Juvenile delinquency

1. Juvenile delinquency By: The Second Group (hold applause till after, please)

2. Basic overview • Describe the general terms for Juvenile Delinquency (JD), including common definitions describing the types of offenses and classification. • Studies describing the development and parental influences of JD, along with the main causes. • Gang influence. • Prevention. • Studies and Facts.

3. What is jd?!? • Juvenile delinquency refers to criminal acts performed by juveniles, or young criminal;a young person who habitually breaks the law, especially somebody repeatedly charged with vandalism or other antisocial behavior.

4. Broken down • Antisocial behaviors are disruptive acts characterized by covert and overt hostility and intentional aggression toward others. Antisocial behaviors exist along a severity continuum and include repeated violations of social rules, defiance of authority and of the rights of others, deceitfulness, theft, and reckless disregard for self and others.

5. History • Delinquency as legal status concern with misbehavior by children is at least as old as recorded history. The earliest known code of laws (the Code of Hammurabi) took specific note of the duties of children to parents and prescribed punishments for violations. • As legal systems were elaborated, the age of offenders continued to be important in defining responsibility for criminal behavior. Ancient Roman law and English common law, for example, held that children under the age of seven were incapable of criminal intent and, therefore, of responsibility for crime; between age seven and the time of puberty (approximately), criminal responsibility was a matter for determination by the courts.

6. Continued… • The establishment of the first juvenile court in Cook County, Illinois, in 1899 climaxed many years of legal and humanitarian concerns for the welfare of children held to be in violation of the law and concerns with the criteria by which they might be so adjudged (Van Waters 1932). • This legislation created a new kind of machinery, outside the criminal law, for handling juvenile offenders. • Each state has special legal procedures for handling minors.

7. today • Almost 2.3 million juveniles are arrested annually. • Over one billion dollars per year is required to maintain the juvenile justice system (Swenson & Kennedy, 1995). • Adolescents under 18 years of age account for 16% of arrests for violent crimes, and 34% of property crime arrests (Snyder, 1992). • Between 1988 and 1992 arrests for violent crimes committed by juveniles increased 47%, while violent crime arrests for adults only increased 19% (Allen-Hagen, Sickmund, & Snyder, 1994). • As one can see, JD is a growing problem….

8. Signs of Juvenile Delinquency • Children will often test boundaries and test their parents or authorities limits, especially during the adolescent years. Certain rebelliousness during the teen years is normal and should not provoke parents to take drastic measures, however it should not be taken lightly. If a parent begins to notice this behavior affects the family, scholastic achievements, and or social interaction of the child, then a closer look may be needed.

9. Related elements • Juvenile delinquency is associated with adult unemployment, alcoholism, and involvement in welfare. • Minorities and disadvantaged youth are more likely to be arrested, but when self-report methods are used, race and class differences disappear. • Males are more likely to be delinquent than females; delinquent behavior increases with age.

10. Causes: Trauma Intense fear caused by emotional and/or physical events within one’s life (Medicinenet.com). Examples of trauma: Accidents Kidnapping, Rape, Robbery, Assault War Natural disasters Any type of inflicted and endured abuse

11. Effects of Personal Trauma Long-term or short-term problems Mental and Emotional distress Increase use of cigarettes, alcohol, marijuana, and other types of substance abuse How long will one suffer depends on the individual as well as the support one has.

12. Friendship and Delinquency: Selection and Influence Processes in early Adolescence • A positive association maybe caused by the selection of similar others as friends, but also by influence processes where friends adjust their behavior to each other. • Social control theory argues that adolescents select each other as friends based on delinquency • Differential association theory on the other hand argues that friends influence each other’s delinquency levels • When analyzed 544 students in secondary schools, results indicate that adolescents select others as friends who have a similar level of delinquency compared with their own level

13. The Impact of family violence on shaping delinquent behavior • Many professionals agree that family violence can have lasting effects on an individual, ranging from general insecurity to severe criminal disorders • Family violence comes in many forms of violence between adults in the household, adults’ physical or sexual abuse toward children and even children’s abuse of adults. • Causal relationship between adult to child violence later cause juvenile delinquency • Cycles of family violence to juvenile delinquency has been the subject of much empirical research especially over the last decade

14. Support vs No Support Support gives individual a system of emotional and mental support Ex of support: Family , Friends, Support Groups, Churches No support system isolates the individual and leaves him/her with a sense of hopelessness, guilt, mental and emotional instability Specifically in children and teens, untreated trauma will have negative effects on the social, emotional, and cognitive (hinder the ability to learn) development on the child’s well-being.

15. Sam Sam was 21yo male. He was brutally raped at age 5. Surgery to repair damage Fear accompanied with no help or support from family Abandoned by father, mother developed paranoid schizophrenia Violent Outbursts, Fights, Drug Use and Overdose, Multiple Arrests Drugs are an escape from his own personal storm Domestic violence gives Sam an inner persona of a “manly masculinity.” Dates multiple women and known as “MackDaddy” After overdose, rehab was next, but it and many others visited never addressed the root cause of his problem-the rape. Sam told 1 person, a girlfriend-he threatened her life. One fight ended w/1death, 1 near death, and 2 critical Arrested for capital murder-committed suicide (Craig and Ouida Forsyth. Criminal Justice and Behavior: Journal of Offender Rehabilitation:2007.)

16. Juvenile Crime • Each year The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention(OJJDP) complies a series of statistical information, along with teen arrest, to provide information on the juvenile delinquency across the nation. The OJJDP uses this information to create reports and compare trends from the past to see how effective our efforts are currently.

17. Juvenile vs. Adult • Status offenses- running away, drinking, sexual acts. Etc. • Index acts- robbery, rape, aggravated assault or homicide. • Approx. ¾ of these states use 18 as a maximum as defining a person as a juvenile.

18. Juvenile Crime • Unlike adult crime, juvenile crime is focused on rehabilitation not punishment. • The teens are sent to receive treatment and are integrated back into the community. • Limitations are placed on the juveniles record in order to avoid stigmatization.

19. Teen Gangs • There is an estimated 750,000 gang members • The average age for a gang is 17 and the starting age is 12 • The gangs target low income adolescents, offering loyalty and identity • They are used to commit most severe crimes, since their punishments are lower.

20. Fiscal Year(Fy 2011) Awards • In FY 2011, OJJDP awarded over 393 million dollars to prevent and respond to juvenile delinquency. This includes more than 287 million in discretionary alone.

21. Is it preventable? • Parental discipline is a key factor, which overrides the effect of family structure, or SES. Clear, consistent discipline, and knowing where your children are and who they are with are major deterrents against delinquent behavior. • Strong, supportive relationships with parents are also associated with lower levels of delinquent behavior. • Strong punitive methods of discipline are associated with higher levels of delinquent behavior. • Adolescents who spend more time away from home are more likely to commit delinquent acts.

22. Are We Taking Proper Steps Towards Prevention? • We are taking some steps towards prevention with the generous grants that were awarded this past Fiscal Year. That money alone gives us the opportunity to open many centers, such as after school programs, that can facilitate in preventing juvenile delinquency. Another easy prevention strategy is to merely know and recognize the risk factors for these youths. Parent should pay attention to who their children are hanging out with, what they are doing, and pay close attention to school work or related activities.