Youth Crimes in Queensland - Case Study Example

Juvenile Offending in Queensland • Introduction There have been alarming reports about increases of youth crimes not only in Queensland but all over the world. Youth crimes harm the communities, create fear and damage the lives of some of our young people. Most often, the causes of youth crimes are troubled home life; poor attainment at school, truancy and school exclusion; drug or alcohol misuse and mental illness; deprivation such as poor housing or homelessness and peer group pressure these problems are wrapped up as to the family and environment problems. The family is believed to be the basic structure wherein a child learns all its values in life; while the child imbibes the culture of its environment during the stages of growth. This becomes an important factor to study the impact of the family and environment on the outcome of a child’s growth. The general understanding of family is parents and their children (whether living together or not, and extend to any group of people who are related to each other. • Situational analysis (the problem) The idea that the causes of juvenile delinquency are family related problems and environment is a challenging question that has to be validated by evidences, facts and figures. This study will uncover details of these perceptions as well as presenting few facts about juvenile crimes, juvenile justice and system. Reducing youth crime and improving the youth justice system is a central part of our effort to build safer communities and to tackle the problem of social exclusion. • Literature Review This study reviews articles, studies and literatures written showing that family problems becomes one of the reasons for a child becoming a juvenile delinquent. Contributory to this is the social environment that influences the character and values of the child in development stage. Claims that family factors and social environment are factors to predict juvenile delinquencies have been supported by several studies. The study of Healy, Justin (2008) showed risk factors of juvenile delinquency are family factors and influence of delinquent peers. These factors are lack of supervision, lack of parental involvement with the child, family rejection and inconsistent discipline. Social environmental factors are low family economic status, neglect and child abuse, parent and sibling criminality and youth homelessness. “Society made me does it” is a quote from the study of Roberts, Cristina. (February 2005) that associates juvenile delinquency as a function of its surroundings. She took note of some people’s belief on family responsibility “that parents should be held responsible for crimes committed by their children”. Wes Adams, et. Al (1998) in their study about causes of juvenile delinquency supported the theory that nurturing aspect in the development of an individual and his nature are influential in becoming a juvenile delinquent. They believed on the theory of “cycle effect” that could be the result of family genes and training, and that if source of the problem is genes, then delinquents are “born bad” which is the child’s nature; while if he becomes delinquent because of environment, it is because of nurture. Nurturing also includes peer relations that teach a child criminal behavior because his family and friends behave that way, such as if a child is viewed as a delinquent; child will act as such and find a self-esteem in doing it. The standpoint of Hil, Richard (1998) in his study said considers the family as responsible to the growth of juvenile delinquents through the actions of the individual members of the family to exercise effective care and control The rise in youth violence is more pronounced in the report of Renee Villaires (2007) stating that there has been more than 16,000 offences committed in schools, transports and at home by the “pint-sized” criminals over the last 12 months in Queensland. He said that the Australian Family Association President Alistair Barros believed this was caused by busy parents and the availability of violent and pornographic images on television Role of the Queensland Police Service The QPS is the government arm of law enforcement for the State of Queensland as specified in the Section 2.3 of the Police Service Administration Act of 1990. The QPS is the primary law enforcement agency for the State of Queensland.  The functions of the QPS are laid down in section 2.3 of the Police Service Administration Act 1990.  The QPS, as part of its function, administers the following Acts on behalf of the Minister for Police and Corrective Services: - Crime Commission Act 1997 - Drugs Misuse Act 1986 - National Crime Authority (State Provisions) Act 1985 - Police Powers and Responsibilities Act 2000 - Police Service Administration Act 1990 - Prostitution Act 1999 - Public Safety Preservation Act 1986 - Weapons Act 1990 By this virtue, duties of QPS are to preserve peace; maintain good order; and to detect crimes. They have the police power such as: “to arrest; summons; caution; detain; fingerprint; search; and apply for a medical examination (including the taking of blood samples).  