Juvenile Delinquency : A Serious Concern For Many Law Enforcement Agencies Essay

Typically viewed upon by stereotypes, assembled from occurrences and news releases in America’s history of gang violence, the law enforcement in the past has taken contentious action against gang suspects but, through observations, police force aggression has been perceived of being at a higher risk of causing resentment from adolescents when dealing with the suspected ‘members’. In fact, severe penalties such as detention have been associated with an increased likelihood of re-offending and a 2002 study showed that young people who went to a youth justice conference were 15-20% less likely to re-offend than young people who went to court for similar offence. A report released by the NSW Ombudsman in 1999 showed that young people are far more likely than adults to be searched and moved on by police. Many organisations, like OxGang Research Network, and other directed projects, such as the Youth Gang: the Australian Experience project, have made it their goal to ‘study’ the behaviours and

Juvenile delinquency has become a controversial issue within the Criminal Justice system. In the United States, juvenile delinquency refers to disruptive and criminal behavior committed by an individual under the age of 18. In many states, a minor at the age of 16 to 17 ½ can be tried as an adult. Once the individual reaches adulthood, the disruptive and criminal behavior is recognized as a crime. However, the criminal justice system has divided juvenile delinquency into two general types of categories that has brought upon controversial issues of inequality and corruption. Yet, putting young individuals in juvenile detentions facilities seems to open the door for them to commit more crimes in the future. Therefore, under certain circumstances juveniles should be tried as an adult.

These individual rights must be effectively balanced against these present and emerging community concerns: Widespread drug abuse among youth The threat of juvenile crime Urban gang violence High-technology, computer, and Internet crime (cybercrime) Terrorism and narcoterrorism Occupational and whitecollar crime

In order to determine if the respondent was an actual gang member as opposed to respondents that were members of informal gangs, the respondents was asked to reveal the name of the gang they were a member of. If the respondent did not answer with the name of the gang, that respondent was not considered an actual gang member and therefore not counted (Katz et. al.). The sample consisted of 939 juvenile arrestees, 81% male and 19% female. Within the sample, 25.7% were 14 years of age or younger, 20.3% were 15 years old and 54% were 16 years old or older (Katz et. al.). Gang affiliation / participation were rather high at 52% of all respondents.

In order to define the nature and scope of juvenile antisocial behavior we must determine that “gangs are variable, diverse and difficult to define in precise terms” (White, 2007) and that “adolescent antisocial behavior is an issue of major concern to parents, teachers, police and governments and is a significant cost to the

Gang and non-gang comparisons, primarily of at-risk minority youth drawn from institutionalized and non- institutionalized settings, consistently reveal an association between admitted gang membership and self-reported crime or delinquency. Although female youth are shown to be relatively underrepresented in gangs and gang activity, they self-report gang membership at a rate up to 4½ times higher (20% to 46%) than typically indicated in surveys of law enforcement (Esbensen & Huizinga, 1993).

Adolescence is a point in a child’s life when they are transitioning to become more independent pro-social beings, in which behavioral changes occur as they enter adulthood. Exposure to Gang membership at a young age is proven to be very influential and can be a risk factor for children who have parents involved in gang activity (Augustyn, 2014). Men involved with gangs who are imprisoned and have sons’ on the outside encourage them to join the gang as well in order to stay protected while they are in prison (Shade, 2013). These youths are extremely vulnerable to influence and will usually do what their parents ask of them specifically in a situation where rival gangs may be after them due to their parents involvement with a gang. If children

Although non-gang members may also participate in risky activities like binge drinking, marijuana use, and drug selling, gang affiliation greatly increases exposure and likelihood to partake in these activities. Studies show that “early alcohol use and early marijuana use are both identified risk factors for joining a gang among adolescents” (Swahn et. al 354). Youth gang members are also exposed to hard drugs because of gang involvement in the illegal drug market. Many youth gang members in these

