Discovering Language Culture and Society - Essay Example

Discovering Language Culture and Society Name: Institution: Word Count: 2, 143 7th September 2013 Discovering Language Culture and Society Introduction In February the year 2013, a teenager in Australia faced an arrest after allegedly impersonating a doctor for several months (Ollie 2013). This teen, at that time 17 years of age, was spotted while roaming the wards at Royal Adelaide Hospital, and on him were scrubs and a name badge, with a stethoscope hanging comfortably around his neck (Gutman 2012). Mathew Scheidt is accused of impersonating a physician’s assistant for five days at a central Florida hospital, was arrested September 2nd, 2011 http://abcnews.go.com/US/florida-teen-allegedly-caught-impersonating-physicians-assistant-blames/story?id=16965092 A Facebook picture of the Adeaide teenager shows him wearing a medical uniform including a stethoscope http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2271876/Catch-Me-If-You-Can-teenager-17-posed-doctor-Australian-hospitals-finally-arrested-treating-12-year-old-girl.html According to Sky News reports, the youth, otherwise referred to by the hospital staff as “Dr. Who” had a tendency of walking around with a clipboard, reading medical notes of patients and having conversations with people. Described as confident and versed in medical language, and therefore almost everybody believed in him as a professional medical doctor. As Matt Blake of Daily Mail (2013) reports the 17-year-old teenager, faced arrest after ‘administering treatment to a twelve year old girl who is supposedly said to have obtained injuries from a scooter accident. According to Blake (2013), administering prescription drug, assault and identity theft were his charges. Spotted in wards at Royal Adelaide Hospital three times since October of 2011, and an expulsion as an ambulance volunteer in the year 2011, confirms an ‘inappropriate behaviour.’ He had similarly been spotted on several occasions at the grounds of Flinders Medical Centre, as the reports by Blake (2013) indicate. However, simply playing a doctor for this teenager was not enough; he had also been spotted in street offering first aid services to the general public (Blake 2013). Despite admitting these charges, his response to the police illustrated him blaming the hospital for giving him incorrect credentials and he is captured in a video saying, "Their error was putting me in apparently as a physician's assistant into their computer," Scheidt said in the video. "Let's even say that I said I was a physician assistant. ... Are you that stupid that you are just going to put me in the system as that, without any credentials or any paperwork or nothing? (Gutman 2012)" From the above example, it is evident that the boy qualifies as a delinquent, by virtue of his age, and is supposedly said to have committed the crime of impersonation on more than one occasion. This indicates that there is a general rise in delinquent behaviours in youths or teenagers and as such, this report seeks to answer the question, “Why would a seventeen year old boy impersonate a medical doctor?” The report would answer this question by undertaking a literature review of academic works that have been written in relation to criminal behaviours, justice and delinquency in youths, teenagers or adolescents. In assessing the academic literature written in this regard, the report would answer the questions; what are the various factors that contribute to delinquent behaviours in teenagers or youths or adolescents? And what are the possible ways through which these factors can be prevented? The report then would give a conclusion and recommendations on how the problem can be handled further based on its findings in the Literature Review. Literature Review Research that has been carried out in the past few years on normal development of a child and development of behaviours has indicated that social, community and individual conditions as well as how these factors interact have some form of influence on behaviour. As Beaver, Vaughn, and DeLisi (2013) argue, there is an overall agreement that behaviour, encompassing delinquent and antisocial behaviours, result due to a complicated interplay of an individual’s environmental, biological and genetic factors, from the time the foetus is developing all through his or her life. Contrary to this however, Larsson, Andershed and Lichtenstein (2006) suppose that genes affect the biological development of a child and it is not independent of the environmental input. In fact Dong, Cao, Cheng, Cui and Li (2013) agree with the arguments of Larsson et al. (2006) but differ with them in an aspect that many children grow to their adulthood without getting involved in dangerous delinquent behaviours, even when they are exposed to a number of different risks. Although risk factors may be considered imperative when it comes to identifying children that need to be put through preventive actions, Blonigen, Hicks, Krueger, Patrick and Iacono (2005) suggest in disagreement that they cannot be used to specifically identify which child is likely to turn out to be a chronic or serious committer of criminal offences. In a similar manner, Besemer and Farrington (2012) agree that most serious and chronically delinquent kids are exposed to various risk factors at several stages of their development, but most of them do not develop into serious and chronic delinquents. It is, however, widely recognised as Kaye (2006) postulates that the more risk factors a child is exposed to, the higher their chances of developing delinquent behaviours. Lachman, Roman and Cahill (2012) argue that antisocial behaviours in adolescents are closely associated with contact between these adolescents and their peers who portray negative behaviours. This is a fact that Dong et al. (2013) do not agree with fully and suggest that other factors associated with