African American Juveniles Research Paper

The Declaration of Independence was created with human rights in mind. In the Declaration of Independence, they explained why the colonies chose to overthrow their ruler and become independent and be separate nation in the world. Within this document there are four parts. The beginning, also known as the preamble is the most essential part. The preamble justifies the rights of the citizens of America. It reads, “we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” When Thomas Jefferson states that “all men are created equal” he means that all citizens are of equal worth and value in the eyes of god. This is basically what human rights are. The "pursuit of happiness" is allowing an

One of the most important parts of the Declaration of Independence is its preamble, and, more specifically, certain phrases contained within the preamble. Thomas Jefferson does an excellent job of explaining why the colonies are doing the things they are doing, and is very clear in stating what he and his associates think are the “unalienable rights” of the American people. Among these are “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” Probably one of the most famous lines in American history, I have chosen to focus on this phrase and what those three things might have meant to Thomas Jefferson and the other Founding Fathers as they prepared this document, as well as what they mean to us today.

“We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” - The Declaration of Independence

It has been brought up that certain race and ethic affects a person’s sentencing. Many studies have addressed the question are African Americans treated more severely than similarly situated whites? (Mitchell, 2005). Observers had indeed noted that black defendants get more severe sentencing than white defendants do (Spohn, 1981). For many years’ social scientist has examined this theory and came up with three explanations, racial discrimination, Wealth discrimination, and legal factors (Sellin, 1928). These three explanations all direct back to blacks because blacks are more likely to be poor, so they are wealth discriminated. Also, legal factors point to blacks because black defendants are more likely to have a serious charge or criminal record than whites do. Some researchers examine whether race has an impact on juveniles being convicted in the adult system (Howell, 2012) as well.

The trend of African American males between the ages of 25 and 29 has seen a dramatic increase of incarceration. Attention has been focusing on areas of housing, education, and healthcare but the most prominent problem for African American males is the increase in the incarceration rate. African American males between the ages of 25 and 29 incarceration rate has been thought, by many, to be caused by economic factors such as under employment or unemployment, poor housing, lack of education, and lack of healthcare. Yet, others believe it is due to the imbalance of minorities within the criminal justice system, such as judges, lawyers, and lawmakers.

Americans think freedom means liberty, which is by the freedom of speech. I believe that the first sentence of paragraph three of the Declaration of Independence is compelling for Americans today because, it makes an argument between life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. The Declaration of Independence shows argument between the life of happiness and the pursuit of happiness for liberty.

“Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness,” as stated in the Constitution as well as stated by the philosopher John Locke, is the basis for the United States of America as we know it today. The notion that all humans were created equal and that all people are entitled to basic human rights came from the various experiences the colonists faced through the Revolution, which was a vital influence in the creation of the Constitution. The revolution was a key turning point in American history, it was when the American colonies rejected the ideals of the British and battled for their independence.

There are seven words that pop into individuals ' head when you are discussing the Constitution, Life, liberty and the Pursuit of happiness. A meaning of life is That as americans we have a privilege to live without apprehension of damage or being murdered by our kindred men. Most of the population of individuals have the privilege to live. Appears to be sufficiently simple however there are still various nations around the globe where this fundamental right is not the situation. In the United States it’s the number one obligation to ensure the lives and security of its own natives. In the second passage of the Declaration, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." It is among the best sentences ever composed in

The history of the juvenile justice system came into play because young people who were accused of a crime were imprisoned with adults. They made the juvenile justice system because they thought that they should deal with youth separate from adults because of their lack of maturity to grasp what they have done wrong. “In many jurisdictions, African-American youth were overrepresented in felony charges filed in adult courts compared to their percentage in the felony arrest population; this was most evident in charges for drug and public order offenses” (Juszkiewics, J., & Schindler, M, 2001). These have always been a differential difference in the treatment of African American males and

Minority mentally ill juveniles are discriminated in the detention facility.In the juvenile justice system have discriminated minority juvenile compear to Caucasian juveniles. In where most of the time Caucasian juveniles are sent to a mental institution while minority juveniles that have a mentally ill problem do not have the same treatment. Minority juveniles that have a mentally ill problem are sent to a detention facility. However, “Youth of color are less likely than whites to receive mental health treatment before entering the juvenile justice system(Simone S. Hicks,2011).” In this quote, the reader should understand that juveniles that are not white are treated as second class citizens. For Example; mentally ill juvenile that is Latino

Today, in America there is a disproportionate amount of Black people incarcerated. There are discrepancies in everything from the education they receive to the jobs that are available to them. This growing trend needs to be addressed and changed permanently, otherwise already superfluous statistics will continue to increase. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (n.d.) declared that “One in six black men had been incarcerated as of 2001. If current trends continue, one in three black males born today can expect to spend time in prison during his lifetime.” African American incarceration has become an accepted norm in our society and in order to fix it we need to establish the lack of education, address workplace

“Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness” is one of the most well-known phrases in the United States Declaration of Independence. These three words are the unalienable rights of man in the United States of America. If the government violates these rights, it is the American’s duty to overthrow the government. The ideas of these rights has slowly evolved over the time period since the Declaration of Independence was written. In the Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson, the concept of “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness” is drastically different in contrast to the modern version of the ideas.

Therefore believing we listen to God. It is stated in the Declaration of Independence “... that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” This being said, we were all created by God, and that means we all have our own natural rights. As in we have our lives, our freedom, and most importantly we have the right to be happy.

Not only this but, “offenders who commit new offenses after court contact are at risk for a variety of poor developmental and life course outcomes, including school failure, out of home placements, occupational marginality, and long-term involvement in criminal activity” (Schwalbe 2004). As seen here, this is a downward spiral. Active reform has never before been at such a demand. As recidivism and juvenile delinquency continues to increase, not only will national crime rates and juvenile prison populations inflate, but the diminishing of an educated, safe, and economically stable society will also be affected regrettably. If juveniles whom continue to commit repeat criminal offenses lack school initiative, family support, and job exposure, than relatively as recidivism and juvenile criminal activity increases, our nation’s standard of living will consequently lower.

School programs will help foster growth for disadvantaged African American juveniles since they are getting exposed to violent behaviors and not receive the proper support they need from their home. Most of these current approaches have worked on the target groups, but I believe there are still ways that we can help and support other struggling groups at a