Inner City Youth

Big Brothers Big Sisters is a program offered in a number of communities nationwide. The program allows an adult volunteer “Big” and a child “Little” to form a bond. When these relationships are developed, they are meant to have a “direct and lasting effect on the lives of the young children that are involved”. The goal of this program is to allow the children that are participating to know that they have the ability to succeed and thrive. The adults in the Big Brothers Big Sisters program provide the children (aged 6-18) with a “strong, enduring, and professionally supported one-to-one relationship. It is important for these children to have

Incidents like abuse from family members, bullying, neglect, and sexual abuse are the most common. Repeated abuse can lead to psychological damage and emotional scarring. Not only are traumatic psychological experiences causing these juveniles to commit violent crimes. Situations, where children have poor education, a household without discipline, peer pressure, inadequate role models, low income, and substance abuse coupled with the wrong environment, can lead to a life of crime. These negative influences guide these juveniles on the wrong path towards crime. However, it does not mean these juveniles cannot succeed; it is however up to the juvenile to make the correct choices in their

In cities like Baltimore, Maryland, and Chicago, the worst cities for urban youth, teen crime is not extraordinary. The poverty-ridden towns further provide reason and excuse for crime. Now this can be caused by many things, but the key ones are for money to provide basic needs and a way to obtain material goods that could not be obtained lawfully. In “The Other Wes Moore” by Wes Moore, two impoverished teens growing up in Baltimore experience very different lives, one will find himself on top of the world, and the other far below in a state prison.

As demonstrated by Crime in Chicagoland, Little Village is an area plagued by high crime rates and gang violence. Although the community comprises only 4.4 square miles, police recorded 263 crimes from June 21-July 21, 2017, including 92 thefts, 20 robberies, 5 criminal sexual assaults and 58 quality of life crimes (Chicago Tribune, 2017). While these crimes rates may be construed as normal occurrences in an urban setting, violence and gang activities have a pervasive impact on the development of Little Village youth. According to Kimberly Shinew, Monika Stodolska, Caterina Roman, and Jennifer Yahner (2013), “fear of crime, level of crime victimization, and perceived level of incivilities in the community were related to physical activity,

Urban centers throughout the United States of America and the world have experienced violence within the inner city communities. Many of the inner city communities are low-income and are poverty stricken. The spread of gang membership within the communities has influenced many young adolescents. Activities such as drug dealing, theft, assaults, and murders drive law enforcement to prevent crime. The justice system is also being changed due to the increase in minor violence. One of the reasons is due to people being part of minority groups. The charges pushed by the judicial

Several studies have provided data that often indicate crime rates are higher for certain ethnic groups of people in the United States. Much of this research on delinquent behavior tends to show that African Americans account for a greater proportion of the juvenile delinquents in America. With African American juveniles accounting for more than 57% of arrests for manslaughter and more than 67% of arrests for robbery, this growing national problem has caught the attention of researchers, criminologists, and society. African American youth also account for a large percentage of nonviolent offenses such as property offenses and drug related arrests (Kang and Burton). Several theories have been developed to try and find a better understanding or perhaps provide a more inclusive insight as to why African American youth are likely to become involved in delinquent behavior.

Over the last few years modern America has seen an increase in the strain and criminality of inner-city youth. There are many factors that lead to the delinquency of minority youth. However, when it comes to the social construct of segregation, criminologists can predict that today’s inner-city youth have few options when it comes to their future. Today’s socially constructed ghettos have developed stresses such as poverty, over policing and racial segregation, creating tension between inner-city youth and the social factors surrounding them. Many criminologists believe there to be a correlation between a cross-sectional view of factors that lead young Latino and African American youth to develop their delinquent habits. Within this argument the paper will discuss how the cross-sectional factors of age, class and race discourage impoverished inner-city youth and veer them towards delinquency. The discussion will be supported by ten separate sources, linked between five topics the paper will present how the three factors of difference (age, class and race) have an effect on the populations of inner-city youth.

