Crime and Delinquency in America - Term Paper Example

? Crime and Delinquency in America A Research Paper Crime and Delinquency in America Crime and delinquency in the society are included in major concerns that need attention and resolution in every country around the world due to the effect of these activities in the life and welfare of the public. The paper is aimed to present a general view of the crime and delinquency in the United States of America. This is achieved though the discussion of the definition of crime and delinquency, related issues and data such as the causes and effects, and the possible solutions and methods needed to be undertaken to resolve the issues. Background Information on Crime and Delinquency Defining Crime and Delinquency Crime and delinquency are actions undertaken that are against moral, social and legal laws due to the fact that it can bring harm to a person or a group in the society. This is a general definition since, it is a challenge to limit, measure, explain, and define the true nature of crime and delinquency. The complexity of these terms is due to the involvement of the different social institutions such as the family, the school, the media, the work institutions, the law enforcement agencies, and the political institutions (Regoli, Hewitt and DeLisi, 2009). It is important to consider that crime and delinquency are almost similar terms but there is a minor difference between the two terms. Based on the work of Regoli, Hewitt and DeLisi, the main factor that separates the definition of crime with that of delinquency is the age of the offender. Delinquency is a term used for illegal activities of the youth or juveniles (2009, p. 27). Crime and delinquent actions are considered to be major concerns in the society on the basis of the negative and harmful effects. There are different types of crimes and delinquencies on the basis of the action and the victimization. These include violent crimes, personal theft, and property crimes. Violent crimes include murder and non-negligent manslaughter, forcible rape or sexual assault, robbery, aggravated or simple assault. Property crimes include household burglary, larceny-theft, or motor vehicle theft (Truman and Rand, 2010, p.1; US Census Bureau, 2011). Statistical Information on Crime and Delinquency The prevalence of cases of crime and delinquency in the United States is the main reason for the concern regarding the issue. For that matter, numerous studies related to the causes and patterns of crime are being undertaken to be able to understand the issue well and decrease and eventually stop crimes. Based on the study conducted by the Bureau of Justice Statistics of the US Department of Justice, the trend in crime and delinquency in 2009 includes 4.3 million violent crimes, 15.6 million property crimes, and 133,000 personal thefts (Truman and Rand, 2010, p.1). It was observed that there are more black people that fall victims to crimes and delinquent behavior as compared to white people. In terms of gender, there are more male victims of crimes as compared to female but more female cases are reported. There are 53% female cases as compared to 45% males cases reported in 2009. Based on age, younger members of the population are the common victims of crimes specifically age 24 and younger. In 2009, citizens on US age 12 above had been victims of approximately 20 million violent and property crimes (Truman and Rand, 2010, p.1). Trends of crimes in the past few years had been observed to decrease. Thus, continuous efforts are being undertaken to increase the knowledge in the different crimes as well as seek solutions to be able to resolve issues related to crime and delinquency. Based on the National Crime Victimization Survey, from the year 2000 to 2009, the overall crime rates decreased significantly by 39% (Truman and Rand, 2010, p.1). Notable decline in the crime rate had also been observed in the trends from 1980 to 2008 by the US Census Bureau (2011). Issues Related to Crime and Delinquency There are different issues related to crime and delinquency specifically in the United States. These include different stratifications in the society such as the race and ethnicity, social class, gender, age, etc. Race and Ethnicity Race and ethnicity are included in the main factors that can affect the prevalence of crime and delinquency. In this case the differences in appearance and way of life between the minority and the majority of people often differentiated by the skin color, lineage, and other prejudice stratifying parameters can lead to the unequal social interaction and even access to different resources and privileges. This ca result to both committing crimes as well as victimization in crimes (Rutter and Tienda, 2005, p.42). The race and ethnicity can be equated to social class difference which is one of the main reasons for crimes and conflicts. Other issues that can also contribute to cases of crimes and delinquent behaviors are access to resources such as education, basic needs, and good job. There are different trends such as the early entrance of the Hispanic youth to the workforce that leads to the inability