Teens Are Socially At Risk Youth

Youth participation in gangs actually decreased from 1996 to 2004, but the violence within these gangs has not. Homicides committed by youth gang members still remain as a monumental problem across the United States of America. The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention reported in its 2004 survey of youth gangs that there were an estimated 760,000 gang members that year. Many of the kids affiliated with gangs come from lower income, single parent homes; therefore, the youths of America often turn to gangs to fill the void of not being part of a “family”. To combat this problem and save our youth from a life of malfeasance, the people of the communities of America must take a stand against the negative influences that impact these youths.

In time, violent crimes were slowly being decreased in the United States, but it seems to be making some sort of a comeback when it comes to youth violence and violence affiliated with gangs. This topic has appeared to be a dominant target for educators,

     Lifestyles also play an important part in youth violence. Growing up in a divorced family as well as the way your parents raised you are major aspects that effect youth today. When children go through a divorce they experience tremendous pain and go through a lot of changes in their life.(chapter 9 impact of divorce) They experience behavioral problems, and less academic achievements. Adolescents in this stage can also experience aggression toward their parents as well as their friends and other family members due to the divorce. Every parent had there own parenting styles of raising their kids, however, some ways can lead to corrupt behavior. There are the authoritative parents whose children tend to be moody, aggressive, and have poor communication skills. Then there are the permissive and authoritative parents who are generally caring and sensitive towards their children.(chapter 9 parenting styles) Studies have shown that if you grow up in a family that shows aggression towards one another, then it is more likely that you as a young adult will be aggressive as well. However in recent studies,

The starting point of violence takes place in communities and at home--not at school. Youth take what they hear and see at home and in their communities to school. The environment in some communities and households are positive and the presences of protective factors outweigh the high risk factors. However, there are communities and households where there is a lack of informal social control and high risk factors exist more than protective factors--, which affect youth in a negative manner.

Youth today are dealing with violence that’s happening across the globe. It is unknown to predict a state of action that the delinquent will do, but there are many preventions that we are able to take advantage of. Violence is one of the greatest fear that many of our youths may experience. Many recent activities that occurred with school shootings, those that are domestic or foreign abused, mass media of current brutality, even interpersonal conflicts may have conflicted with the state of mind that is threatening to our community. Instead, we can support with many preventable delinquency programs with the troubled youth that helps them get involved with the community such as afterschool programs, clubs, volunteer work, or even booth camps are one of many to interact

There is a prevention for teen violence that needs to practiced, if not the youth will grown up to be heartless adults with a tremendous amount of problems in their lives. Parents should not argue in front of their children and show such violence towards each other. It can traumatize them and then they wouldn’t be the same. Communities and neighborhoods play a big part also. In a child is brought up in a low income area, we should let them know that’s there move to life out there.

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

Fagan and Castalano (2012) identified 17 juvenile prevention/intervention strategies that focused on youth 0-18 years of age, and which showed meaningful reductions in delinquency (specifically violent acts). These strategies targeted several risk factors and using diverse mechanisms including early intervention, school-based, and school, and family-focused based interventions. Following are examples of three specific strategies.

In recent years, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) noticed the increase in the number of teens between the ages of nine to seventeen being involved with gangs in the United States. While most people would agree that gang membership is an individual choice, scholars believe that it is more important to shift the focus of these programs from an individual level to a community level. This literature review examines a few of the prevention programs the OJJDP have implemented in the school’s curriculum and after-school

According to the World Health Organization, around 43% of all homicides in the world occur amongst children ages ten to twenty-four every year. In the United States alone, an average of twelve people between the ages of ten to twenty-four are killed each day according to the Center for Disease Control (CDC). Youth violence is a term that is defined by the CDC as “a significant public health problem that affects thousands of young people each day, and in turn, their families, schools, and communities”. Violence among youth can be a result of drug use, familial issues, or anti-sociality. Although the trend for youth violence is currently declining, youth violence is still a major issue among communities as children exposed to violence can have physical and/or psychological problems later on in life.

Juveniles are committing crime everywhere, but the nation is not aware of the behavior behind these acts of delinquency. No matter how much focus there is on juveniles partaking in crimes across the states, there is little understanding on why they turn to crime and what are the factors that come into play to lead them down this path. Many external factors such as, the environment they live in, family, school, peer groups, and individual self-being can bring them a step closer to the life of crime. When juveniles live under circumstances that alter or determine the way they live, crime and a sense of brotherhood is what they look for in the emptiness. When these factors come into the circulation of the juvenile’s life and there is not a stable and productive lifestyle, they are more likely to become a part of the gang world. The focus here is whether these factors drive juveniles straight to the membership of gangs or if juveniles have a choice to defer against it.

The results revealed that the youths who had a history of violence with their parents are more likely to belong to a gang, affiliate to a gang, have been psychiatrically hospitalized or medication, have attempted suicide, have come from a non-intact home, and have had trouble relating to either their parents or guardians. This study proves that youth who are raised in a domestic and violent home and exposed to those graphic images they are more likely to get involved in violent gangs. These youths are even more likely to attempt suicide compared to children who were not exposed to violence. It is important to note that these youth also had a difficult time relating to their parents and were more than likely to be raised in home where the parents did not meet the child’s emotional, psychological, and sometimes physical

The scholarly article, “Risk and protective factors associated with gang affiliation among high-risk youth: a public health approach”, written by Doctor Dawn Delfin McDaniels, was first published in 2012 in the BMJ Journals. The aim of this study was to identify the risk factors of high-risk youth and by doing so, also identify violence-prevention strategies (McDaniels, 2012). McDaniels analyzed data from the CDC’s 2004 cross-sectional survey ‘Youth Violence Survey: Linkages Among Different Forms of Violence’. The data collected from 4,131 youths in grades 7, 9, 11, and 12, in high-risk, urban schools, was used to find an

Youth gangs and the difficulties related to them were once thought of with comparatively small concern. However, within today’s society, gangs have become a large problem, not only for adults but for our youth. A gang’s ultimate goal is to recruit adolescents to participate in deviant behavior for the benefit of the gang, which can eventually land the minor within the juvenile justice system. Measuring the scope of the adolescent gang problem in the United States is no easy task however the majority of youth gangs include similar elements that include: a self-formed group who are together joined by shared interests, they control a particular neighborhood or territory, use hand symbols to communicate their gang involvement,

Studies found as many as one-half of all homicide perpetrators and victims had been drinking, and a large proportion of violence occurs in places where alcohol is consumed. (Lowry) This phenomenon may be linked to psychoactive effects of alcohol. In addition to pharmaceutical effects of drugs, interpersonal violence may result from economically motivated crimes to support drug use and activities related to the supply and distribution of illegal drugs. (Lowry) Tobacco use amongst adolescents has also been associated with interpersonal violence and delinquency as part of a syndrome of problem behaviors that includes illicit drug use, early sexual intercourse, and school dropout.” (Lowry). Not only is it related to violence, it is a compounding problem in itself. It has been reported that “12- to 17-year-olds at drug- and gang-free schools, those reporting drugs and gangs at their school were nearly 12 times more likely to have used tobacco (23% vs. 2%), three times more likely to have used alcohol (39% vs. 12%), and five times more likely to have used marijuana (21% vs. 4%), according to the report.” (Mahoney)