juvenile crime essay

Essay on Juvenile Crime

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100 Words Essay on Juvenile Crime

Understanding juvenile crime.

Juvenile crime refers to illegal actions by individuals under 18. It’s a serious issue affecting communities worldwide.

Causes of Juvenile Crime

Many factors contribute to juvenile crime. These include poor education, family issues, and societal pressure.

Impact on Society

Juvenile crime affects society negatively. It leads to fear and insecurity, and costs resources to address.

Preventing Juvenile Crime

Prevention strategies include education and community programs. These can help steer young people away from crime.

250 Words Essay on Juvenile Crime

Introduction.

Juvenile crime, a crucial social issue, refers to the participation of minors in illegal activities. It is an alarming concern due to its implications for the future of our society.

Understanding the root causes of juvenile crime is essential. They are often a mix of social, economic, and psychological factors. For instance, lack of parental guidance, exposure to violence, poverty, and peer pressure can propel a juvenile towards crime.

The Impact on Society

Juvenile delinquency has far-reaching effects on the individual and society. It not only disrupts the life of the juvenile but also contributes to societal instability. Moreover, it imposes a heavy financial burden on the state for rehabilitation, law enforcement, and victim compensation.

Prevention and Rehabilitation

Preventing juvenile crime requires a holistic approach, addressing the underlying causes. Early intervention programs, education, and family support can help steer juveniles away from crime. For those already involved, rehabilitation rather than punishment should be the focus, given their potential for change.

Addressing juvenile crime is a complex but imperative task. It demands a comprehensive approach that includes prevention, intervention, and rehabilitation. Only through these measures can we hope to curb juvenile delinquency and foster a healthier society.

500 Words Essay on Juvenile Crime

The causes of juvenile crime.

Numerous factors contribute to juvenile crime, ranging from familial to societal influences. Family environment plays a pivotal role, with instances of neglect, abuse, or poor parental supervision often leading to delinquent behaviors. Similarly, socio-economic status and neighborhood conditions significantly impact a juvenile’s propensity towards crime. Children from low-income families or crime-ridden neighborhoods are more likely to engage in delinquent activities.

The influence of peer groups is another crucial factor. Adolescents are particularly susceptible to peer pressure, and association with deviant peers can lead to criminal behaviors. Lastly, psychological factors, such as low self-esteem, impulsivity, and aggression, also contribute to juvenile delinquency.

The Impact of Juvenile Crime

Families of juveniles involved in crime often face emotional distress and societal stigma. They may also bear the financial burden of legal proceedings and rehabilitation programs.

At the societal level, juvenile crime contributes to a sense of insecurity and fear. It also imposes significant economic costs, including law enforcement expenses, victim-related costs, and the potential loss of future productivity from the juvenile offenders.

Solutions to Juvenile Crime

Rehabilitation is equally essential and should aim at reintegrating juvenile offenders back into society. This can be achieved through counseling, vocational training, and educational programs that equip these individuals with the skills necessary for a productive life.

Juvenile crime is a complex issue that requires a multifaceted approach. Understanding its causes and impacts can help in formulating effective strategies to prevent, intervene, and rehabilitate juvenile offenders. By investing in our youth, we can break the cycle of juvenile crime and create a safer, more prosperous society for all.

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Juvenile Crime, Juvenile Justice (2001)

Chapter: introduction, introduction.

Juvenile crime is one of the nation's serious problems. Concern about it is widely shared by federal, state, and local government officials and by the public. In recent years, this concern has grown with the dramatic rise in juvenile violence that began in the mid-1980s and peaked in the early 1990s. Although juvenile crime rates appear to have fallen since the mid-1990s, this decrease has not alleviated the concern. Many states began taking a tougher legislative stance toward juveniles in the late 1970s and early 1980s, a period during which juvenile crime rates were stable or falling slightly, and federal reformers were urging prevention and less punitive measures. Some of the dissonance between the federal agenda and what was happening in the states at that time may have been caused by significant changes in legal procedures that made juvenile court processes more similar—though not identical—to those in criminal (adult) court. The main response to the most recent spike in violent juvenile crime has been enactment of laws that further blur distinctions between juvenile courts and adult courts. States continued to toughen their juvenile crime laws in recent years, making sentencing more punitive, expanding allowable transfers to criminal (adult) court, or doing away with some of the confidentiality safeguards of juvenile court. Many such changes were enacted after the juvenile violent crime rate had already begun to fall. The rehabilitative model embodied in the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974, focusing on the needs of the young offender, has lost ever more ground over the past 20 years to punitive models that focus mainly on the offense committed. These puni-

tive policies have had a disproportionate impact on some minority groups, particularly black youngsters, an important issue that is explored in depth in Chapter 6 .

Crime policies in the United States have been moving in the direction of treating juveniles as adults, even though many young people continue to grow up in settings that “fail to provide the resources, the supports, and the opportunities essential to a healthy development and reasonable preparation for productive adulthood” (National Research Council, 1993a:2)—settings that put young people at high risk for delinquency. In 1997, 40 percent of all those living below the poverty level in the United States were under the age of 18 (Snyder and Sickmund, 1999). Structural changes in society, including fewer two-parent homes and more maternal employment, have contributed to a lack of resources for the supervision of children's and adolescents' free time.