to finish education. Another example is the common occurrence for Black youth to prolong education regardless of the fact that early job is less common compared to Hispanic youth (Rutter and Tienda, 2005, p.42). These factors contribute to the crime and delinquency issues but they are not the defining concepts. This can be attributed to the fact that there are racial and ethnic disparities in the United States society to begin with. For example, the criminal justice system can be observed to exhibit such action. Based on studies, 16 percent of Hispanic males and 28 percent of African American males are sent to prison even once in their lifetime. This is a significant number that exhibits disparity since only 4.4 percent of White males are susceptible to imprisonment. In fact, analysis of US prison inmate population in the year 2001, 64 percent belong to Black and Hispanic minority groups (Rutter and Tienda, 2005, p.42). In terms of victimization in crime and delinquent incidents, it was observed that there are more black people that fall victims to crimes and delinquent behavior as compared to white people (Truman and Rand, 2010, p.1). African Americans have 6 times higher probability of being murdered and 7 times higher probability of committing suicide as compared to Whites. For that matter, they can be considered as more involved to different forms of crimes and delinquent behavior as compared to the Whites. This became one of the major concerns of researchers and authorities in relation to resolving crimes. The statistical evidences point out that minority ethnic and racial groups have higher involvement in crimes but the question is that are the numbers reflecting their innate behavior or are these results related to the disparities, impartialities ad prejudice associated to social stratification (Rutter and Tienda, 2005, p.139). Age Age is another important factor in the study of crime and delinquency. There are two reasons why. One is that they are included in the perpetrators of delinquent acts. Second, they are the common victims of crimes. Due to different factors, the young members of the population from teens to young adults had been described as the ‘drivers of the crime rates in America’ due to their effect to crime rates. The youth are considered to commit more crimes as compared to other groups, on the basis of their proportion in the population. In 2006, almost half of the arrests made due to violent crimes were done by suspects age 25 and below (Guzman and Tsukida, 2008, p.5). This trend and observation defines juvenile delinquency, which is one of the main reasons for the concern of the authorities on the crimes and delinquency in the society. Juvenile delinquency is due to the different factors affecting the children and their growth in the society. One reason presented is the bad treatment of the adults and the law to children. This had been attributed to the view in the early part of history that children are used for labor and service. Child labor then is one of the reasons of juvenile delinquency. Other forms of child maltreatment are also related to the cases of juvenile delinquency based on the fact that negative actions can greatly affect children in their crucial years of development (Regoli, Hewitt, and DeLisi, 2009, p.14). Influences of people that can affect a person in different ways e.g. negative effects can be attributed to the strain theory (McLaughlin and Newburn, 2010, p.99). There are different theories that describe reasons of juvenile delinquency. Based of these theories, the behavior of the young members of the population can be attributed to biological, psychological, social and developmental factors (Regoli, Hewitt, and DeLisi, 2009, p.83). In terms of victimization in crimes and delinquency, younger members of the population are the common victims of crimes specifically age 24 and younger. In 2009, citizens on US age 12 above had been victims of approximately 20 million violent and property crimes (Truman and Rand, 2010, p.1). Gender In terms of gender, there are more male victims of crimes as compared to female but more female cases are reported. There are 53% female cases as compared to 45% males cases reported in 2009 (Truman and Rand, 2010, p.1) Solutions for Crime and Delinquency The ultimate goal in the study of the trends and causes of crime and delinquency is to find solutions to control and eliminate events that can affect the welfare of the people in the society. For that matter, it is important to present the different solutions and measures being undertaken to be able to solve crimes and delinquent behaviors. Due to the differences between crime and delinquent behaviors, the solutions depend on the offenders and the types of crime and delinquency (Liberman, 2010, p.211). Delinquency by the Young Offenders To resolve the delinquent behaviors of the youth there are procedures and programs undertaken and implemented by the authorities. The basis of the action is commonly based on the assessment of the root causes of the behavior. One view is the relationship of biological factors for the behavior of the offender. Although this is an old and