A person's childhood will ultimately determine the course of the rest of their lives. Statistically, children who are born into poor locations are more likely to commit robberies and to engage in gang-related criminality. The people who are most at-risk are African American youth, particularly males from single-parent households (Wheelock & Ugeen 2006, page 2). Within low-income areas, there are many associated hardships including lack of educational opportunities, health care, potential employment, and an influx of

The Highlands is a low-income community that is facing a major issue with crime caused by adolescents. Instances of criminal activity inflicted by the youth in a community is an issue that plagues many areas in our country. The Highlands is facing types of criminal activity that frequently ranges from vandalism, theft, burglaries and assaults on other members of the community. There is also a fear from the community that gangs from neighboring areas are going to move into The Highlands. The areas schools have about a 40% drop out rate and a not very diverse, but committed, police department. City officials and leaders of the community want to decrease the area’s crime rate by being more proactive with its adolescents and the opportunities

Shaw and McKay discovered high concentrations of crime in the urban community. Their findings showed that youths involved in crime tended to be concentrated near the central business district, usually adjacent to heavy industrial areas of the city (Thompson and Bynum 2016). They identified areas with high rates of young offenders as high-delinquency areas. This corresponds with the findings of Ernst Burgess’ whose Concentric Zone Theory identified the same central districts of the city as having the highest rates of crime and delinquency (Thompson and Bynum

The relationship with police in the minority communities have never been well, introducing the program will help build a better relationship with the police in those communities and I believe this will reduce police brutality and misconduct. The officers and children will get to know each other, form a relationship and the officers will get a better understanding of the child’s life in their environment, the barriers they face, and see how much they affect their lives. Getting more involved with the children, especially young black males because they are more at risk to being killed or arrested than young black women. Being an open ear, showing them that they truly care about the and not all cops are here to hurt them or to kill or arrest their brothers and

He believes that by improving the community around them and providing them with the tools they need, will do just that. By providing enrichment programs to these youth, it aims to enhance their self-esteem, confidence, self-awareness, life satisfaction and general motivation to live life to their full potential. These at risk youth, that are exposed to violence early in life, are alienated from life enhancing values, therefore limiting their potential of what they could become. Most people believe that success begins at home, but what happens if a youth’s home life is a one parent household or both parents work all the time? These youth are not getting the guidance needed to become successful, therefore leaving them to look for guidance elsewhere. Negative influence is the guidance these youths tend to be drawn toward, because it gives them a sense of belonging to something. Build a Center, Heal a Community wants to create centers where youth will have positive influences on their lives instead of the negative influences they are surrounded by. Doors can be opened for these youths if given the proper guidance and tools. These youths can achieve a life in the world that once was believed to be out of their

A violent crime occurs every 23.5 seconds in the United States of America. Even though crime has been at a low during the past decade, violence is still prevalent in today’s society. Most of these crimes happen in places that are socio-economically disadvantaged. There then is the debate of whether violent crime is associated with environments struck with poverty. There is a correlation between violent crimes and poverty because of the unemployment rates in major cities, the culture of poor areas, and drugs.

In Canada the percentage of youth has increased only in a year by 3% while the violent crimes among young people increased by 30%. Especially, in metropolitan cities this phenomenon is more common and there are a lot of kids that don’t get to choose to join a street gang, but either that’s where they grow up and experience it from a really young age, or the do it because of their need of approval. Experts have seen that in order to prevent youth crime, it’s necessary to keep the kids and the young generation away from negative social activities and scenes before it’s too late and they get involved to criminal

Juvenile offending is a major problem in society. Understanding the risk factors that contribute to the increased likelihood of a juvenile to engage in delinquency is important. There are many factors that can influence the increased risk of juvenile delinquency. These factors include poverty, low socioeconomic status, age (Jarjoura, Triplett, & Brinker, 2002), race, gender (Lucero, Barret, & Jensen, 2015), education (Lucero, Barret, & Jensen, 2015; Jarjoura, 1993), and family structure (Anderson, 2002; Kierkus & Hewitt, 2009). It is important to examine if some risk factors can contribute more than others and to what extent they interact with one another. This paper will discuss three important risk factors that contribute to the likelihood of juveniles engaging in deviant acts. The three risk factors discussed are poverty, family structure, and educational attainment. In addition, this paper will demonstrate how these three risk factors interact with one another, resulting in a higher propensity for involvement in juvenile delinquency.