Government policy on juvenile delinquency must often struggle with the appropriate balance of concern over the healthy development of children and adolescents who violate the law and a public desire to punish criminals. This tension between rehabilitation and punishment when dealing with children and adolescents who commit crimes results in an ambivalent orientation toward young offenders. Criminal acts must be suppressed, condemned, and punished. Nevertheless, children and adolescents who commit criminal acts must be educated and supported in a growth process that should be the objective of government policy for all young people, including young offenders.

A number of cognitive and social features of childhood and adolescence influence the content of juvenile crime policy. Historically, children under the age of seven have been considered below the age of reason, and therefore unable to formulate the criminal intent necessary to be held accountable for criminal offenses. In practice, children younger than age 10 are rarely involved in the juvenile justice system. Arrests of those younger than 10 years old account for less than 2 percent of all juvenile arrests. By the age of 16 or 17, most adolescents are deemed to have sufficient cognitive capacity and life experience to be held accountable for intended wrongful acts. How to deal appropriately with those who commit crimes between the ages of 10 and 17 is the issue faced in juvenile crime policy. Adolescence is a period of dating, driving, and expanding social networks—all choices that can produce positive or negative consequences for the adolescent and the community. Public policies in the areas of education, medical care, alcoholic beverage control, and juvenile crime reflect beliefs that adolescents have not acquired the abilities or capacities necessary for adult status. Creating the appropriate public policy for a period of semiautonomy is no small task (Zimring, 1982). To

further complicate the matter, crime rates peak in mid- to late adolescence, making policy toward young offenders of special importance.

To best answer the questions of how to deal with young offenders requires knowledge of factors in the individual, family, social settings, and community that influence the development of delinquent behavior; of the types of offenses committed by young people; and of the types of interventions that can most efficiently and effectively prevent offending in the first place or prevent its recurrence. This study reviews literature in all of these areas to provide an objective view of juvenile crime and the juvenile justice system in the United States.

CHILD AND ADOLESCENT DEVELOPMENT: NOT JUST LITTLE ADULTS

What is often missing from discussions of juvenile crime today is recognition that children and adolescents are not just little adults, nor is the world in which they live the world of adults. Physical, emotional, and cognitive development continue throughout adolescence. Although young people can approach decisions in a manner similar to adults under some circumstances, many decisions that children and adolescents make are under precisely the conditions that are hardest for adults—unfamiliar tasks, choices with uncertain outcomes, and ambiguous situations (see, for example, Beyth-Marom and Fischhoff, 1997; Cohn et al., 1995). Further complicating the matter for children and adolescents is that they often face deciding whether or not to engage in a risky behavior, such as taking drugs, shoplifting, or getting into a fight, in situations involving emotions, stress, peer pressure, and little time for reflection.

Young people are liable to overestimate their own understanding of a situation, underestimate the probability of negative outcomes, and make judgments based on incorrect or incomplete information (Quadrel et al., 1993). Although adults are also prone to the same misperceptions, children's and adolescents' lack of experience increases their vulnerability. Quadrel et al. (1993) found that high-risk adolescents (with legal and substance abuse problems, recruited from group homes) were more likely than middle-class youngsters to have incorrect information about risks, while being extremely confident in their information.

Emotions can affect decision making for both adolescents and adults. When people are experiencing positive emotions, such as excitement, happiness, love (as adolescents often do when with groups of their peers), they tend to underestimate the possibility of negative consequences to their actions. When experiencing negative emotions, such as anger, jealousy, sadness, people tend to focus on the near term and lose sight of

the big picture. This is particularly relevant for adolescents, who have been found to experience wider and more rapid mood swings than adults (Larson et al., 1980; Larson and Lampman-Petraitis, 1989; Larson and Richards, 1994).

Studies of young people's understanding of legal processing and the consequences of various legal choices, such as forfeiting the right to remain silent or to have an attorney, show differences between those younger and older than about 15 years (Grisso, 1997). Those under age 15 often misunderstand the concept of a right, in general, and of Miranda rights, in particular. They foresee fewer alternative courses of action in legal proceedings and tend to concentrate on short-term rather than long-term consequences (Grisso, 1980; 1981). For example, younger youth often misconstrue the right to remain silent, believing it means they should be quiet until they are told to talk. Nor do they completely understand the right to have an attorney present, without charge, before they talk (Abramovitch et al., 1995; Grisso, 1981). These misunderstandings raise concerns about children's and young adolescents' competence to stand trial in adult court. Children and adolescents from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds and those with low IQs fare worse in understanding the legal process and their rights than do other children and adolescents of comparable ages (Grisso, 1997). Furthermore, experience with the justice system does not ensure that young people fully understand the process, their rights, or the implications of the decisions they make. Both Grisso (1981) and Lawrence (1983) have found that adolescent delinquents had much poorer understanding of their rights than did adult defendants.

Emerging research using magnetic resonance imaging of the brain demonstrates the cognitive and emotional differences between adolescents and adults. Children and adolescents process emotionally charged information in the part of the brain responsible for instinct and gut reactions. Adults process such information in the “rational” frontal section of the brain (Baird et al., 1999). Children and adolescents may be physiologically less capable than adults of reasoning logically in the face of particularly strong emotions. In a recent study, Thompson et al. (2000) found that the brain continues to develop and change through at least midadolescence, with the most active parts of the brain changing during development. These new insights on brain development may have implications for holding children and adolescents criminally responsible in the same way as adults and raise concerns about initiatives to transfer younger and younger defendants to adult courts.

INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE 1

Looking at the policies of other countries provides some perspective on criminal justice in the United States. An international study of 15 countries—Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, England and Wales, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Russia, Sweden, and Switzerland—notes that all have special provisions for young criminals in their justice systems, although some (such as Denmark, Russia, and Sweden) have no special courts for juveniles. Table 1-1 depicts some of the differences among countries, showing the range in variability for the minimum age of criminal responsibility, the age at which full responsibility as an adult can be assumed, the type of court that handles young people committing crimes, whether such young people can be tried in courts that also try adults, the maximum length of sentencing for a juvenile, and policies regarding incarcerating juveniles with adults.

The United States was not alone in seeing a dramatic increase in violent crime by juveniles in the 1980s and early 1990s. Many European countries and Canada experienced increases in their rates of violent crime, particularly among juveniles (Hagan and Foster, 2000; Pfeiffer, 1998). It is difficult to compare rates across countries, because legal definitions of crime vary from country to country. For example, in Germany, assault is counted as a violent crime only if a weapon is used during the commission of the crime, whereas in England and Wales, the degree of injury to the victim determines whether or not an assault counts as a violent crime. Crime is also measured differently in each country. For example, the United States commonly relies on numbers of arrests to measure crime. In Germany, Austria, and Italy, among other countries, crime is measured by the number of cases solved by police (even if the offender has been apprehended) (Pfeiffer, 1998). Nevertheless, trends in juvenile violent crime appeared similar in many developed countries in the 1980s and early 1990s, 2 although the rates were different.

The United States has a high violent crime rate—particularly for homicide—in comparison to other countries, although property crime rates, particularly burglary, are higher than U.S. rates in Canada, England and Wales, and The Netherlands (Hagan and Foster, 2000; Mayhew and White, 1997). In 1994, the violent crime arrest rate (includes homicide, aggravated assault, robbery, and rape) for 13- to 17-year-olds in the United

TABLE 1-1 International Comparisons of Juvenile Justice Systems

States was nearly 800 per 100,000 (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 1995). In England and Wales, about 600 per 100,000 14- to 16-year-olds were convicted or cautioned by the police for violent crimes (homicide, assault, robbery, and rape) in 1994. In Germany, 650 per 100,000 14- to 17-year-olds and in The Netherlands 450 per 100,000 12- to 17-year-olds were suspects of violent crime in 1994 (Pfeiffer, 1998).

Comparing how different countries deal with juvenile offenders is equally challenging. Countries differ in the ages of young people considered legal juveniles, in how juvenile courts are organized, and in the types of institution used to sanction juvenile offenders. As Table 1-1 shows, the minimum age for being considered criminally responsible varies from 7 years (in Switzerland and the Australian state of Tasmania) to 16 (in Belgium and Russia). The age of full criminal responsibility (i.e., the age at which an offender is automatically handled as an adult) is 18 in most of the countries studied by Weitekamp et al. (1999), but is as low as 16 in some Australian states and is 20 in Japan. In the United States, both minimum and maximum ages of juvenile court jurisdiction vary by state, with most states having no minimum age (although in practice, children younger than 10 are seldom seen in juvenile courts). The maximum age of juvenile court jurisdiction is younger in many U.S. states than in the other countries studied, with 3 states having a maximum age of 15, 10 of 16, and the remaining states having a maximum age of 17.

At the same time that states and the federal government in the United States have been moving toward treating juvenile offenders more like adult criminals, many other countries retain a strong rehabilitative stance. The 1988 Youth Court Law of Austria, for example, describes juvenile offending as a normal step in development for which restorative justice, not punishment, is the appropriate response. The Belgium Youth Court Protection Act specifies that the only measures that can be imposed on a juvenile are for his or her care, protection, and education. In New Zealand, since 1989, Family Group Conferences have been used to replace or supplement youth courts for most of the serious criminal cases. In the early 1980s, England and Wales moved toward community-based sanctions for young offenders and away from institutional placements. This trend was reversed in the 1990s, however, when England and Wales reacted to the upswing in juvenile violence in a manner similar to the United States, focusing on the offense, rather than the offender. The U.K. Criminal Justice and Public Order Act of 1994 made it easier to place offenders younger than 15 years in juvenile correctional facilities and extended the maximum length of allowable sentences. The U.K. Crime and Disorder Act of 1998 moved the English juvenile justice system even further toward a punitive, offense-based model.

Neither Sweden nor Denmark uses a separate juvenile court, but youthful immaturity is considered a mitigating factor in deciding their criminal responsibility. In Denmark, maximum punishments well below those available for adults are specified in law for juveniles 15 and older; juveniles under the age of 15 may not be punished, but may be referred to a social welfare agency. In Sweden, imprisonment may only be imposed on juveniles under exceptional circumstances, and even then, the sentences imposed are shorter than for adults.

The United States has a very high overall rate of incarceration. At 645 per 100,000, the U.S. incarceration rate is second only to that of Russia at 685 per 100,000 (Walmsley, 1999). Although adequate juvenile incarceration figures do not exist in the United States, the incarceration rate for homicides committed by juveniles is illustrative of the difference in incarceration rates. In 1992, 12.5 people per 100,000 were incarcerated in the United States for homicides committed as juveniles. Comparable numbers in other countries are 2.3 per 100,000 in The Netherlands, 1.6 per 100,000 in Italy, and 1.3 per 100,000 in Germany (Pfeiffer, 1998). Some of the differences in juvenile homicide incarceration rates are likely to be due to differences in homicide commission rates. In none of the 15 countries surveyed by Weitekamp et al. (1999) can a juvenile who commits a crime be executed, whereas this practice is allowed in the United States.

