The Influence of Street Gangs on Juvenile Delinquency in Eastern North Carolina - Thesis Example

The Influence of Street Gangs on Juvenile Delinquency in Eastern North Carolina Task: The Influence of Street Gangs on Juvenile Delinquency in Eastern North Carolina Introduction Juvenile delinquency remains an issue of concern across the American societies. The consequence of this rising concern has been increased matter to understand the factors and how these factors help dictate juvenile delinquency trends. Various databases have as well been developed to define the challenges juvenile delinquency present to the society. In the United States, the 1990s are widely accredited s the lead period within juvenile delinquency hit its peak. The role of race too cannot be ignored in defining juvenile delinquency in the US context. For instance, various researches have previously emphasized that juvenile delinquency in the United States has disproportionate representation of the black teenagers as compared to other races. Multiple reasons have been put forward to explain such including drug abuse, street gang influences and peer pressure, among others. Although, these factors are inter-related, this paper will focus on the impact of street gangs on juvenile delinquency. Problem statement Data collected by the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) reveal that juveniles who are exposed to street gangs are more susceptible to lapse into juvenile delinquency as compared those who are not exposed to the same (National Institute of Justice, 2011). Multiple sources of data available have to a large extent revealed the critical nature of juvenile delinquency in modern day society. In 2008, the Uniform Crime Reports prepared by the FBI revealed that case of homicide involving juveniles amounted to approximately 1500. Although this was a slight decline in comparison to the previous year, the number was still subject to concern. Sadly, of these 1500 cases, North Carolina claimed approximately 200. Interestingly, most of reports on urban delinquency trace a majority of cases of juvenile delinquency to urban centers which also happen to be the hub of street gangs. The over-representation of juveniles in delinquent cases in urban centers is no doubt a reason to be concerned. According to one of the leading reports of juvenile delinquency cases, the most prevalent cases of juvenile delinquency include alcohol use (39%), marijuana usage (21%), property destruction (28%), carrying of guns (19%), joining gangs (5%), as well as stealing valuable items (8%). Additionally, a whole 8% report having been arrested at some point in the life (National Institute of Justice, 2011). More cases are reported in case of the males as well as amongst the race/ethnic minorities. Interestingly, most of these crimes are traceable to gangs either indirectly or directly. Gangs have either sold stuff that led juveniles to engage in crime or recruited them into the same. This highlights the challenge arising from street gang presence and its relation to juvenile delinquency. Purpose statement The statistics mentioned in the previous section undoubtedly emphasize the fact that street gangs influence juvenile delinquency. In this case, focus is on North Carolina. Research question Does the influence of street gangs contributed to juvenile delinquency in Eastern NC? Hypothesis The hypothesis developed will mainly focus on establishing the relation between street gang influence and juvenile delinquency in Eastern North Carolina. To successfully explore the issues raised, the research will explore multiple hypotheses as described below: H1: Females as compared to male juveniles show lesser delinquency tendencies in street gang infested areas? This hypothesis will test variability across two independent samples constituted of males and females with respect to the area of study. H2: The relationship of street gang influence and juvenile delinquencies vary according to racial affiliation of the subjects investigated. The second hypothesis will test variability across various racial groups in terms of the relation that exists between street gang influence and juvenile delinquency. It seeks to establish if racial affiliation determines the effect that gangs have towards engaging juveniles in delinquent acts. The hypotheses will be tested by running random co-efficient models containing one-level predictors (Obson, 1997). This will estimate the effect that gender has on street gang influence to juvenile delinquency (H1) while at the same time allowing the slope and intercept to exhibit a degree of variance across the samples used in the study (Neuman, 1997). The model will additionally show whether or not juvenile delinquency resulting from street gang influence varies based on racial affiliation (H2). The next hypothesis incorporates an aggregate-level measure into the random co-efficient. It is expected to replicate common findings of other researches that street gang influence has a positive correlation to juvenile delinquency cases recorded in Eastern North Carolina. H3: Street gang influence is positively correlated to cases of juvenile delinquencies Given that the model includes both individual and aggregate level variables, it will allow testing of whether gender and race also predicts the level of influence Street gangs have on juvenile delinquency in addition to showing the existence of correlation between street gang influence and juvenile delinquency. H4: Juveniles who have previously involved themselves or are currently involved with gangs are more prone to delinquent acts as compared to those who have not. This hypothesis undertakes the most direct evaluation of the contribution of gangs to juvenile delinquency. Definition of terms Juvenile: Not adults, i.e. those who have not attained 18 years of age. Juvenile delinquency: Immoral acts not in line with the ideal behavioral expectations of the society perpetrated by the juveniles. Street gang: Illegal gangs that engage in illegal activities. Arrests: Juveniles brought into custody of various security arms due to engagement in acts contravening the law. Statistics: Documented figure from official sources showing cases of juvenile delinquency as well related cases. Background information In the past fifteen years, a large array of new juvenile justice policies as well as programs has been brought into force in the United States. Enormous reforms have occurred at local, state, as well as federal levels and have basically focused on discouraging of juveniles from engaging in crime (Loeber & David, 2000). Incidentally, these are a result of the rise in crime amongst