Annotated Bibliography On Juvenile Violence

What does Columbine, Sandy Hook, and the Edlington murders all have in common? These were all violent crimes, committed within the last decade, by people under the age of 21. Every time you turn on the television, there is news of children engaging in disruptive, dangerous behaviors. Juvenile detention camps are filled with children under the age 18 who have maimed and murdered others. Looking at data from the National Criminal Data base, it is a clear fact that children’s behavior is significantly deteriorated from 20 years ago. Some critics would argue that the rate of children’s misbehavior has been the same through the decades, but this paper will present evidence that children’s behavior is indeed on the incline. Factors to support this view include: data of school violence, the severity of crimes committed, and the increase of diagnosing children with mental and behavior disorders.

In 2001 the juvenile violent crime index arrest rate declined for the seventh consecutive year. The rate increased dramatically from the late 1980’s through 1994 and then began its steady downward trend. By 2001

If teens are regularly exposed to violence within their neighborhoods, then they will strive to pick up these violent habits that their neighborhood practices. Not only do they witness violence, but eventually they will become violent teens themselves because of those who encourage them. The individuals who these teens usually associate with, may pressure them into making remorseful decisions throughout their teen years. Some of these teens who commit violent actions also have an ease of access to weapons and illegal drugs. The Sentencing Project concluded that teen violence was beginning to soar during the 1990’s was because of “emerging crack cocaine markers and easy access to illegal guns” (Nellis 5). Drugs and alcohol evidently may have an effect on the decisions that someone may make, especially regretting decisions. A teen’s neighborhood and influences have an immense impact on the violent acts that these teens

Is youth violence a problem in the U.S.? Most people don’t pay attention to youth violence rates, but when a surveillance camera in Seattle records a teen girl aggressively kicking another girl in the head on a subway platform while security is sitting nearby doing nothing, while being broadcasted to the internet; people may start paying attention to this issue. This problem has been around for years, but more recently, Obama has been addressing this issue. He has most recently put $24 million in budget for community based crime prevention programs. Another part of this problem is the harsh sentences that these juveniles are given.

Today, children are more defiant and rebellious than they were years ago. Crime rates and high school dropout rates have proven this theory to be correct. Now a days these rates are increasing due to children being spoiled and lack of attention. Many may say that high school dropout rates could be debatable being that in 1979, it was 5 % but, now it’s only 3.4% (Zhao). While the trend appears promising, the worse part is that there were about three million sixteen to twenty-four year olds in October 2009 who were neither enrolled in high school nor had earned a high school diploma (Zhao). These dropout rates were high and increase each year due to things like early pregnancy, bad behavior, or being behind in classes. Crime rates are a huge contribution as to why children are behaving the way they do now. Unfortunately, teen death rates have not decreased, but now homicides, suicides, and car collisions are responsible for 75% of all teenage deaths today (Harper). In fact, over the last two decades, teen violent crime rates have grown almost twice as quickly as adult crime rates (Levitt). In 2010, there were two hundred and twenty-five arrests for Violent Crime

“The number of under-18s convicted or cautioned over violent offences rose from 17,590 to 24,102 - an increase of 37 per cent” Telegraph, Leapmen. Youth crime has increased drastically over the years as it can be seen from the statistics given above in 2008 on the telegraph newspaper. Youth crime has been an issue for a long time now; however it is becoming a major issue as it is only getting worse with how many youngsters are committing crime as well as the seriousness of the youth crimes is increasing. Criminologists as well as sociologists try to find out the main reason behind children turning to crime and have managed to come up with a few theories as well as good reasons to why many children would consider committing crime. (Source

The information in this article gives statistics of juvenile crime in America ranging from the late 1980’s to 2008. Its purpose is to take the information provided in these studies over the past 20 years or so to guide efforts and address the disparities among the youth to combat and prevent juvenile delinquency to better the lives of our children and for the future of our nation.

US Department of Health and Human Services, and US Department of Health and Human Services. "Youth violence: A report of the Surgeon General." (2001): 106.