CHARGE TO THE PANEL

The Panel on Juvenile Crime: Prevention, Treatment, and Control was asked to identify and analyze the full range of research studies and datasets that bear on the nature of juvenile crime, highlighting key issues and data sources that can provide evidence of prevalence and seriousness; race, gender, and class bias; and impacts of deterrence, punishment, and prevention strategies. The panel was further asked to analyze the factors that contribute to delinquent behavior, including a review of the knowledge on child and adolescent development and its implications for prevention and control; to assess the current practices of the juvenile justice system, including the implementation of constitutional safeguards; to examine adjudication, detention and waiver practices; to explore the role of community and institutional settings; to assess the quality of data sources on the clients of both public and private juvenile justice facilities; and to assess the impact of the deinstitutionalization mandates of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 on delinquency and community safety.

To meet this charge, the study panel and staff gathered information in a number of ways. Relevant research studies were identified through

targeted searches of UnCover, Medline, Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC), and the National Criminal Justice Research Service (NCJRS). The panel met six times between June 1998 and October 1999 to discuss data availability and research findings, identify critical issues, analyze the data and issues, seek additional information on specific concerns, formulate conclusions and recommendations, and develop this report. Four of these meetings were preceded by workshops at which experts presented information on selected topics and engaged in discussions with panel members. Workshops were held on education and delinquency, juvenile justice system issues, developmental issues relevant to delinquency, and racial disparity in the juvenile justice system. (See Appendix E for workshop agendas.) In addition to the workshops, Howard Snyder, research director of the National Center for Juvenile Justice, spent part of one meeting discussing relevant datasets with the panel members. The panel commissioned three papers: “International Comparison of Juvenile Justice Systems ” by Elmar Weitekamp, Hans-Juergen Kerner, and Gernot Trueg; “Police Encounters with Juvenile Suspects” by Robert Worden and Stephanie Myers; and “The Indeterminancy of Forecasts of Crime Rates and Juvenile Offenses ” by Kenneth Land and Patricia McCall. Several members of the panel made site visits to juvenile detention and correctional facilities in Texas and New York. Study panel members and staff also consulted informally with various experts between meetings.

The charge to the panel was extremely broad, covering many topics that merit books unto themselves, and indeed some of the areas have been the subject of more than one recent book. The panel chose to provide a broad overview of juvenile crime and the juvenile justice system, touching on all the topics in its charge, but going into various levels of depth depending on the amount and quality of data available. In organizing its plan for the study, the panel focused on answering several questions:

What have been the major trends in juvenile crime over the past 20 to 30 years, and what can be predicted about future trends?

What is the role of developmental factors in delinquent behavior and how do families, peers, communities, and social influences contribute to or inhibit that behavior?

What responses are in place to deal with juvenile crime today, are they developmentally appropriate, and do they work?

This report reviews the data and research available to answer these questions, suggests areas that require additional research, and makes recommendations about policies for dealing with child and adolescent offenders.

DEFINITIONS USED IN THIS REPORT

The terms juvenile and delinquency (or delinquent ) have specific legal meanings in state and federal law. In this report, however, the panel uses the term juvenile 3 in its general sense, referring to anyone under the age of 18, unless otherwise specified. The terms young person, youngster, youth, and child and adolescent are used synonymously with juvenile. For many of the analyses of crime trends in Chapter 2 , juvenile refers to those between the ages of 10 and 17, because those under the age of 10 are seldom arrested. We use the term adolescent to refer specifically to young people between the ages of 13 and 17.

The term delinquency 4 in this report refers to acts by a juvenile that would be considered a crime if committed by an adult, as well as to actions that are illegal only because of the age of the offender. The report uses the term criminal delinquency to refer specifically to the former and status delinquency to refer specifically to the latter. Criminal delinquency offenses include, for example, homicide, robbery, assault, burglary, and theft. The term juvenile crime is used synonymously with criminal delinquency. Status delinquency offenses include truancy, running away from home, incorrigibility (i.e., habitually disobeying reasonable and lawful commands of a parent, guardian, or custodian; also referred to in various statutes as unruly, uncontrollable, or ungovernable behavior), and liquor law violations. In some states, status delinquents are referred to the child welfare or social service systems, while in others status delinquents are dealt with in the juvenile justice system.

PLAN OF THE REPORT

Following this introduction, Chapter 2 discusses the datasets commonly used to measure juvenile crime rates, examining the relative strengths and weaknesses of each. The chapter then discusses the trends in juvenile crime rates over the past several decades and how trends differ depending on the dataset employed. Differences in crime rates and

types of offense by sex and race are noted. The chapter ends with a discussion of forecasting juvenile crime rates.

Chapter 3 examines factors related to the development of antisocial behavior and delinquency. Several other recent reports (Loeber et al., 1998; Rutter et al., 1998) have extensively reviewed the research on many of these factors, particularly as they relate to the development of serious, violent offending. In this report we have attempted to supplement these other reports rather than duplicate their literature reviews. In addition, this report does not confine its discussion to serious, violent offending.

