Video The Lost Children Behind Bars

A woman, named Dellena, was involved in sex trafficking business. She made a documentary titled, “Human Trafficking Survivor Story: Dellena, California,” where she shares her experience as a victim. As a little girl, her mother was very negative and always put her down. Her parents were divorced when Dellena was just a child. Not before long her mother remarried. Dellena’s new stepfather molested her and her sister at the age of seven. Soon after her parents remarried, she was put in the foster care system for five years and her mother never once came to see her. One day her mother showed up and told Dellena she was going home. Dellena said, “The reason my mother wanted me home was because my stepfather wanted me home because he liked twelve-year-old girls. That was the perfect age for him” (“Human Trafficking Survivor Story: Dellena, California”). After being molested again, she ran away from her home. On the streets she met a 21-year old, who took her

Cyntoia Brown’s story is another sad example of male privilege and the valuing of a man’s life over a woman’s. Brown had a hard life growing up; she suffered from Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and grew up in a very abuse home. When she was a teenager she ran away from home, which ultimately led to her entering a life of prostitution. After leaving home, she met a 24-year-old man named “Cut Throat” who abused her and forced into prostitution. When she was 16 her pimp sold her to a 43-year-old man who picked her up from a Sonic parking lot and brought her back to his house. Upon entering the house, Brown noticed a gun cabinet in the man’s room. She attempted to fight off the predator’s advances, but ultimately feared for her life and pulled out a gun and shot and killed the rapist. Cyntoia was arrested and charged with first-degree murder for killing the child molester who was attempting to rape her. The prosecution stated that Cyntoia did not kill him out of self-defense, but rather as an attempt to rob him since she took his wallet after shooting him. Brown has currently been in jail for over ten years and will not be given the possibility of parole until she is 69 years old. After the initial trial people were unhappy with the sentencing which led Tennessee to change their laws and ban mandatory life sentences for juveniles without parole. Recently, Brown’s case has been brought back into the spotlight due to many A-list celebrities tweeting about the incredible injustice.

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.

Through cases such as Roper v. Simmons we are able to acknowledge and see the motions that bring juveniles into committing crime. Not only through his case but through research it is noted that that maturity/ brain development, peer influence/pressure, communication with parents, social differences, and insufficient education has a high leverage on the existence of juvenile crime. Christopher Simmons at 17 murdered Shirley Crook and was initially sentenced to death.

A new and alarming trend that has been occurring in American society is the increase of violence committed by young women. The documentary Girlhood offers an insight on the emotional, psychological, and social reasoning behind the girl’s actions. Girlhood focuses on the life of two young juveniles, Shanae Owens and Megan Jensen both incarcerated for violent crimes. Shanae and Megan both experienced similar circumstances that yielded different outcomes. They were followed for a period of about three years which allowed viewers to really see what kind of role the justice system, family and peers have on the success of an at risk juvenile.

Many juveniles who entered the juvenile justice system are victims themselves of parental mistreatment such as neglect, physical, and emotional abuse. Once children into the juvenile system and is labeled a juvenile similar to adults being labeled a felon. These young offenders are stigmatized as criminal with little distinction between adults and juvenile offenders entering the prison system for the first time. Bernstein (2014) paints a vivid picture of how incarcerated juveniles expose to a new set of challenges such as posttraumatic stress syndrome, curtailed education, gang affiliation, and a gladiator mentality. These challenges that can develop in juvenile facility has

Childhood is a time in which memories are created, adventures are explored and social awareness begins to develop. The events that occur during childhood are pivotal in the development of a healthy and substantial life. However, what if those experiences were taken from a child? What would the outcome be if a child could not experience what it is like to be young? Juvenile incarceration strips a person of their childhood and essentially takes away the experiences necessary for them to develop into healthy functioning adults. Even though juvenile incarceration is an effective method of punishment for those who have committed heinous crimes, the justice system should not convict children and adolescents as adults because of the child 's circumstances that lead to the crime as well as the disastrous effects it causes on the mental and emotional state of the child.

In the video “The Lost Children of Rockdale County” produced by Dretzin and Goodman in 1999, portrays the life of teenagers engaging in peer delinquency, sexual behavior, and drugs and alcohol consumption. The video portrays the life of Nicole a 14 year old female who had engaged in sexual behavior, delinquent activity and lived under lack pf parental supervision. The General Theory of Crime and Delinquency is defined as “Motivations for crime include reinforcements for criminal activity, exposure to successful criminal models, learnijng beliefs favorable to crime” (Frailing & Harper, 2013. p.156). Robert Agnew’s theory can be related into Nicole’s life, because the environment in which she grew clearly affected the five domains explained in the theory. The family domain was affected because Cindy’s (Nicole’s mother) lack of parental attachment during Nicole’s infancy affected the relationship. Nicole argues that she started to engage in a risky behavior because she wanted to obtain her mother’s attention because her mother worked full time and didn’t had time to monitor her behavior.

