by 12- to 17-yearolds between 2005 and 2006. In the last 15 years, the rate of violent crimes among young people has increased by 30% (Youth crime, 2008). From gangland-style killings in Vancouver to the senseless beating of an elderly woman in Hali-fax, Canadian cities are struggling with a wave of youth crime that was unimaginable a couple of decades ago. According to Statistics Canada, most Canadians believe that youth crime is on the rise and 77% believe that the sentencing of young offenders is too lenient (Youth crime, 2005). Many experts attribute the spike in youth crime to the increased number of street gangs - often the perpetrators of youth crime (Catalano and Hawkins, 1996). Research indicates that youth seek comfort from those who welcome them and reinforce their sense of belonging. Unfortunate-ly, some youth have no choice but to turn to street gangs in order to satisfy their need for approv-al, belonging and self-worth (Clark, 1992). Street gangs are not just issues in big cities. Over the last few decades, there has been an increase in the presence of street gangs in non-metropolitan and rural communities. For example, in 1960, there were 54 cities in the United States with a gang population. In 1995, there were street gangs in approximately 800 cities and towns across the United States (Swetnam and Pope, 2001). There is no consensus among experts on how to reduce youth crime. Criminal involvement usually starts before the age of 15, with first-time of-fences declining markedly once young people reach 20 years of age. Young people who become involved in criminal activities before the age of 14...
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.
The Merriam Webster dictionary defines Probation as a period of time given to someone who commits a crime and instead of being incarcerated are allowed to spend their sentence in the community based on conditions set aside by the courts. (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/probation) The task was given to me to build the ultimate model of Probation Services. After careful consideration and great thought this is the route I decided to take. I believe that parents play a great role in some of the decisions their children make. The decisions children make today are a reflection of their parents. My focus on this probation model is to place both child and parent in an institution were they would undergo a period of restoration of family values, rehabilitation, parenting courses, academia and counselling. The ages of these juveniles will range between the ages of ten (10) to seventeen (17) years old.Therefore I stand for institutionalized probation and how this probation will assist in instilling family values.
Youth gangs in North American society are nothing new. When we turn on the news we often hear stories of misguided youth contributing to yet another gang related crime. Even though it is known that youth crimes are overrepresented in the media today, the subject of youth gang activity is quite a predicament to our society. Over the last few years, there has been a moral panic created by constant exposure to the media which portrays a great amount of youth crimes and violence. In Canada there are large urban cities with high proportions of young people, many of which live in poverty, that now have the issue of dealing with youth gangs and youth crimes. Toronto, British Columbia, and Ottawa are examples of Canadian cities that have youth gang problems. The implementation of the new Youth Criminal Justice Act (2002) has changed the way youth crimes are dealt with legally in Canada. It is one step in the right direction for dealing with the issue of youth offending. Although the new act is not perfect, it will provide a better sense of justice to society because it calls for greater punishment for youths who re-offend. Youth Gangs in Canada are a potentially serious problem that needs to be addressed and tactically prevented. If preventative measures are not taken, these large populated urban areas in Canada will have problems similar to those of some major American cities. This essay will analyze the youth gang problem in Canada. It will cover topics such as types of youth gangs, the seriousness of the problem, and the cause for the creation of youth gangs from a Social Disorganization theory perspective. It will also examine the effect of the Youth Criminal Justice Act on gang crime.
This essay will look at the different ways in which young people are portrayed in the media. It will focus on how the idea of childhood innocence has been challenged by the media and rather than ‘little angels’ children are now seen as ‘little devils’ in the public eye. By looking at ‘The Bulger Case of 1993’ we can see where the idea of ‘little devils’ and children as evil beings began. It will examine why media stories of young people are focused much more on negative aspects such as crime and gang culture rather than positive ones. It will also look at how television programmes such as ‘Teen Mom’ and ‘Skins’ portray the youth of today and whether these programmes come across as a positive or negative portrayal of teenagers. The idea of a ‘self-fulfilling prophecy’ will also be examined and whether the way the media portrays children can be harmful to the construction of their identities and possibly lead to alienation.
The juvenile system was first established in the United States around 1899 when Illinois had their first court appearance including a juvenile. This then led to the Nation’s first juvenile system being created, which was for youth under the age of eighteen who have been convicted of crimes. Up until then, most youth were tried as an adult until the system was put into place. The system has different sections in which they youth is taken in such as: intake, adjudication, disposition, and post adjudicatory.
The Sunday Herald Sun newspaper article ‘Sad Increase of Youth Violence’ is an example of the gross injustice and distortion of the stereotype of youths; an article which extends beyond so far as to generalise all teens as “bloody-thirsty, animal-like” thugs. The article misrepresents a majority, if not all teenagers as dangerous delinquents and untrusting monsters who are a dysfunctional sector of society. The newspaper article constructs a deceptive and incorrect generalisation of youths; repeatedly associating teens with animal-like terminology and connotative meanings, where youths are painted as not only the e...
The Youth Criminal Justice Act is an act for youth justice, it applies to youths at the age of twelve to seventeen who are alleged to committing criminal offences. Also known as the YCJA, the act will take into account the interests of victims and ensure that youth will have meaningful consequences such as rehabilitation, community service, and use of juvenile facilities and so on. Even though many people think that the youth are not treated equally, some think differently. I agree that the Youth Criminal Justice Act instills equality among the youth because no matter their race. The Youth Criminal Justice Act will give youth a voice in court no matter how bad the crime was, they will help give the youth a fair chance at their consequence no matter their gender, and youth who commit offences must take responsibility for their actions.
Young people are negatively portrayed in public as society usually identifies them as problematic. Since the unfavourable portrayal of youth created a stigma towards them, many sociologists argue that it would marginalise young people and youth would more likely to become deviance. Taylor (2008: 371) emphasises that the drug users are more likely to be presented as the ‘criminal outsiders’ since drug use are usually linked with criminal activities in mainstream society, referring that society tend to identify drug users as ‘others’ and separate them from our society with fear and loathing. Since the young drug users are discovered, different authorities would try to stigmatise and stereotype them as problematic which would threaten social order,
Throughout society today, crime exists in many different forms and is currently on the rise, many individuals becoming more and more deviant and participating in criminal activity today’s society have questions on why people do crime and what makes them commit the criminal activity that they do. Within today’s modern day society many criminals are impacted to do crime based on multiple reasons, such as family issues, neighborhood influence, and/ or with the influence of media. This research study will examine the influence of media and how it impacts youth offenders to commit criminal activity. The cause of youth crime and the connection with media can be influenced by films, TV programs, music, video games, and social networking. Throughout
In today’s generation there are many children and teens that commit crimes to satisfy their self being. Every day we see in the news about the reasons why children or teens commit crimes like murder or homicide. Sentencing juveniles to life in prison is not a right response to prevent homicide and serious murder, because their brains are not fully develop and the bad environment they live in. Teenagers or children need to be remain unformed of preventing crimes in today’s society. With this said, juvenile’s mental brains, backgrounds and growth are the reasons why they are not proficient to maintain themselves in a prison cell.