Chapters 4 and 5 cover responses to the problem of youth crime. Chapter 4 focuses on preventive interventions aimed at individuals, peer groups, and families, interventions delivered in schools, and community-based interventions. Chapter 5 describes the juvenile justice system process in the United States and discusses treatment and intervention programs delivered through the juvenile justice system.

Chapter 6 examines the issue of racial disparity in the juvenile justice system, discussing explanations that have been put forth to explain that disparity and the research support for those explanations.

The panel's conclusions and recommendations for research and policy can be found at the end of each chapter.

Even though youth crime rates have fallen since the mid-1990s, public fear and political rhetoric over the issue have heightened. The Columbine shootings and other sensational incidents add to the furor. Often overlooked are the underlying problems of child poverty, social disadvantage, and the pitfalls inherent to adolescent decisionmaking that contribute to youth crime. From a policy standpoint, adolescent offenders are caught in the crossfire between nurturance of youth and punishment of criminals, between rehabilitation and "get tough" pronouncements. In the midst of this emotional debate, the National Research Council's Panel on Juvenile Crime steps forward with an authoritative review of the best available data and analysis. Juvenile Crime, Juvenile Justice presents recommendations for addressing the many aspects of America's youth crime problem.

This timely release discusses patterns and trends in crimes by children and adolescents—trends revealed by arrest data, victim reports, and other sources; youth crime within general crime; and race and sex disparities. The book explores desistance—the probability that delinquency or criminal activities decrease with age—and evaluates different approaches to predicting future crime rates.

Why do young people turn to delinquency? Juvenile Crime, Juvenile Justice presents what we know and what we urgently need to find out about contributing factors, ranging from prenatal care, differences in temperament, and family influences to the role of peer relationships, the impact of the school policies toward delinquency, and the broader influences of the neighborhood and community. Equally important, this book examines a range of solutions:

• Prevention and intervention efforts directed to individuals, peer groups, and families, as well as day care-, school- and community-based initiatives.
• Intervention within the juvenile justice system.
• Role of the police.
• Processing and detention of youth offenders.
• Transferring youths to the adult judicial system.
• Residential placement of juveniles.

The book includes background on the American juvenile court system, useful comparisons with the juvenile justice systems of other nations, and other important information for assessing this problem.

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Youth Crime as a Major Issue in the World Essay

• To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writer’s block
• As a source of information (ensure proper referencing)
• As a template for you assignment

Introduction

Causes of youth crime, consequences of youth crime, preventive measures to be taken in regard to youth crime, works cited, annotated bibliography.

Youth crime has become a major issue of concern worldwide because most youths have been indulging in crimes at very high rates. This has raised the need to take some steps in an effort to either minimize or avoid the involvement of youths in criminal activities. Youth crime also referred to as juvenile delinquency entails some abnormality in the youths’ behaviour in regard to societal or even legal expectations.

There are many factors that are considered to facilitate indulgence in crime by the youths for instance poor up bringing, poverty and unemployment, lack of education and peer pressure among others. This research paper will look into the various aspects that are associated with youth crime for example the causes, the delinquent behaviours involved, and the preventive measures undertaken to handle the delinquencies.

There is no distinct factor that can be pin pointed as the root cause of youth crime. This is because youths engage in criminal activities as a result of the different situations that they face in life. The situations could be as a result of either social, economic, cultural or even family problems.

Different economic, social and cultural conditions in different countries causes the difference in the causes although some common causes can be drawn since all hail from family relationships, the social environment and the economic situation surrounding the youths.

The relationships that exist in the families of the youths could facilitate the indulgence in criminal activities for example when the parents are involved in crime, when there is poor parental guidance and supervision, in case of neglect and isolation or harsh treatment by parents hence the development of defiant behaviour, where there exist family conflicts and the youths feel overburdened, ineffective or lack of communication between the parents and the children hence lack of forum for discussing the problems that the youths could be having, disrespect and irresponsible behaviour among family members that may make the youths take it as a normality, family break-ups and violence among others.

An economic condition on the other hand entails aspects like the political situations surrounding the youths, poverty and unemployment among other aspects (Western, Lynch and Oquilvie 45). The political situation in a nation may also lead to indulgence in crime by the youths for example in instances where there is political instability, the youths may tend to look for means through which to secure a better future hence engaging in criminal activities in search of a livelihood.

Lack of employment opportunities for the youths is also a major contributing factor towards delinquency. Some of the youths have got education but lack employment chances making them hopeless and susceptible to anything that may come their way, crime being one of them as they try to survive and establish a source of living.

Poverty and inequality also contributes to criminal activities. This is because no one is ready to accept living in poor conditions especially where others have better living conditions. As the youths tend to move away from the poverty situations they find themselves engaging in criminal ventures in an effort to make life favourable and comfortable.

The social conditions that may facilitate the indulgence in criminal activities by the youths include inequalities in terms of services provision and power sharing, poor or lack of leadership in the societies hence loss of focus among the youths, discrimination among the youths, peer pressure and influence of the media for instance where the media portrays violence and crime to be prestigious making the youths to emulate people involved in crime among others. It is therefore evident that to prevent crime, the above named causes should be dealt with from the roots (McCord et al 25).

There are numerous consequences that are associated with youth crime. The crimes affect not only those undertaking it but also the society at large. This is because of the uncertainty linked with the criminal activities which leads to tension and anxiety among the society members as they don’t know what may happen to them.