These powers are exercised by police under a number of different statutes and provide a mechanism for police to uphold the law”. The major functions of the QPS are the preservation of peace and good order and the prevention and detection of crime.  Due to the inherent nature of the discharge of its functions the QPS will have a multitude of effects upon various members of the community.  These effects are varied and include the police powers to arrest; summons; caution; detain; fingerprint; search; and apply for a medical examination (including the taking of blood samples).  These powers are exercised by police under a number of different statutes and provide a mechanism for police to uphold the law (QPS) • Research objectives. Findings of the study will provide information that could be used for an early intervention of juvenile delinquency. I propose that an early intervention is better than treatment when a child is already a serious juvenile offender. • Research hypothesis Is the relation of the child to his family and to his environment determinants of a child becoming a delinquent in the future? • Study design (research methods) 1. Information needs – method for finding data on juvenile crimes, causes and effects of youth crimes, number of youth delinquency. Sources of these will be from primary and secondary information gathered from published literatures and studies. Interpretation of data involves analyzing of the facts and figures as to number of youth crimes committed, age groups, and justice system used, reasons for delinquencies and policies of the the Queensland Service Police to effectively implement justice system. 2. Research method. Secondary data will be used in this research. Cross references will be gathered from published articles, studies and surveys done on the subject to provide materials for the literary review. • Data analysis Figures in Table 1 are the status of youth offending in Australia from 2005-2006 and youth crimes committed for the period. (Healy, Justin. 2008) This study that was conducted among 371 juveniles locked up in jail in Australia, showed that violent abuse and neglect were prominent reasons why they are behind bars. Inmates were found to have clinical disorders caused by broken homes, while some admitted to have a bully attitude while in school. Broken homes were found to be the major reasons for school dropouts, while others gave abuse and neglect. Data shows from the incarcerated youth that the average age of youth drop out is 14 yrs, old, 33% leaving school at grade 9 and 25% in grade 8. Dropouts are becoming an alarming problem, as data showed that out of the 233 youth respondents surveyed in 2003, 80% had been suspended from school while the remaining 18 are girls who were all suspended. In 2006 data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare Report showed the following; that the number of individuals within the juvenile justice system in Australia declined in the period 2000-01 to 2003-04 by five percent, from 13,318 to 12,656 persons. The majority of sentenced supervision was community-based, including probation, recognizance and community service orders. Some juveniles experience episodes of community-based supervision and detention within the course of one year. Of all the young people who experienced juvenile justice supervision each year, over 80 percent had completed only one supervision period. The majority each year were male (83%). The figure below shows that the rate for total juveniles under supervision declined from 4.8 to 4.5 per 1,000 persons aged 10-17 years in the study period. This decline was due to decreases in juveniles under community supervision rather than those in detention. While the rate for juveniles under community-based supervision declined from 4.0 to 3.7 per 1,000, the rate for detention-based supervision was 2.0 per 1,000 in both 2000-01 and 2003-04. Note: Data refer to total persons who experienced juvenile justice supervision at least once in the course of each reporting year. Source: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2006. Table 1. Facts on Youth Offenders Figures released in 2007 showed that 57 males aged between 15 and 19 committed homicides in 2005-06, compared with just 22 in the previous year. Research showed that almost all juvenile detainees had used alcohol (97%) and cannabis (94%), while half had used amphetamines (50%) and one in three had used ecstasy at some stage in their lives. A study of 371 juveniles incarcerated in Australian detention centers found that violent abuse was most frequently reported (36%) followed by emotional abuse (27%) and neglect (18%). When neglect or abuse did occur, it was most likely to be by a parent or guardian, followed by a sibling The typical inmate has a clinical disorder, comes from a broken home, has experienced some form of abuse or neglect and has been a bully. The average age for leaving school was 14, with 25% departing in year 8 and 33% in year 9. More than 80 per cent had not attended school in the six months before they were incarcerated. More than 90% of the 223 boys surveyed in 2003 had been suspended from school and all 19 girls had been suspended. In Australia during 2005-06, 44% of young people, including over 50% of those aged 10-13 years of age, had a period of detention (usually pre-sentence detention) in their first supervision. Over 40% of young people