Roper V. Simmons

Christopher Simmons, who was seventeen years old, and two of his friends by the name of Charles Benjamin(fifteen years old) and John Tessmer (sixteen years old) had a detailed conversation about committing a murder. Christopher Simmons had a premeditated plan to which included, burglary (breaking and entering), robber and

The predominate theory of the social structure perspective that will be applied to Boyz N the Hood is Robert Merton’s Anomie/Strain theory and Robert Agnew’s General Strain theory which closely applies to Merton’s. The strain theory holds that crime is a function of the conflict between goals people have and the means that they can use to obtain them legally. Most people desire wealth, material possessions, power, prestige, and other life comforts. Although these social and economic goals are common to people in all economic standings, strain theorists insist these goals are class dependent. Members of the lower class are unable to achieve these goals of success through conventional or legal means. In return they feel anger, frustration, and resentment, which is referred to as the “strain.” Lower class citizens can either accept their conditions and live out their days being socially responsible or they can choose alternate means of achieving success illegally. These means can include but are not limited to theft, violence, or drug trafficking.

2. Kupchik suggests that there are three ways in which a child’s introduction to the system can take place. The first being, it is the first setting in which a “child’s deficits become apparent,” which increase their risk of school failure and incarceration (94). Secondly, he insists that students who underperform, academically, are more likely not to graduate. Thus, without a basic education, these underperforming students are likely to pursue illegitimate activity/careers that lead to incarceration (94). Finally, Kupchik explains that the way a school reacts to a child’s bad behavior is important. He argues that a school’s disciplinary process does not curb a student’s future involvement with the criminal justice system, but can potentially catalyze their involvement with the criminal justice system (94).

Strain theories of criminal behaviour have been amongst the most important and influential in the field of criminology. Taking a societal approach, strain theories have sought to explain deficiencies in social structure that lead individuals to commit crime (Williams and McShane 2010). Strain theories operate under the premise that there is a societal consensus of values, beliefs, and goals with legitimate methods for achieving success. When individuals are denied access to legitimate methods for achieving success, the result is anomie or social strain. This often leads an individual to resort to deviant or criminal means to obtain the level of success that they are socialized to pursue. This is the basic premise of strain theory. This

In the article “On Punishment and Teen Killers” by Jennifer Jenkins asserts that teens are becoming more violent and starting commit more crimes because of the national television they watch.Jenkins tells the reader about “JLWOP” (Juvenile Life Without Parole) and how kids are being sentenced to life in prison without parole.Some people are trying to advocate to minimize the offender culpability because of their age.While kids are getting sentenced to life without parole, this disproves juvenile advocates reliance on the undeveloped brain.Some juvenile offenders truly understand what the victim family go through and how long it takes them to recover.There were millions of dollars spent to end JLWOP and to set convicted murderers free.

The Juvenile justice system has changed over the years. Before the first establishment of this system, courts and judges treated juveniles as adults and sometimes received the same punishment as adults. For many years, there were debates on if children before the age of 21 were responsible for their actions seeing as they aren’t fully capable of understanding their actions. This murder of Jamie Bulger created an uproar all over the world on children at such a young age know right from wrong and also violence. Backgrounds, and family upbringing and violence in the media had played a

Kupchik suggests that there are three ways in which a child’s introduction to the system can take place. The first being, it is the first setting in which a “child’s deficits become apparent,” which increase their risk of school failure and incarceration (94). Secondly, he insists that students who underperform, academically, are more likely not to graduate. Thus without a basic education these underperforming students are likely to pursue illegitimate activity/careers that lead to incarceration(94). Finally, Kupchik explains that the way a school reacts to a child’s bad behavior is important. He argues that a school’s disciplinary process does not curb a student’s future involvement with the criminal justice system, but can potentially catalyze their involvement with the criminal justice system (94).

As children, we have all stepped that “boundary” between right and wrong. From stealing money to shoplifting to fighting, we have all made our parents frustrated, made poor decisions, and perhaps, even made a egregious mistake. However, when does stepping that “boundary” become irremediable? Can the government punish minors under the same criteria they do with adults? And most importantly, what does the United States Constitution say? These are all questions that both the Missouri Supreme Court and the United States Supreme Court had to consider when they dived into the case of Roper v. Simmons. To provide a little historical

Social Strain Theory and criminal offending are seen by most theorist as a way of understanding what could be the causes of youth committing crimes. Theorist are very concern if social strain theory really does have the answer to why this is happening, but they also believe that the result may be inconclusive, because of all the different variables and independent variables that could be used in their research. We will take a look at this theory, and see if they and ask our participants from the state of Georgia inner-city neighborhoods a few question that they will supply their own answer to, and then ask them an open-ending question face to face and ask them to choose the answer that best state why they might commit a crime or not. If we are able to understand the results then we hope we can implement it into policy. And by incorporating it into policy, then we might be able to design a strategy that will help LEOs or other agencies to reduce youth offending, deter criminal acts and future crimes. Lastly, so with the implementation of social strain theory into the policy and the evaluation of the data, discussion and the questions we can create a foundation for further research studies to build on our results.

