The Problem Of Teenage Crime

Teenage murders may be unprecedented, but violence is not. The past has followed us right up to today. Several national magazines recently ran alarming stories about the epidemic of criminal and group violence. Rolling Stone in "A Pistol-Whipped Nation" and both Time and Newsweek ran alarming cover stories about the "virtual epidemic of youth violence." Newsweek's "Teen Violence: Wild in the Streets," decried the number of young people carrying guns, using them, being shot, and being killed. Accompanying all this was a casual if not blase attitude indicating that, as one expert quoted in Time put it, "Violence is hip right now."

     Ever since the terrible tragedy at Columbine High School, there has been a numerous list of recent school shootings in America. Youth violence is a major issue in today’s society. Many people dread what causes adolescents to be so violent, committing horrible crimes.     

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.

The article “On Punishment and Teen Killers,” by Jennifer Jenkins, explains why teens should be punished as adults and how the media is influencing the youth to commit serious crimes. The author, Jennifer Jenkins, shares her case where her sister with her unborn child, were murdered by a teen with a gun. She explains that there are advocates who wish to minimize the offender's culpability simply because of their age. Jenkins add that in America, weapons are easily available to our youth, and that they grow in a violence-loving culture. She says that the Inuit people of northern Canada had no juvenile crime at all until 1980 with the introduction of television into their culture, which influenced the teens to commit crimes. Jenkins affirms that if brain development would be the cause of the teens to commit crimes, so then the whole world should have the same rate of juvenile crimes.

Throughout this essay, I am going to be looking at the topic of youth offending. I will be looking at what factors can be used as the predictors for youth offending and in particular I will be researching into how important social and cultural factors as predictors of youth offending. In order to do this, I will be looking at different sociologists theories as far as young offending is concerned and what evidence there is to support these theories. I will then conclude by discussing whether I believe social and cultural factors are important in determining youth offending.

Researchers have found that adolescent murders tend to be not only violent, but extremely violent. One teen murderer stabbed his victim forty-six times (Kreiner 41). Josh McDowell, in his book Right from Wrong says, “Today’s youth are not playing loud music and wearing radical hairstyles; they have graduated, it seems, to a level of adolescent aggression, promiscuity, cynicism, and violence that bristles the hair on parents’ necks” (McDowell 6). The most significant change in the youth has been in their attitudes. The new generation is more inclined to resort to violence over trivial issues or for no apparent reason. Violent juvenile crime is now a national epidemic and is predicted to get worse. The group most associated with juvenile violence in America is males aged fifteen to nineteen. Statistics show that this segment of the male population will increase by 30 percent by the year 2020 (Grapes

Teen Violence is a big dilemma in today’s society. Violent behaviors usually start from family and peers, as well as teens observing it at there neighborhoods or communities. These behaviors are reinforced by what youth see on television, on the Internet, in video games, movies, music videos, and what they hear in their music. When children are disciplined with severe corporal punishment or verbal abuse, or when they are physically or sexually abused, or when they witness such behavior in their home, it is not surprising that they behave violently toward others. Teen Violence has had such an impact in our youth today that it leads many destructive things and that’s why we have so much violence today.

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

Throughout time, society has seen its fair share of crime from miniscule crimes to the most serious types of offenses like murder and rape. Violence can come from all shape and sizes from women, men, children, mentally ill, etc. An increasing problem in recent decades include juvenile violence. Juveniles can commit violence for an infinite amount of reasons like parental abuse, being bullied in school or peers, mental illness, and other outside factors. Juvenile are in a period in their lives where countless aspects can influence the way they think, act, and even speak. Criminological theories have been created and tested to factor why juveniles partake in crime and why do they tend to be influenced to continuously break the law. Theories

Youth crime is the crime committed by juvenile offenders. It is the common issue in Australia. The age group between 14-19 years old is the popular group of youth crime. (News 2013) Different age groups commit different types of crimes. (The youth court 2009) Also, there are many kinds of crime and crime method in the society, such as, drug offences, robbery, burglary, assault and violent offenses. The group of people who crime together that is called criminal group. It is a prevalence crime method and it is effective for crime. This question will focus on what is youth crime, the change of youth crime in recent year and the relationship between drug offences and the youth crime in Australia.

Hi Rochelle great report. Juveniles are subject to commit criminal activities, whether it be due to peer pressure, problems at home, or simply a crime of passion. Discuss how the issue of juvenile delinquency impacts everyone in the community. Almost on a daily basis the issue of juvenile violence remains a constant issue to tackle; increasing levels of juvenile violence from shootings, drug crimes, including murder. The school shootings and other incidents demonstrate how underlying problems are constantly overlooked. Problems ranging from poverty, social disadvantages, and decisions that adolescents make that contribute to juvenile delinquency. For many individuals, juvenile delinquency is a concern for the parents of the juvenile, police,

Violence among youth has become a serious problem worldwide. In 2016, the United States ranked homicide as the third leading cause of death for people ages ten to twenty-four years old. Homicide is ranked as the fourth leading cause of death for this age group worldwide. A juvenile is defined as a person who is under the age of eighteen. Six hundred and five juveniles were arrested in 2015 for murder, two thousand seven hundred and forty-five for forcible rape, and twenty-one thousand nine hundred and nine-three for aggravated assault. These acts of violence make the communities in which citizens live more dangerous. As these crime rates rise, the values of the homes and business begin to go down as well. This has become an issue for concern because more and more youth are being convicted of serious crimes. In 2010, juveniles made up 13.7% of those who were arrested from violent crimes. While youth violence has always been present in society, it is becoming present through technology too. In earlier times in order to hurt someone they had to be physically present. Now a days, it has become easier to bully someone from his or her home through the Internet. 15.5% of students admit to being bullied through electronics in 2015. Youth violence is a cause for concern in Family and Consumer Science related fields because those who are working with juveniles should be aware of the problems they are facing.

The criminal activities done by youth who are under age of eighteen is called youth crime. There are many types of crime which are done by youth. Property crime, drug offences, violent crime, common assault, mischief, break and enter, sexual assault, robbery all are included in crimes that youth mostly do. Mostly youth commit crime by involving more than one person. In this paper, I will discuss different type of crime that youth do, how Parental status effect youth to commit a crime, how government and police handle the situation when youth commits the crime and how Good education can help to prevent a youth for committing the crimes. Youth had a double crime rate than older adults aged 25 and over.

The social environment of teens holds an enormous influence on how the teens act and behave. Teens are easily influenced by their surroundings and they look to others for guidance. Their behavior results from that of the parent and peer influences. Parents play a particularly influential role in their child’s life and it is up to them to make sure that they are leading their sons or daughters in the right directions. A teen’s peers also play a large role in how the teen behaves when the parents are not around. A teen’s social environment, consisting of family and peers, plays a vital role in their life, therefore becoming the ultimate cause of juvenile delinquency.

Youth crime and juvenile delinquency are very sensitive issues that are a concern in every society. The thought of criminalising people who are not even considered adults yet, and are not fully mature in cognitive development is a troubling issue. Yet, many societies are faced with the problem of young people committing crime. Many criminal justice systems around the world have schemes for juvenile delinquency and legal repercussions for the failure of young people to comply with the law.