The crime may also be dangerous to the youths themselves for instance the abuse of drugs and other substances may lead to deterioration of their health, they may also be physically injured in the event of perpetrating the criminal activities and more so, they may get themselves behind bars facing legal sentences once they are convicted for the crimes committed hence suffering from lack of freedom and harsh treatment (Elliot, Huizinga, and Menard 29).

Since the problem of youth crime is real and in existence, there is need to establish some measures aimed at reducing or avoiding the chances of engaging in crimes by the youths. A good approach is however the identification of the root causes of the crimes and dealing with them appropriately.

The measures include reduction of inequality and poverty levels among communities. This could be achieved through aspects like effective taxation that ensures that the well-up people are able to support the less fortunate through the taxes hence reducing the inequality. Poverty can also be reduced through provision of employment opportunities and increasing the minimum earnings.

This will in the long run reduce the chances of the youths’ indulgence in crime as they will be involved in more productive activities in the economy. Reduction of the availability of drugs and other substances is also a recommended step as it reduces the number of youths who can access them hence avoiding their abuse (Blyth and Solomon 2).

Another effective method that could be applied is the youth awareness programmes for instance on the importance of education and general positive living. Education should also be made affordable to the majority including the poor as education enhances an individual’s well being in terms of decision making and making choices as well as increasing the possibilities of securing job opportunities hence have a stable source of earning.

There should also be efforts to reinforce the law enforcement strategies with an aim of reducing chances of crime as the youths caught committing crimes are sentenced hence serving as examples to the others who may think of indulging in crime. Corruption is a contributing force towards crime execution of since the offenders feel free to commit the crimes without minding the consequences as they know they can bribe the law enforcers and get away with it.

Reduction of the corruption will in return result to reduction of crime rates as the youths will be held responsible for their criminal activities and hence they will tend to avoid it. These preventive measures among others will help reduce crime rates through dealing with the root causes of the crimes (Muhammad 9).

It is evident that youth crime is a problem in most countries as young people are increasingly getting involved in criminal activities. The problem however lies in the establishment of the main causes of crime youth but once this is clear, the problem can be dealt with appropriately through prevention of its crimes rather than waiting for its occurrence and intervening since this is much more tasking and entails aspects like rehabilitation which can be avoided through prevention.

Blyth, Maggie and Solomon, Enver. Prevention and Youth Crime: Is Early Intervention Working? United Kingdom: The Policy Press, 2009.

Elliot, S. Delbert, Huizinga, David and Menard, Scott. Multiple Problem Youth: Delinquency, Substance Use and Mental Health Problems. Springer: New York, 2009.

McCord, Joan et al. Juvenile Crime, Juvenile Justice . USA: National Academies Press, 2001.

Muhammad, Ali. “ Youth Crime: Causes and Remedies ”. Munich Personal RePEc Archive (MPRA), Paper No. 17223, 2008. Web.

Western, Stuart John, Lynch, Mark and Oquilvie, Emma. Understanding Youth Crime: An Australian Study . USA: Ashgate Publishing Ltd, 2003.

The following are the additional sources to be included in the annotated bibliography.

This book is very essential in this study as it gives an insight to the prevention of youth crime. It specifically touches on the importance of prevention rather than cure in regard to any given problem and in this case the authors give the benefits accrued to the prevention process as opposed to the cure. It focuses on the need for early intervention programmes that should be put in place in an effort to preventing the young children and the youths from engaging in criminal activities.

It is a book that incorporates contributions from various experts in their effort to examine critically the government policy in relation to early intervention programmes, which are directed towards supporting families and preventing young children and youths from being involved in crime. It generally looks into the effectiveness of early intervention as a measure towards preventing youth crime.

This book has combined efforts of different authors to bring about an understanding of why the young people decide to turn into delinquent acts. The book specifically looks into the patterns of crimes undertaken by children and youth offenders. It gives a detailed insight into the contributing factors for instance parental care, peer pressure and how the society influences this.

Apart from the reasons for indulgence of the youths in crime, the book highlights some of the solutions to youth crime for instance the interventions to be implemented in the juvenile justice system, the part played by law enforcers and other preventive measures.

Muhammad, Ali. “Youth Crime: Causes and Remedies”. Munich Personal RePEc Archive (MPRA) , Paper No. 17223, 2008. Web.

This is a very informative research paper as it covers a wide range of aspects in regard to the topic of study, Youth Crime. It gives in depth details in relation to the factors that may facilitate the youths’ indulgence to various criminal activities and the consequences associated with the involvement of the youths in criminal activities including those faced by the offenders themselves and the society at large.

Apart from the causes and effects of youth crime, the author recognizes the fact that the ordeal of crime is in existence and more so it is in the rise and therefore outlines in details the appropriate measures that should be adhered to in an effort to preventing and avoiding the engagement of the youths in criminal activities emphasizing that dealing with the root causes is very crucial in preventing youth crime.

Scott, S. Elizabeth and Steinberg, Laurence. Adolescent Development and the Regulation of Youth Crime. The Future of children, volume 18, Number 2, fall 2008, pp. 15 – 33.

This journal article explores the changes that have taken place in the conception of the law over the past years. The authors shows of how the youth offenders were initially treated, the same way as adults, which is not right as the youths are quite different from the adults for instance in terms of the offences they commit and the punishment they can stand.

The laws to be adopted for instance emphasizes on the application of aspects like rehabilitation as corrective measures as opposed to punishment which is employed in case of the adult offenders. It calls for attention to the application of the juvenile justice system to the delinquents as opposed to subjections to the adult courts.

