Summary
Summary Youth Crime Arguments with references
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This includes self-made arguments on youth crime supported by several books and documents which are referenced and summarised.
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Youth CrimeChildren committing crime is essentially the cause of their environment. Parents’ influence
on the children is very important, the 10 years old boy who shot his mother for a game
console, how did he get a hold of a gun so easily? His family says he belongs in jail which
means he is not getting care from the family members he has left; what is this going to lead
to? At only 10 years old his family does not want to care for him even though his
development is nowhere near finished which means he will form unhealthy attachment
styles and carry on this anti-social behaviour into his adulthood, therefore not correcting his
behaviour. (ABC 7 Chicago)
The parents may encourage this sort of behaviour through their way of parenting for
example by giving their children unhealthful attachment styles. The factors of other social
institutions such a schools should be taken in too. People are not fully developed until 25
years old, children are then definitely nowhere near finished developing. The development
stage is where individuals are the most vulnerable to outside influences. It is also the
sensible stage where they can easily be changed. This means if a child commits an atrocity,
they can and should be supported. It should be found what is causing these acts, by finding
the root of the problem, they can be re-educated and due to their developmental stage,
they can be influenced positively.
Children’s disabilities also have to be addressed. During developmental stages is where
mental disabilities can be somewhat treated, instead of shaming children with mental
disabilities committing crimes by sending them to youth prisons, they should be treated and
not made to feel different. Isolating children to youth prisons will only make them worse in
the short and long-term.
These children will pass from institution to institution. As soon as they go to a youth prison
they will enter a cycle in their life which as they grow becomes harder to break.
Children in single-parent families are more prone to commit crimes. They may be looking to
compensate for what they lack – young boys without father going into gangs as they are
looking for a father figure. Strand, Sanna, "THE STREETS ARE COLD, THE GANGS
ARE WARM: AN INTERROGATION OF WHY PEOPLE JOIN GANGS"
(2014). Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection. 2029.
https://digitalcollections.sit.edu/isp_collection/2029
Children without a mother figure may not have this parents, figure to express emotion and
care, they may only have a paternal figure who mostly displays discipline and toughness-
this can lead to these children to develop unhealthy attachment styles which lead to
antisocial behaviour which are characteristics that can predict criminal behaviour.
Studies to use:
, Marsh, K., Fox, C., & Sarmah, R. (2009). Is custody an effective sentencing option
for the UK? Evidence from a meta-analysis of existing studies. Probation
Journal, 56(2), 129-151
Compared Nokomis Challenge Programme to juvenile prisons – programme reduced re-
offending rate further – community supervision with restitution reduced re-offending more
than prisons – evaluates different paths for juvenile prisoners and which one reduces re-
offending most. – community supervision with victim reparation, and community
programme with aftercare and surveillance. Prison not effective at reducing re-offending
Keely, E. (2012). Around the world: juvenile sentencing in the uk. Children's Legal
Rights Journal, 32(3), 89-90.
1993 trial of two 11 year old boys murdering s toddler – both sentenced to minimum of 8
years – led to lowering age of criminal responsibility to 10 years old – sentence of boys
increased to 10 years and then 15 years due to pressure from public demanding them to be
sentenced for life. – European Court of Human Rights ruled trial as unfair so were paroled at
18 years old. Due to children not being able to stand in court and properly defend
themselves due to not fully finished developing; age 10 too low to be fully responsible?
Jones, E. N. (2012). Questioning juvenile's capacity for criminal liability in street
gangs post-j.d.b. v. north carolina. Children's Legal Rights Journal, 32(4), 1-21.
Children’s cognitive ability to have knowledge of the acts of others – children do not fully
understand the legal principles of mens rea – vulnerable to environmental influence – street
gangs value children as usable commodities to commit crime due to their susceptibility to
peer pressure and willingness to take risks; many children incarcerated for gang crimes
which they do not comprehend which makes the rehabilitative agenda of youth prisons not
so efficient. Exploitation of young children from adult gang members
FARRINGTON, D. (1994). Early developmental prevention of juvenile delinquency. RSA
Journal, 142(5454), 22–34. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41376602
Delinquency arises in childhood and persist in adulthood if not intercepted – antisocial
personality and behaviour- troublesome behaviour as young as 3-4 years olds predicts later
anti-social behaviour – children of teen age mothers more likely to become offender and
low school attainment due to most have absent father leading to poor child-rearing
methods; those that did have father present mitigated these factors – mothers who married
as teenagers twice as likely to have sons who became offenders by 32; 49% as opposed to
23% (Newcastle thousand family study)
Problems in pregnancy and infancy can be alleviated by home visiting programmed designed
to help mothers
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