Essay/Term paper: Juvenile crime

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Sociology Essays

One of the biggest
problems which the United States is faced with is juvenile crime. The
reason experts feel juvenile"s commit crimes is because of risk factors
when they were younger but experts still have not found the main reason
why juvenile"s commit crimes. Some risk factors associated with juvenile
crime are poverty, repeated exposure to violence, drugs, easy access to
firearms, unstable family life and family violence, delinquent peer groups,
and media violence. Especially the demise of family life, the effect
of the media on the juveniles today, and the increase of firearms available
today have played a big role in the increase of juveniles crimes.
The
most common risk factor is the demise of the family life and the increase
in family violence. Between 1976 and 1992 the number of juveniles living
in poverty grew 42% and this caused an increase in crimes by juveniles.
Many of these juvenile criminals have been abused or neglected and they
also grew up in a single-parent household. Research has found that 53%
of these children are more likely to be arrested, and 38% more likely
to commit a violent crime as an adult, then their counterparts who did
not suffer such abuse. The symptoms of child abuse are "high levels of
aggression and antisocial behavior" and these children are twice as likely
to become juvenile offenders. Also improper parental care has been linked
to delinquency such as mothers who drink alcohol or take drugs during
pregnancy cause their babies to grow up with learning disorders, a problem
which leads them to be juvenile criminals.
Another risk factor is the
effect of the media on the juveniles of today. Before the time a child
has reached seventh grade, the average child has witnessed 8,000 murders
and 100,000 acts of violence on the television. There is no doubt that
heavy exposure to televised violence is one of the causes of aggressive
behavior, crime and violence in society. Television violence affects
youngsters of all ages, of both genders, at all economic levels, and all
levels of intelligence. Long-term childhood exposure to television is
a casual factor behind one half of the homicides committed by juveniles
in the United States.
The increased availability of guns has played
a big part in escalating the number of crimes committed by juveniles.
In Los Angeles juvenile delinquency cases involving weapon violation
grew by 86% from 1988 to 1992, which was more then any other type of juvenile
offense. According to a University of Michigan study found that 270,000
guns accompany secondary school students to class daily. This is startling
because it shows how many more juveniles are carrying guns and the juvenile
use of guns in homicides has increased from 65 to 80 percent from 1987
to 1991.
The possession of firearms plays a big cause in the delinquency
of children and is playing a bigger role in the crimes which juveniles
commit. Another cause of the increase of juvenile crimes has been the
effect of children seeing multiple murders and other acts of violence
on the television. Finally the demise of the family life and the increase
in family violence has been the biggest factor in the increase of juvenile
crime.