Western, Stuart John, Lynch, Mark and Oquilvie, Emma. Understanding Youth Crime: An Australian Study. USA: Ashgate Publishing Ltd, 2003.

The authors in this book give some good and educative information that can assist us in understanding the general overview of the aspect of youth crime. Although the case study is in the Australian population, it gives the idea of the relationship between the youths and crime. According to this book, the youths are in their transitional process from childhood to adulthood and they are susceptible to numerous troubles including criminal activities.

The book focuses on an Australian study that was carried out to determine the major social factors that are deemed to have some impacts on the general lives of young people. The study was conducted on 1,300 youths which is a total representative sample and from this a general overview is drawn which enriches our understanding of youth criminality.

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IvyPanda . 2018. "Youth Crime as a Major Issue in the World." September 5, 2018. https://ivypanda.com/essays/youth-crime/.

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Home — Essay Samples — Law, Crime & Punishment — Criminal Justice — The Controversy of Juvenile Crime Punishment

The Controversy of Juvenile Crime Punishment

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A young person who has engaged in illegal behavior A young person who has engaged in illegal behavior is considered a juvenile delinquent, typically between the ages of 9 and 18. The adage once a criminal, always a criminal is prevalent in America, but it is debatable and has...

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Concept of Juvenile Crime

Introduction, juvenile crimes, punishment of juvenile crime, reasons why minors should not be treated like adults in courts, works cited.

There has been a considerable rise in juvenile crime arrest and this is causing alarm to parents and the society at large. Sadly, parents no longer have control over their own children who continue to disappoint them. In the world we are living today, many juvenile have completely deviated from the guidance of their elders as they make their own decisions. Unfortunately, the decisions they normally make have only landed them into many problems (Ferro 43).

This is mainly because they lack moral support from their parents, guardians, teachers and church leaders. Apparently, most children influence one another into unethical behaviors that mislead them. On the other hand, some of them are often influenced by other factors such as television, radio and magazines. What usually begins as minor mistake usually end up into serious issues like crime (Giallombardo 35).

In other words, many young people are usually victims of crime as a result of trivial undoing. For instance, there are some children who like beating their friends at school, harass them or steal from them. In such instances, parents would be summoned to school as a way of solving the situation. If the guilty child does not change from such behaviors, he/she might end up into criminal offences.

When the juvenile commit crimes, they are sometimes arrested and taken to prison. The objective of this paper therefore is to discuss why minors should not be treated like adults in court. Depending on the severity of the crime, they should not also receive life in prison without possibility of parole.

It is so unfortunate that young people are engaging themselves into criminal offences. At their ages, they ought to concentrate on school work but not criminal activities that would only lead them to prison (Kupchik 101). With criminal activities, it would be very difficult for young people to embark on their books. Most of the juvenile usually drop out of school as they can no longer perform well in their studies (Giallombardo 23).

Other than this, it would be costly to withhold criminal activities in schools. This is because young criminals would cause disturbance to students and the teachers. However there are some juvenile who still go to school although they continue with their offences. Normally, the juvenile crimes include sexual offences, theft, drug abuse or violent offences.

According to statistics, most victims of juvenile delinquency are young boys (Ferro 71). Although there are young girls who engage in criminal activities, their cases are not as serious young boys. As a matter of fact young boys are more capable of committing crime than the girls.

In terms on sexual offences, young people are often found guilty of molesting their age mates or younger children. For example a young boy of 14 years may indulge into sex with a 5 years old child. The five year old child may be a younger sister, a relative’s child or a neighbour’s child.

Some of these cases occur as children play together or in the absence of an adult who can monitor them. Noticeably, theft as a crime is more common among young people. Actually, many children are fond of taking money or some items without asking for permission. Initially, they may start stealing petty things like pencils, rubber, ruler or pens from their friends.

With time, this may develop into serious theft if quick measures are not taken (Giallombardo 75). Probably, these children may develop a habit of stealing school equipments such as computers, printers or laboratory facilities.

This may also culminate into much serious theft that can only be handled by the police. In order to carry out their juvenile delinquency, young people prefer joining various gang groups. Through the gang groups, the juvenile are able learn more criminal techniques as they share ideas with one another (Ferro 55).

Over the years, juvenile crimes have steadily increased as governments are forced to implement strict penalties on young people. In America, juvenile delinquency has been contributed by the fact that many young people can acquire weapons such as guns.

With guns, most juvenile feel protected and can attack whoever they want. Whether to treat minors like adults at courts is a controversial issue that is still debated across the world. However, the manners in which juvenile crimes are treated in courts tend to vary from one country to the other (Ferro 90). Usually, minors can be arrested when they commit crime or may face death penalties in some countries.

Due to high levels of juvenile delinquency, thousands of young people face are often arrested and may even serve a life time imprisonment. Clearly, there has to be a way of dealing with minors who are constantly interfering with the society. Sparing them can only encourage more cases of juvenile delinquency (Moore 72). It is therefore the responsibility of the government to find out effective ways of dealing with juvenile crimes.

This is a very serious issue as it involves people who are future generation. If young people are left to do whatever they want, the next generation may eligible leaders. Narrowing down to criminal punishment, young people are frequently treated like adult criminals. In this case, the minors may receive life imprisonment without possibility of parole.

