Youth Crime in Australia - Essay Example

Youth Crime in Australia Name Institution Date Youth Crime in Australia Introduction The rapid growth of insecurity and the increasing rate of violence experienced by people across the world especially in major cities are among the major challenges affecting government sustainability. It is the duty of each local government to offer safer and secure environment for its citizens. The implementation of policies to provide safe communities and development of inclusive mechanism that clearly adopts specific approaches to tackle crime cases in each city around the world. Globalization resulted in the world becoming a global village, causing cultural diverse among dwellers with lots of migrants heightening insecurity issues. The Australian population is represented by a higher proportion of migrants with about 28% of new migrant yearly from Sudan, Afghanistan, and Iraq that occupy the urban area overshadowing the locals (Dalzell & Victor 2014). People from different cultural and linguistic background face a couple of issues from the residents such as discrimination, prejudice, social isolation as they try to assimilate within the broader Australian culture. The young people because of the adversity are likely to engage in criminal acts, influencing fellow peers. The paper explores the issue of youth gangs and uses sociological theories to explain the reason behind the engagement of young in crime. Gangs as a Social Problem among the Youth The Australian government for over a decade has expressed concern over the increasing youth gangs possessing threats to the security of the nation. Youths organize crime activities, fully armed with guns covering out a range of offenses in and outside their own communities. Muiri (2009) explores a reports released by one of the leading media house, stating that the crimes committed in the past are careful planned within the community with the recent carried out by Vietnamese. Further sources reiterate that Vietnamese groups are armed and engage in crime openly even attacking their every own people. The most common crimes include murder, extortion, robbery and petty drug dealings. The gangs are diverse and difficult to identify because without proper evidence the youth posses as harmless however, distinctions exist from other types of youth groups. The young stars engage in similar acts, just as the adage states that “birds of the same feathers flock together”; they are involved in violence acts unlike the ordinary youth groups. In the recent years, several reports about youth crimes have increased in the media, but the truth is that most young people are actually the victims of criminal behavior. For instance, the Australian bureau of statistics reported that more than 45% of victims of robbery were aged between 15 and 24 years with many of these young people being homeless and migrants (Muir et al, 2009). Victimization of young people occurs right in their home such as physical, sexual abuse. The suffering and neglected youths later become rebellious and even some abandon their homes ending up in streets where they are further abused because of their vulnerability forcing them engage in criminal offenses. Approximately 32,444 young people aged 12-24 years were homeless on census night in 2006 and are more likely to engage in conflicts as stipulated in the criminal justice system (National Youth Commission Report). The effects of the gangs are evident across several parts of the country: from Melbourne to Adelaide, Perth to Sydney because their patterns are similar. However, there is never enough information about the grouping until some members are caught in crime. This is because engaging in criminal activity is never they ultimate goal for most youths are appealed more by drugs that in end interfere with their judgment and in the occasion to get money to purchase the drugs, they engage in criminal acts as a source of earning money. In trying to curb juvenile crime, the youth justice system categorized young people in relation to offence and social characteristics that influence the weight of the crime. This is because the rate of social crime increased by 5 % among youth offenders such as public drunkenness, gambling, malicious mischief, loitering, willful damage, begging, dangerous play and discharge of fireworks; with the more serious charges on theft involving items like fruit, vegetables, toys, sweets, cigarettes, handbags and vehicle spare parts. In the past, the offense were committed by the unskilled and children from sole-parent home who had older siblings acting as delinquent role models for the young (Glackin, 2010, pp. 22-23). The gang in most cases is self-formed and as complex association youth who are generally male united through mutual interest that maintains a regular and constant communication. The members within the group vary amongst the young population such as scholars who engage in varying degree of offense and illegal activity. Other groups are formed to offer protection to its members that are often linked to a form of protection against racism and street violence, rather than a violent outlet itself. The publication of the media over the youth