Unit 3 Assignment - Admission/Application Essay Example

Chapter 5: Juveniles and the Police Question There are several persistent myths about juvenile gangs and their membership. These include the mistaken beliefs that juvenile gangs are solely made up of violent males, the gang members are all African Americans and Hispanics, gangs are concentrated in city centers, and gangs are always involved in the drug trade and other criminal activities. The truth is that adult males constitute a large part of gangs, young people are not easily influenced by gang pressure, and there is an increase in non-territorial, rural and suburban gangs, and in white and female gang members.

The characteristics of female gang members is a lack of formal education, a history of violent behavior at school, impaired family backgrounds, poverty, and exposure to drugs, alcohol and gang violence. The author’s account of the gang situation in the United States is accurate. However, my personal observation is that gangs are more predominant in cities: especially in neighborhoods where ethnic minorities are predominant, and where there is large scale poverty and unemployment. Chapter 5 Question 2 In the case of juveniles, the police are allowed to exercise a wide range of discretion as to their response to any misdemeanor.

The police response is largely based on the particular situation in which the delinquent behavior occurs. Based on this assessment of the prevailing situation, the police can decide to overlook the misdemeanor, they can ignore any complaints against juveniles, they can take the offending juveniles into custody for a few hours, or refer the juveniles to social service organizations or the juvenile court. In more serious cases, the police can arrest the juveniles and bring charges against them.

Police discretion is useful in the case of status offenders, when the police can use their discretionary powers and stop with a reprimand, or consult the offender’s family. The police can take into consideration the family situation of the offender and involve the parents in disciplining the juvenile. This prevents the youth from unnecessarily becoming a part of the criminal justice system. On the other hand, police discretion can be abused in several ways. The chief disadvantage of discretionary power is that police can be negatively influenced by factors such as the demeanor of the offender, or gender, socioeconomic status and race.

In such cases, status offenders may be classified as delinquents and treated as criminals. Status offenses are converted into delinquent acts by the abuse of police discretion. The offender may be taken into custody because of personal biases of race and demeanor.