Gangs originated naturally during the adolescent years of a child. They started from small play groups that eventually found themselves in conflict with other small groups of youth. Due to the conflict between the two small groups of youth it became a part of a child’s mind set to come together as a gang and protect their rights and satisfy the needs that their environment and families couldn’t provide. There are about 24,500 gangs in the U.S and out of those gangs 40% of them are juveniles (Hess, Orthmann, Wright, 2013). There are numerous reason why a child would join a gang, and the

Definitions of juvenile delinquency vary everywhere you go in the world. The laws change from country to country and even from state to state. The United States Justice Department defines a juvenile as “a person who has not attained his eighteenth birthday”, and juvenile delinquency “as the violation of a law of the United States committed by a person prior to his eighteenth birthday, which would have been a crime if committed by an adult” (Office). The Justice Department also says, “A person over eighteen but under twenty-one years of age is also accorded juvenile treatment if the act of juvenile delinquency occurred prior to his eighteenth birthday” (Office). Many states have lowered the age of a juvenile to seventeen. The way a juvenile has been treated over the years has changed drastically.

“According to statistics from the National Youth Gang Center, more than 24,500 gangs, consisting of more than 770,000 members, exist in about 3,300 cities in the U.S.” (Rank 1). Although it is not illegal to be a member of a gang, it should be noted many gangs participate in illegal activity for funding and will use the money as a way to entice new membership. The “money begins flowing, and with that comes all of the things associated with material wealth that is usually beyond the reach of these adolescents without the criminal activity of being involved in a gang” (Nawojczyk 3).

Juvenile gangs have become a serious and growing problem in many areas throughout the U.S. It is unlikely that gang control strategies can be successful as long as legitimate economic alternatives are lacking. I will be exploring the possible proactive solutions to this social problem.

    Gang violence is a huge problem in America today. More and more children are joining gangs every day. It has become evident that these gangs made up of young people are causing numerous problems. Gang violence and gang activities impact all of those around the gang members. The kids in these gangs are hurting themselves, each other, their families, and the communities around them. Those who are associated with the gangs through family ties or just those who are associated with the gangs through geographical location. Before we can understand how gangs effect the people and communities around them we must first understand what gangs actually are. We must try and understand how the gang members think,

In 2005 approximately 69 million people in the United States were under the age of 18. The projected juvenile population is expected to reach 74 million by 2015. “Violence itself is not a disorder. It can be one of a number of behaviors used to diagnose mental illness based on severity and circumstance.” (Bilderya 2) Children and teens are becoming more and more violent, committing more crimes, and doing excessive amounts of drugs. This is a major issue because these kids are the next generation. “Crimes of violence among youth can include fighting, rape, and robbery. Juveniles between the ages of 12 and 17 are more likely to be victims of these significantly correlated with mental illnesses.” (Bilderya 1) Juvenile crime stems from mostly mental and physiological reasoning, from watching parents fight, repeating what is said around the house to just down right low grades., resulting in higher crime rates among adolescents.

Juvenile Crime has been increasing as society progress. Finding possible solutions to help at-risk youth is the number one priority. In society today, federal laws preventing violence crimes are becoming more detailed and protected. However, it does not seem to stop criminals from committing illegal acts, especially for at-risk children in the city of Chicago. According to ABCNews, Chicago’s Murder rate is four time higher than New York City (Rosenzweig). Juvenile gang activities are without a doubt, a reality, and is increasing uncontrollably in the city of Chicago, IL. Even though there is no universal definition for “gang”, the National Institute of Justice, defined it as an association with three or more non-adult individuals who identify themselves as group that projects intimidation, with a purpose of engaging in activities deem as a criminal act by society (NIJ). In order to prevent at-risk children from committing juvenile act, gang prevention programs must be supported throughout the nation, especially in Chicago at the federal level. The following report will analyzed current programs in United States, then determined whether the programs are contributing to society, and providing additional alternative.