crime issue has popularized the subject of youth engaging into crime solution in all manners such as print media, television portraying them as the most criminal offenders instead of being in the front line providing needed direction in curbing the vice. However, it is not the best way to tackle the problem as it inflicts more fear among pessimistic youths and even worse, some media houses exaggerate the matter at hand. Social constructions and the media are good at portraying young people as criminal or delinquent, which is not the case at all time. For example, the reports done by Dalzell and Victor (2014) demonstrates that between 2007/08 and 2008/09 the number of youth offenders (10-19 years) proceeded against by police increased by 10 % bringing the total to 102,449. Confirm nation later revealed that the statistical presentation was not accurate because it was over-representation youth as offenders such that it reflects the adolescence as offender at rate of 3,552 offenders per 100,000 persons aged 10 to 19 years. The increase in offender rates continued steadily until the offender rates peaked at 18 years of age. The gang youth exacerbates negative consequences for homeless youth, as well as for indigenous, ethnic or poor youth who are disadvantaged by poverty, lack of educational opportunities and from unemployed families (Muir et.al. 2009). Young people just like the rest of population grow and change due to vary reasons such as the surrounding environment, social factors such as peers and social status. Proper upbringing and constant monitoring is necessary to children as most cases of victimization happen at home that opt to be the safest place. The busy lifestyle and ever-changing economic time has put parents under pressure to work long hours causing them to stay away from their children that need protection and constant nurturing. Others are forced to migrate to the urban area in search of white-collar jobs and quality services such as education and healthcare while others migrate to foreign countries. Solid family structures are important in instilling good manners in young generation that faces numerous challenges while growing up and transitioning into adulthood (Wanek, 2013). Instead, the media has heightened fear and steered contradiction among people causing a major public opinion of youths as weak and inexperienced in the way of handling important issues. The confusion has resulted in the senior population mesmerized about the future generation, failing to tackle the problem at hand because it is views as huge and serious but in real sense the problem with dangerous gang youths may change when proper measures are put in place. According to Muir et al (2009) the police and parents are either too laid-back or scared in dealing with petty crimes within the neighborhood. Conclusion In conclusion, there is no doubt that a huge proportion of young people do commit crime for varied reason such economic, self-protection among other reasons. Nevertheless, several governments and territory had to combine discriminatory laws and intrusive police powers in addressing the matter as young people are being punished and criminalized for normal behavior connected with poor social character. Every individual is entitled to a good life and it is the responsibility of each government to ensure that all its citizens are safe. This will eliminate a number of social problems that arise in the community interfering with normal life because of insecurity or criminal acts. In this era of expensive life, parents have abandoned their parental duties in search of money as their children engage in risky behaviors because they lack direction, moral support as are left unattended. The statistical data in this essay has demonstrated that criminological theories are often contradictory and discriminatory in relation to youth criminal justice issues and thus the resultant practices are highly inequitable towards today’s youth and the perceived deviance of their behavior.   References AIC. (2004)."Australian crime: facts & figures 2004." in Australian crime, edited by Lance Smith and Holly Johnson. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology, Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). (2010). Youth Offenders. Retrieved on April 27, 2015 from http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Products/8C65ED74A798E201CA2576E9001 BC061.  Bureau of Statistics (BS) (2007). "2006 Census of Population and Housing. http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/DetailsPage/2914.02006?OpenDocument.Dalzell, T & Victor, T. The concise new partridge dictionary of slang and unconventional english. Oxford: Routledge, 2014. Glackin, Steve. “Lecture 4 'identity': family and ethnicity.” in cod 230/sp.4/student lecture. Murdock University, 2010. Muir, K., Mullan, K., Powell, A., Flaxman, S., Thompson, D., Griffiths, M. "State of australia's young people: a report on the social, economic, health and family lives of young people." ACT: Australian Government: Office for Youth, 2009. Wanek, A. The state and its enemies in papua new guinea. issue 68 of nordic institute of asian studies monograph. New York: Routledge, 2013. Read More