the juveniles constituting the American society. Juvenile crime in the United States has attracted the attention of home and abroad media alike. There has been extreme emphasis on not only cracking down on serious and cracking offenders but also getting tough. This is the reason behind the slogan “adult crime, adult time,” which has largely shaped the nature of American juvenile justice system. At the extremes of measures is the Supreme Court ruling in 1989 which upheld the constitutionality of passing a death penalty for crimes perpetrated by persons as young as sixteen (Arnold, 2001). However, such punitive measures have not eliminated the need for preventive measures. The law has as well emphasized on the need to offer stiffer penalties to those who facilitate criminal acts by juveniles. The modern day street gang takes multiple forms which may include individual membership, gang cliques, or even entire gang organizations involving major criminal acts such as drug trafficking, car theft rings, shooting incidences, assaults, common robbery, and extortion rings, among other forms of felonies. In some instances, the gangs even terrorize neighborhoods. According to DDD, ambitious gangs often expand beyond their jurisdictions into newer areas. In the recent past, incidences have been recorded whereby gangs not only enroll willing juveniles but additionally hoax unwilling ones into joining. Dawson (1988) note that some gangs use the juveniles as pawns for supporting their illegal activities such as selling of drugs. Additionally, the gangs act as supply hubs of drugs and, hence, expose juveniles to the same. There is a general agreement that the gangs are a threat to upright upbringing of juveniles within any society. Sadly, Eastern North Carolina just like many parts of America have to contend with the issue of impoverished and transitional neighborhoods, where children are born into or must contend with 2nd and 3rd generation street gangs (Arnold, 2001). Generally, it is important to mention that the view of gangs as being pathological and criminal is emphasized by the multiple initiatives that states as well as local jurisdictions in the United States have adopted over the last past decade. Due to the fact that many acts of juvenile delinquency are traceable to groups, the perception of juvenile delinquency has been closely related to gang activity over the recent years. Generally, it is evident that street gang activities have a string tie to cases of juvenile delinquency in various neighborhoods. The rising numbers of gangs are, therefore, an issue of concern to all stakeholders. By 2008, gangs had emerged in almost every city in the United States with most operating in the poorer inner-city as well as the ring-city areas. In 2009, delinquent gangs were present in each and every of the 50 States. In total, 36 cities reported 1,441 gangs, with California, Florida, and Illinois leading the pack with regard to gang concentrations (Puzzanchera et al., 2003). North Carolina too featured amongst the states with high number of gangs with an approximated 54 gangs. This is undoubtedly a reason to be concerned. Limitations Not many limitations can be argued with regard to this research. However, the limited researches on the relation between the two as well as challenges associated with data collection are expected to be a great impediment. Additionally, the fact that most people are often unwilling to agree to have engaged in criminal acts will form a major challenge and, hence, there will be an increased need to inform the respondents on the use of the research and the fact that it will be used for no other reason except purposes of the achieving the researches objectives. Conclusion The author provides a deep understanding of the operations of delinquent gangs and, as a result, provides a useful resource towards developing an understanding of how the gangs operate and influence juvenile character. Dawson, a leading voice in criminal justice system affecting the children, takes the reader through some of the milestone changes the United States juvenile justice system has underwent. This offers insightful information and also helps in building of the researches literature. The article provides vast information with regard to the various aspects constituting child crime with the society. Although generalized and non-focused on the US, the information will add to the important literature useful to build on the research. Neuman, a renowned specialist in research methods, provides an insightful approach to multiple methodologies. The research will borrow much from this book in development of applicable research models as well as in interpretation of the findings of the study. This report provides vast information relating activities of gangs with focus on drug sales and how it impacts to the community. It will, therefore, offer useful information to help in understanding how gangs operate and contribut to child development. Statistics are a fundamental part of every research and this is what this paper provides. It provides cross-cutting statistics from various reports as well as government agencies. It, therefore, offers useful information as well as statistics that help in understanding the link between street gang influence and juvenile delinquency. Sampson and others take the reader through a trail of how the neighborhood and the activities within the neighborhood dictate juvenile character. It will form a useful basis in linking presence and activities of gangs to cases of juvenile delinquency. References Arnold, G. (2001). Delinquent Gangs. A Psychological Perspective, 3-6, pp. 123-134. Dawson, R. O. (1988). The Third Justice System: The New Juvenile-Criminal System of Determinate Sentencing for the Youthful Violent Offender in Texas. St. Mary’s Law Journal, 19 (3), pp. 943-1015. Loeber, R., & David, P. (2000). Young children who commit crime: Epidemiology, developmental origins, risk factors, early interventions, and policy implications. Development and Psychopathology, 12 (2), pp. 737-762. Neuman, W. L. (1997). Social Research Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches. (3rd Ed): Boston: Allyn and Bacon National Institute of Justice. (2011). Research in Brief, Street Gangs and Drug Sales in Two Suburban Cities. U.S. Department of Justice. Puzzanchera, C., Anne, L., Stahl, T. A., Finnegan, N. T., & Howard, N. S. (2003). Juvenile Court Statistics 1999. Pittsburgh, PA: National Center for Juvenile Justice. Sampson, R. J. et al. (2002). Assessing “neighborhood effects:” Social processes and new directions in research. Annual Review of Sociology, 28, pp. 443-478. Read More