The Frontline episode “When Kids Get Life” serves as a reminder for how the criminal justice system sometimes drops the proverbial ball when it comes to juveniles. Time after time, situations arise and are brought to the attention of the Department of Social Services. Whether they are overlooked or lost somehow, they are deprived of the help they need. The system fails children who are crying for help, and the results are sometimes fatal. Circumstances lead to the loss of life, not only for the victims, but also for the delinquents who saw no other way out. In other cases, the group mentality of juveniles equates to the responsibility of all members for a crime committed by one person.

Megan Kanka and several other children have been the reason for the safety of children around this country. I know that you’re wondering in what way this person contributed to the safety of other children. Well Megan Kanko was a 7 years old child who was next door from a previously charged pedophile in Hamilton Township, New Jersey. The difference between then and now is that in the past there were no laws stating that pedophiles had to inform those who lived near them that they were there, of their past convictions, or even some type of registration available. This was the case of Megan Kanka’s offender, Jesse Timmendequas. His record consisted of attempted aggravated sexual assault of a 5-year-old girl in Piscataway, New Jersey, in 1979. He had pleaded guilty to the charges for attempted aggravated sexual assault. He was given a suspended sentence, but he failed to go to counseling, so he was forced to spend nine months at the Middlesex Adult Correctional Center. In 1981, he again pleaded guilty in regards to the sexual assault of a seven-year-old girl and was imprisoned, at Avenel, for six years. He’s an example of a recidivist who was controlled and

Jeannette Walls, the second oldest child, was chosen to be interviewed next. Jeannette Walls is a tall, skinny, pale, orange haired thirteen year old girl with large scar across her body. Jeannette got this scar from an incident when she was three years old and living in trailer park in southern Arizona. During this time, Jeannette was left unattended and allowed to cook hot dogs and her dress caught on fire, leading to her to receive severe burns that required a skin graft (Walls 9-10). Jeannette Walls, being only three years old at the time, was far too young to be left unattended and allowed to use a stove, which results in her receiving severe burns. This blatant neglect from her parents shows their irresponsibility, due to the fact that they allowed they left a three year old child unattended and allowed her to get into an extremely dangerous situation that could have resulted in the death of the child.

On July 29, 1994 in a small town in New Jersey, a 7 year old girl was lured into the home of Jesse Timmendequas after the promise of a puppy. What followed was the sexual assault and brutal murder of Megan Kanka, her body found in Mercer Park the next day. Timmendequas was arrested quickly and at which time his prior charges were brought to light. Timmendequas had been priorly charged with attacking a 5 year old child and attempted sexual assault of a 7 year old (“Parents For Megan’s Law”). These facts sparked community outrage, and petitions that demanded the right to be made more aware of sexual predators circulated the state. Megan Kanka’s parent pushed for the state legislators to create a new law, stating that “ if they had known about

Ana I thought that video was so interesting, and Nadine was such a wonderful speaker too. It is incredible what children’s bodies and psyches can experience. As Nadine explained the repeated stress of abuse, abandonment and socioeconomic disparity’s, on top of mental health or drug abuse creates a concrete effect on the development of the brain. Not only does this affect children biologically but it can influence jail time if they were to be incarcerated. Recently I read an article called “The life Juvenile Liferes” and it also discussed how trauma has a lasting effect on their actions. “79% of individuals reported witnessing violence in their homes, 77.3% of girls reported histories of sexual abuse ;overall 20.5% of juveniles lifers reported

In the course of his treatment, Jeffrey has verbalized full responsibility for his sexual offense. There was no evidence of minimization or justification observed or noted during his course of treatment. Jeffery continues to display attentional problems, social skills issues, and mood swings.

According to Phoenix police, the girl was lured to a storage shed at an apartment complex. The four boys, who had offered the girl chewing gum, allegedly restrained and sexually assaulted her. The Phoenix police officers called the case, one of the worst they have investigated in many years. The 14-year-old was charged as an adult and will face two counts of sexual assault and one count of kidnapping. The other three boys were charged in juvenile court with sexual assault, and two of them also were charged with kidnapping. (Trevino CNN, 2009) Currently, it is estimated that adolescents (ages 13 to 17) account for up to one-fifth of all rapes and one-half of all cases of child molestation committed each year (Barbaree, Hudson, and Marshall, 1993).