who began their first ever supervision when aged 12 years had completed at least four supervision periods by the time they were 18, During 2005-06 the total number of young people under juvenile justice supervision in Australia was 13,254, including 11,265 aged 10-17 years (the remainder were aged 18 years and over). Around four per 1,000 young people aged 10-17 years were under community-based supervision, and around two per 1,000 had detention-based supervision at some time during the year. Almost 65% of young people under supervision were aged 16 years or older with less than 10% aged 13 or younger Over 60% of young people were at least 15 years old when they had their first ever juvenile justice supervision experience. During 2005-06, there was an average of 5,185 young people in community-based juvenile justice supervision each day (16% were female and 84% were male) and 816 young people in detention-based juvenile justice supervision (8% were female and 92% were male). Around four per 1,000 young people aged 10-17 years were under community-based supervision, and around two per 1,000 had detention-based supervision at some time during the year. Almost 65% of young people under supervision were aged 16 years or older with less than 10% aged 13 or younger During 2005-06, there was an average of 5,185 young people in community-based juvenile justice supervision each day (16% were female and 84% were male) and 816 young people in detention-based juvenile justice supervision (8% were female and 92% were male). Indigenous young people make up 38% of those under juvenile justice supervision. About 44 out of 1,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people aged 10-17 years were under juvenile justice supervision during 2005-06 compared with about three out of 1,000 non-Indigenous young people. Persons aged 15 to 19 years are more likely to be processed by police for the commission of a crime than any other population group. In 2004-05 the offending rate for persons aged 15 to 19 years was four times the offender rate for the remainder of the population (5,841 and 1,417 per 100,000 relevant persons respectively). Source of data: Justin Healy (2008) • Conclusions Based on the studies gathered, there is sufficient evidence to conclude that family problems and social environment are causes of youth delinquency. Family problems like broken homes, abuses and neglect pushes the child to get attention they need from their peers. Peers exert pressure to the child, much more if the peer group is a dangerous one. Child problems begin with petty crime that later on becomes youth crime. The phrase “societies made me do it” is an explanatory that the child is a victim of circumstances to make him/her belong to the society. A lot of weight has been placed on the shoulders of parents in rearing the child from infancy to adulthood, such that in cases of broken homes and single parent responsibility, the child loses the guidance mostly needed in formative years. Children feel they are neglected when they find parents too busy for work. This situation makes youth vulnerable to excitements given by wrong peer relations. Youth are adventurous, restless and careless but not necessarily sinful. Since we have shown what the causes of youth crimes are, it is now the part of the society and government to respond. Resources from the government should be shifted to research and development to respond to family problems. Training and education program can be an answer to the social problems of the youth. This will ultimately reduce youth crime for a safer community and improve the youth justice system of the country to solve the problem of social environment. References Australian Institute of Health and Service. (2007) Juvenile justice in Australia, 2000-01 to 2003-04. Canberra: AIHW. http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/current%20series/cfi/121-140/cfi125.aspx Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology, June 2006. Juvenile Supervision in Australia. Crime Facts Info No. 125 Viewed 27 January, 2010 http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/current%20series/cfi/121-140/cfi125.aspx Healy, Justin. 2008. Juvenile Crime Volume 273, Issues in Society Viewed 27 January, 2010 http://www.spinneypress.com.au/273%20Juvenile%20crime.htmlhttp:// Hil, Richard (1998) The Call to Order: Families, Responsibility and Juvenile Crime Control. Journal Article, Journal of Australian Studies Viewed 27 January 2010 Roberts, Cristina.(February 2005) Juvenile Delinquency: Cause and Effect. Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute. Viewed 27 January 2010 http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/2000/2/00.02.05.x.html Queensland Police Service. Functions of the Queensland Police Service. Viewed 27 January 2010 http://www.police.qld.gov.au/services/reportsPublications/statementAffairs/06/01.htm Viellaris, Renee. (20 November 2007) Shocking rise in youth violence. Viewed 27 January 2010 http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,22794216-952,00.html Wes Adams, Jason Arnold, Alicia Harmon, Holly, Mayabf, Rogelio Rodriguez & Amy Shirola. (1998) Causes of Juvenile Delinquency. Viewed 27 January 2010 http://home.snu.edu/~dwilliam/s98/juvdelinq/causes.html Read More