For measuring the amount of youth violence, per capita rates were selected from government website that include reported young criminals who were reported by victims, and culprits of homicides as reported by policemen in the ages between 12 to 17 years old (Ferguson,” Predict Societal Violence” p. E11) . The type of crimes that these juveniles were known to commit included homicides, rape, aggravated assault, and

The community is where the rubber meets the road, so-to-speak. This is the reason and purpose that drives the need for criminal justice programs. Some may believe that the system is designed for the criminals; but, in all actuality, it was created and designed to preserve families, neighborhoods, and businesses. Everything mentioned will become a heritage to the children present in today’s world. Today, however, youth have become easily influenced by criminal activity. Over 74% of youth in 2009 were reported from diverse areas of the United States, mainly for status offenses. (Puzzanchera, 2012) Juvenile court statistics reflect alarming data related to youth crime. What is most concerning is the amount of juveniles committing violent

Juvenile offenses in the past decade have shown reductions in all aspects of crime. Previously there were higher rates of violent crimes and all around arrests. The numbers from previous years have almost been cut in half. For example in the article Juvenile Delinquency and Trends in the United States it reports that in 2009 1,170 Juvenile were arrested for murder; opposed to that from previous years. In 1994 there were 2,800 Juvenile murder arrests made. This data shows that in almost 20 years the arrests for murder have drastically decreased by over 1,000.

The reality, fear, and consequences of juvenile violence continue to plague this Nation and drive legislative and political agendas at every level of government. More and more States are lowering the age at which juveniles can be waived or transferred to criminal court and enacting other measures to "get tough" with violent juvenile offenders. Meanwhile, prognosticators warn of a coming tide of juvenile violence, driven primarily by increased arrests of juveniles for serious and violent crime over the past 10 years and shifting demographics of age and race. These forecasts are based to some extent on the assumption that current trends are likely to continue.

Based on the growing number American youth, their supposed moral poverty (not being taught right from wrong) and the propensity of each generation to engage in more dangerous crimes than its predecessors, John J. Dilulio Jr.’s Superpredator Theory suggested that crime rates were going to sky rocket after 1995 due to the rise of a new “superpredator” generation of mostly male criminals (Dilulio 1995: p. 6). He claimed “the research indicated that Americans are sitting atop a demographic crime bomb” (Dilulio 1995: p. 2). Instead, crime decreased drastically (Class Notes 2/2/2016). Unfortunately, due to the theory’s rapid spread in media and the public conscious, previously decreasing crime rates were met with harsher sentences and trying more youth in adult courts (Class Notes 2/2/2016). Although the Superpredator Theory proved false, it played a major role in the public policy development of the American juvenile justice

As of July 2015, the United States population has been reported at 321,238,352- accounting for at least 25% of the human population. Five percent out of the 25% of this population is the percentage of youths that are incarcerated or confined (Census, n.d). According to the U.S Department of Justice’s office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency prevention, it was reported in 2011 that 1 in 13 of juvenile arrests was for murder, and about 1 in 5 arrests was for robbery, burglary, or larceny-theft; totaling in an estimated amount of 1,470,000 arrests for 2011(Puzzanchera, 2013). The most popular crime committed between juveniles is arson, which makes up for 44% of all crimes committed by youths. Robbery and burglary both account

It may seem shocking that America has one of the highest crime rates per capita compared to other similar industrialized nations. Over the years, there have been many discussions and efforts in order to reduce this problem. Perhaps one of the more sensitive issues when discussing crime in America is the problem of juvenile crime. Recently, juveniles make up 3% of all felonies committed each year and 6% of all violent crimes (criminamerica.net). These statistics have troubled politicians for decades as they have worked to find a solution. Starting in 1994 the Clinton administration started putting stricter punishment on juvenile offenders, but it was quickly realized that this harsh punishment may not be the best solution. Various studies and programs put into action have shown that early prevention in a child’s life is much more effective and more cost efficient in reducing crime. Because of these efforts, juvenile crime has reduced 68% since the violent boom of the 1990s. In light of these discoveries, it is important for states to focus on these results in order to reduce crime.