The Juvenile Delinquency Is Rooted From Within Juvenile Delinquent Behaviors

In the years prior to the creation for the Gang Resistance Education and Training (GREAT) program, America’s inner cities was experiencing a substantial increase of gang membership along the youth living in impoverished communities. During the early 1990s, many viewed gang activity as a particular community’s problem, but as youth and gang violence was increasing drastically across the United States’ inner cities, the public’s perception about this social issue changed. Due to the rapid rise of gang violence and youth membership, delinquent behavior by youths began to receive a substantial amount of academic and media attention.

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

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

In order prevent high crime rates in our urban neighborhood we must stop those who corrupt the minds of the youth. According to Gang Prevention: An Overview of Research and Programs by James C. Howell “the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (a nationally representative sample of 9,000 adolescents), 8 percent of the youth surveyed had belonged to a gang at some point between the ages of 12 and 17 (Snyder and Sickmund, 2006)” and “6,000 eighth graders conducted in 11 cities with known gang problems found that 9 percent were currently gang members and 17 percent said they had belonged to a gang at some point in their lives (Esbensen and Deschenes, 1998; Esbensen et al., 2010).” In other words, children from the ages 12 and 17, middle schoolers,

There are many overlapping themes and ideas present within the research report and the textbook. One main idea that was present in both documents, was the cultural aspect of gang integration. In both the textbook and in the research report, culture is intrinsically linked to gang involvement, as often times the culture that an individual practices will impact their standing within a gang. Furthermore, culture binds people together, which also happens when an individual joins a gang of like-minded and culturally similar others. Another area that was discussed in both documents, was how gang activity is related to school. In the textbook, school and other educational and institutional systems either excluded youth, or were simply not attended

“Violent crimes committed by juveniles are not diminishing, as other crimes, as reported by the Justice Department statistics, are (Siegel and Welsh, 2011).” We see that juveniles have more access, and more use of the weapons of violence, including gang affiliation. So why do young people join gangs? First of all, the gang

The authors are more worried about what is the real reason delinquents become a member of a gang. There are a lot more younger delinquents than younger adults in gangs. The article points out that the delinquents are much more aggressive and stay in trouble more than delinquents not in gangs. The article will help with my research paper because it compares the older and younger members in the gangs and how they are organized. Oehme, Chester G., III.

Juvenile criminal gangs have long been a significant issue with the criminal justice establishment. Youths coming together to commit criminal acts normally attributed to adult and more vicious criminal organizations are now being routinely committed by juveniles. The reasons for these youths in committing the activities have somewhat baffled author tries as well as scholars and researchers. It must be noted however, that juvenile delinquency is not new; laws in the past have sought to control the criminal and deviant tendencies of children, and prescribing changes from rehabilitative to retribution against criminal acts committed by juveniles. Many of the common assumptions-from being accepted and venting violent behavior- have long been

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

Millions of crimes happen every year, thousand of crimes happen every month, and hundred of crimes happen every day. Many of these crimes are committed by young people under the age of 18. Juvenile crime has long been a problem. Why do some teenagers steal, while others do not? What makes some youth involve themselves in drug and/or alcohol abuse, while others abstain? When do some teens decide to participate in gang-related activities, while others refrain? Throughout America, for several reasons, there are many young women and men that commit crimes such as these. Several causes of juvenile delinquency will be addressed throughout this research paper.

In reviewing the reading assignment, developmental theories are known theories that believe that delinquency starts to develop and does not start because of an underlying condition, but at the entire life course (Regoli, Hewitt, & DeLisi, 2014). I do not believe that there is a place for “get tough” on crime initiative within the developmental theory. Get tough on crime approach will only place more juveniles in other facilities, or even in jail with adult offenders. I believe that this is only banned aiding the problem, and will not get to the root cause of why he or she has committed the crime, or continue to commit crimes. In taking the development theory approach, it will look deeper than the person committing a crime, but what is going

The term youth gangs refers to a group of three or more members, who are between the age of 12 and 24; they share an identity through the use of names or symbols; they see themselves as gang and are recognized by others as a gang; there is some amount of permanence and degree of organization; and the group is involved in an elevated amount of criminal activity (National Gang Center Staff, n.d.). Risk factors for gang involvement are based on factors such as individual, family, school, community. School risk factors include poor school performance, poor connectedness to schools, low degree of commitment to and involvement in school, and weak attachment to teachers (Howell, 2010). Community risk factors includes such things as greater level of criminal activity, neighborhood youth are involved in illegal behaviors, widespread access to and the use of firearms and drugs, and low level of neighborhood attachment (Howell, 2010). Additional factors that lead to gang involvement include learning disabilities and emotional disorders, school failure and truancy, no positive involvement outside of school, friends and peers are delinquent, low income, and early involvement in petty crimes and behavioral disorders in grade school (Hernandez, 2015). Reasons given for joining a gang as reported by youths includes for protection, for fun, for respect, for money, family members are part of the gang (and because a friend was in the gang (Howell, 2010).

Statistics demonstrate that juvenile delinquency is a major social issue affecting young people between ages of 7 to 12. Some of the major delinquent behaviors include vandalism, arson, sex-related offenses, and burglary (Adams, Hillman & Gaydos, 2001). Despite their tender ages, the teenagers may also engage in more violent crimes, including the robbery with violence. Some teenagers may have guns and belong to criminal gangs (Dembo & Brown, 2000). Several studies link juvenile delinquency to the family and school environments. Some children are brought up by abusive parents who also happen to abuse drugs and alcohol. Most of the children are neglected by their parents. They do not have access to basic needs, which predisposes them

There are many theories and causes to why some juveniles end up being juvenile delinquents. The first is that peer groups can play a major role in one’s life between the ages of twelve and eighteen, pressuring juveniles to abandon their home life and join street gangs. Society can play a similar role by labeling our youth and with such a young mindset they figure if they are going to be blamed and punished anyways, why not the satisfaction of actually committing the crime have. These two reasons however, play only a minor role compared to personal and family issues. “If we could measure the connection between violent crime and welfare reform properly, we might find that it has more to do with neighborhoods than with households or individuals”.