classical view, the fact that the behavior of every person is based on the genetic make-up and the environmental development then denotes that the characteristics inherited or innate to the person are often considered as a contributing factor to delinquent behavior. In this case then, then, the proper guidance, support and attention of the parents and family are needed to be able to prevent and to stop delinquent activities that can lead to serious crimes as a child or a teenager matures (Regoli, Hewitt, and DeLisi, 2009, p.83). Personality and psychological aspects of a person are also included in the major contributing factors to the capability and tendency of a person to commit crimes and to be involved in illegal activities. In addition, behaviors that lead to theft, substance abuse such as alcoholism and drug addition can also be rehabilitated though the reformation of the personality, psychological aspect, and attitude of a person. To resolve the percentage of crimes related to these issues, aside from policies and legal actions, there are also rehabilitation programs to help the offenders. This is specifically the primary choice for the young offenders such as the minors, teenagers and adolescents (Regoli, Hewitt, and DeLisi, 2009, p.83). Another view is the effect of social factors to the delinquent behavior of the person. There are different theories that describe the said view. Social theories are related to the interaction among people in the society. Included in the said view are the different forms of prejudice and social stratifications that can contribute to the delinquent behaviors of the teenagers. In such cases, social development programs are the main solutions being implemented by the government and the different organizations within the society (McLaughlin and Newburn, 2010, p.114; Regoli, Hewitt, and DeLisi, 2009, p.199). For young offenders, imprisonment specifically the minors cannot be implemented but are correctional institutions to help them change their attitudes and give them guidance which usually they are lacking. For young offenders that are in the legal age though, serious delinquency that can lead to crime, imprisonment is inevitable (McLaughlin and Newburn, 2010; Regoli, Hewitt, and DeLisi, 2009). Crime by the Adult Offenders Compared to young offenders, the adults who committed crimes can only have two choices namely corrective programs and imprisonment. This can be attributed to the fact that compared to juvenile delinquents adult offenders are responsible for their actions. The punishment only depends on the seriousness of the crime and the aspects of the personality affected. For psychologically problematic adults, a different type of institution is required to resolve the issues. This is to be able to give the chance for normal life after the punishment (McLaughlin and Newburn, 2010; Regoli, Hewitt, and DeLisi, 2009). Another important solution that can be included is the information dissemination and education of the people to be able to give them knowledge regarding the law and to warn them of the possible repercussions of different actions that seems harmless but can lead to committing serious crimes e.g. simple theft or robbery that can lead to homicide or murder. Such education is important specifically for people with complicating problems such as substance abuse for either alcohol or drugs. In the continuously developing society, the different forms of crimes and delinquent actions are also becoming increasingly more complicated. For that matter, basic information and data are crucial in making a difference to the life of the victims as well as the offenders specifically in the American society which considered as one of the most diverse society in the world. Conclusion The study was aimed to discuss crime and delinquency in the United States of America. Based on data gathered, there is a decreasing trend in the different crimes in the country. Although this is the case, problematic trends such as the high crime and delinquency rate committed by young members of the population. For that matter, solutions presented are more focused on the cases related to the young population or delinquency since they in need of guidance and support not only from the authorities but also from the family and society. References Guzman, C. and Tsukida, C. (2008). Getting the Facts Straight: NCCD Questions the “Impending Crime Wave” by Third Way. Fact Sheet of National Council on CrimE0020and Delinquency (NCCD), 1-7. Liberman, A.M. (2010). The Long View of Crime: A Synthesis f Longitudinal Research. Springer. McLaughlin, E. and Newburn, T. (2010). The SAGE Handbook of Criminal Theory. SAGE Publications Ltd. Regoli, R.M., Hewitt, J.D. and DeLisi, M. (2009). Delinquency in Society. Jones & Bartlett Learning. Rutter, M. and Tienda, M. (2005). Ethnicity and Causal Mechanisms. Cambridge University Press. Truman, J.I. and Rand, M.R. (2010). Criminal Victimization, 2009. Bureau of Justice Statistics Bulletin, October 2010, 1-16. US Census Bureau (2011). Crimes and Crime Rates by Type of Offense. US Census Bureau Statistical Abstract of the United States, 194. Also available Read More