A court of rule can decide to give death penalty to a minor who has committed a serious offense. Other court judges may prefer to imprison a young person for only a period of time before they are released. Typically, there are government laws that influences the decisions made by judges in courts (Ferro 103).

While life imprisonment is an effective way of punishing criminals, it has proved to be costly as governments spend a lot of money in purchasing prison facilities. Maintaining criminals is very expensive because of many cases of juvenile delinquency.

Basically, prisoners have to eat, get shelter and have sleeping facilities like beds (Moore 48). It is the responsibility of governments to ensure that they receive the necessary facilities. Because of this reason, there are some governments who prefer to use death penalties on young people.

California is an example of a country which is facing financial problems as a result of spending much money in its prisons. As such, the country has opted to release some criminals out of state jail (Kupchik 112).

Primarily, young children should not be treated like adults in courts because some of them are still naïve. Brain wise, these minor are not in a position to make sensible decisions (Moore 81). No matter the intension of a juvenile crime, minors should not receive life in prison without possibility of parole.

Unlike adults, several children commit crime without knowing what they are doing. They might commit a crime because someone else has done the same. Adults on the other hand should account for their crimes since they are always conscious of the consequences. Minors deserve second chances as they can change if proper measures are taken. In as much as they may be wrong, young people must not be given death penalties.

Life imprisonment is not also a good option for juvenile criminals (Kupchik 78). For adults, they can receive life imprisonment and death penalties because they have few years to live than the young people. As a matter of fact, minors are future generation of who still have a long way to go.

Receiving life in prison without possibility of parole would prevent minors from realising their mistakes. Life imprisonment would only increase their criminal activities as they are confined in the prisons. Giving death penalties to juvenile can also make other minors more violent (Greenwald 33). In this case, treating minors like adults is a way of provoking a large number of youths.

Another reason why young people must not be treated like adults is because they may not be able to withstand a lot of pain. More often, adult prisoners are beaten up as a way of punishment. If the same is applied to juvenile delinquency, many minors would go through much pain. Considering the period of lifetime imprisonment, these minors may die before they even reach middle age (Greenwald 84).

For adults, they have fully developed body structures that can sustain hardships like carrying heavy loads in prison. Unfortunately, this may be tedious for young people who are still growing.

Carrying heavy loads might completely interfere with the growth of young people. There are better ways of handling children without treating them like adults. Instead of treating them like adults, young people can be taken to rehabilitation places where they can change their behaviour.

Fundamentally, juvenile delinquency should be treated with special care as they are the future generation. Moreover they must not be treated like adults who are usually aware of their actions. Young people generally deserve a second chance and do not have to face death penalties or life imprisonment.

Ferro, Jeffrey. Juvenile crime. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

Giallombardo, Rose. Juvenile delinquency: a book of reading. California: Wiley.

Greenwald, Ricky. Trauma and juvenile delinquency: theory, research, and interventions. New York: The Haworth Maltreatment & Trauma Press.

Kupchik, Aaron. Judging juveniles: prosecuting adolescents in adult and juvenile courts. NY: New York University.

Moore, Lawrence. Juvenile crime: current issues and background. NY: Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

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Home / Essay Samples / Crime / Juvenile Crime / Juvenile And Crime: Charging Juveniles As Adults

Juvenile And Crime: Charging Juveniles As Adults

• Category: Crime
• Topic: Criminal Justice , Juvenile Crime

Pages: 4 (1923 words)

Views: 1281

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Works Cited

• Ayres, Crystal. “22 Should Juveniles Be Tried as Adults Pros and Cons.” ConnectUS, 26 Mar. 2019, connectu sfund.org/22-should-juveniles-be-tried-as-adults-pros-and-cons.
• Fathi, D. (2018, July 09). Everything That Is Wrong With U.S. Prisons in One Picture. Retrieved July 19, 2019, from https://www.aclu.org/blog/smart-justice/sentencing-reform/everything-wrong-us-prisons-one-picture
• “From Juvenile Detention to Straight A's, with the Help of a Mentor.” The Christian Science Monitor, The Christian Science Monitor, 28 Sept. 2016, www.csmonitor.com/EqualEd/2016/0928/From-juvenile-detention-to-straight-A-s-with-the-help-of-a-mentor.
• Gulstad, Rebecca. “Juveniles in Adult Court Repercussions and Benefits for Juveniles and Communities.” St Catherine's University at Saint Thomas, May 2016, sophia.stkate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1590&context=msw_papers.
• Juvenile InJustice: Charging Youth as Adults is Ineffective, Biased, and Harmful. (n.d.). Retrieved July 18, 2019, from https://humanimpact.org/hipprojects/juvenile-injustice-charging-youth-as-adults-is-ineffective-biasd-and-harmful/
• Patil, V. (2018, June 18). Why Are Teenagers So Moody And Rebellious? Retrieved from https://www.scienceabc.com/humans/teenage-brain-development-behavior-explained-frontal-lobe-function.html
• Sago, R. (2017, August 15). Charging Youths As Adults Can Be A 'Cruel Wake-Up Call.' Is There Another Way? Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/2017/08/15/542609000/sentenced-to-adulthood-direct-file-laws-bypass-juvenile-justice-system
• Scilabba, Nicole. “Should Juveniles Be Charged as Adults in the Criminal Justice System?” American Bar Association, 3 Oct. 2016, www.americanbar.org/groups/litigation/committees/childrens-rights/articles/2016/should-juveniles-be-charged-as-adults/.

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