“In the late 1980s, Robert Sampson and John Laub stumbled across the files from a decades-old research project conducted by Sheldon and Eleanor Glueck of the Harvard Law School. This study that followed young boys from childhood into early adulthood and led them to question previous criminological research practice and develop their age-graded theory. It has been said that the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. Therefore, it is no surprise that, when criminologists study adult offenders, they discover almost all of them committed crimes as an adolescent. However, it is not logical to assume that everyone who engages in crime as an adolescent will commit crimes as an adult. Moreover, if one continues this faulty line of reasoning

KENTUCKY, 492 U.S. 361 1989) The Court later ruled in Atkins v. Virginia (2002) that, “mentally retarded persons were exempt from the death penalty as well, a further sign of society’s changing standards.” (ATKINS v. VIRGINIA, 536 U.S. 320 2002) The decision in Atkins explained that due to their impairments, “it is highly unlikely that such offenders could ever deserve capital punishment.” (ATKINS v. VIRGINIA, 536 U.S. 320 2002) The reasoning in Atkins is applied to the Simmons decision. Kennedy argues that because individuals under 18 are categorically less culpable than the average criminal, they should not deserve the death penalty. Kennedy adds that there are three differences between juveniles under 18 and adult offenders. First, “juveniles often lack the maturity found in adults, a trait that is understandable among the young and adolescents are overrepresented statistically in virtually every category of reckless behavior.” (ROPER v. SIMMONS, (03-633) 543 U.S. 551 2005) The second difference is, “that they are more vulnerable to negative influences or outside pressures and this could lead to deviant behavior.” (ROPER v. SIMMONS, (03-633) 543 U.S. 551 2005) Lastly, Kennedy asserts that “the character of a juvenile is not as well formed as an adult and that personality traits in adolescents are transitory.” (ROPER v. SIMMONS, (03-633) 543 U.S. 551 2005)

In the 1980’s, Criminologist, Robert Agnew, presented his theory of general strain, in which he covers a range of negative behaviors, especially how adolescents deal with stresses of strain. General strain theory focuses on the source, such as anything that changes in the individual’s life that causes strain. His theory provides a different outlook on social control and social learning theory for two reasons: the type of social relationship that leads to delinquency and the motivation for the delinquency (Agnew, 1992). He states that certain strains and stresses increase the likelihood for crime such as economic deprivation, child abuse, and discrimination. These factors can cause an increase of crime through a range of negative emotions. For some people it can take a lot of willpower to take a corrective action and try to deter away from committing crime in a way that they can relieve these negative emotions. When people cannot cope with the stresses of the strain, they turn to crime as a coping mechanism. Agnew also states, that not all people that experience the stresses of strain will go forward to committing crime and live a deviant life.

A review of a wide range of literature indicates that researchers have conducted significant research on this particular topic on juvenile delinquency and the impacts that the general strain theory has had in understanding such behaviors. However, the majority of these studies have not been able to provide a clear connection between the negative behaviors shown among teenagers and youths and their criminal behaviors. In most cases, researchers argue that such behaviors may come about due to

Many young adolescents who have committed horrendous crimes have been a huge topic amongst the Supreme Court. Whether young adolescents are viewed as innocent, naive children to the public, this not changed the fact they can commit brutal crimes. In spite of the fact that adolescents have committed brutal crimes such as murder, one needs to understand that their brains are not as fully developed as an adult brain would be. Adolescents should not be trialed to a life sentence or attend adult prisons; however, they should be punished for their actions and undergo rehabilitation programs to help them be prepared to fit in with the rest of society.

The social aspect and environment is one of the biggest reasons why people do what they do. Their interactions with others have contribute to their motives, drives and even thoughts, as if one person can help mold another into who they are. In a society, there are different communities made up of people of different races, religion and gender. In each of these communities, different morals and values are emphasized which affects everyone in the community and influences them as a whole. The closer the community, the more influences they have on each other whether they are good or bad. Respected scholars Clifford Shaw and Henry D. McKay began researching the juvenile courts records and they realized high rate of crimes weren’t just based on a certain type of individual but where the individual lived and the structure of the neighborhood and how they were connected to the community which is called social disorganization. Social disorganization relies on many factors including residential instability and poverty.