teens and youths also affect their behaviours and can be categorised under issues that cause juvenile delinquency. In support of their statement, Lachman et al. (2012) suggest that saying no when all the friends of an individual have agreed to get into a particular activity takes more than just courage. In fact, Dong et al. (2013) in agreement with Lachman et al. (2012) note that peer pressure can really be so dominate amongst youths to the extent that some walk away from their environments to gain some hope. This is particularly applicable in tight groups of teens or gangs. In a different perspective, Blonigen et al. (2005) argue that the home environment may be a major contributing factor to adolescents developing delinquent behaviours. In fact, the home environment can influence teens to get involved in a criminal behaviour due to poor decision making. In the current society, Turanovic and Pratt (2012) suggest that most parents are working and more so mothers that work really affect the development of children which is similar, though less elaborate to what Besemer and Farrington (2012) suggest because they believe that youths at their tender ages need to be disciplined by parents and be given frequent guidance in regard to moral principles in their societies, an activity which does not take place in their absence as they work. In a similar manner, Lauer Turanovic and Pratt (2012) argue that poverty and orphanage at home are major factors that may lead to a child or an adolescent escaping from home. When they do so, they resort to criminal behaviours to earn a living, cloth themselves or even feed themselves. Besemer and Farrington (2012) similarly agree, but do not limit their argument to lack of proper guidance from parents and suggest that developing delinquent behaviours at an adolescent stage of development may be a result of poor decision making skills or choice, and not necessarily restricted to poverty and environmental causes. Further, Kaye (2006) slightly disagrees with the previous stances and indicates that all the factors combined, which include family and the personal attributes of the youth, play a major role in helping the youths come up with the wrong decisions associated with bad behaviours. It is also admissible as Blonigen et al. (2005) and Baker, Bezdjian & Raine (2006) suggest that psychiatric factors such as genetics, drug abuse and drug addiction, in addition to lack of proper education can have great impacts on the development of juvenile delinquency behaviours. Moffitt (2005) illustrates in his studies that a fundamental research that influenced the opinions of scientists in regard to nature versus nurture is the one that was done making comparisons between monozygotic and dyzygotic twin pairs. In the study suggested by Denno (2006) and Kendler, Patrick, Larsson, Gardner & Lichtenstein (2013), twin pairs were observed for the concordance of criminal or delinquent behaviour for both of them. Beaver, Vaughn & DeLisi (2013) agree with the results and suppose that the sets, dyzygotic or fraternal and monozygotic or identical twins, were raised in the same environment but ended up with some similarity. Further, they reported on top of the observation that despite the fraternal set of twins and identical set of twins being merely genetically similar and genetically identical respectively, the results indicated that the monozygotic twin pairs had a 50% concordance, and in one out of two recorded cases, both of them demonstrated criminal behaviour. Contrarily, Kendler et al. (2013) do not fully agree with this finding but suggest that the dyzygotic pair of twins showed a 21% concordance in regard to displaying criminal behaviour, and therefore not an obvious result to be expected. http://www.udel.edu/chem/C465/senior/fall00/GeneticTesting/enviro.htm This example suggests that there is a strong correlation between genetics and disposition of criminal behaviours. Turanovic and Pratt (2012) together with Shandra & Hogan (2012) argue that these social, environmental and sociological effects have solutions and therefore the preventive include positive school attendance, ability to discuss problems with parents, and positive social orientation (Problems Prevention Research Group 2010). These preventive measures act as buffers to minimize the possible effects of risk factors and their capacity to bring about behaviours that are delinquent (Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group 2010). Conclusion Drawing from the above mentioned perspectives mentioned in the literature review, the report was mainly supposed to answer the question, “Why would a seventeen year old teenage boy impersonate a medical doctor?” Since this is an issue that can be categorized under delinquency behaviours in an adolescent or a juvenile, the factors mentioned above, which include environmental, economical, biological, educational, and social relations can be cited as possible factors that may have influenced the behaviour of the teenage boy. Poor parenting, lack of money or poverty, low educational level of parents and children, media influence and drug abuse may have collectively contributed to the act of the teenage boy impersonating a doctor. If he had concentrated in watching movies that portray individuals succeeding or making a lot of money as imposters, such as Catch Me If You Can, inspired by Frank Abagnale as a con man pilot and doctor, then there are possibilities that he would have tried to copy what his environment exposed him to. Similarly, if the parents were too busy looking for money via employment or he was an orphan that lacked parental care and guidance, then he would have opted to get involved in this criminal act to earn a living. Finally, peer influence in addition to psychological and biological factors, such as genetics, may have shaped and inclined the behaviour of the teenager towards such as criminal act since it is possible that he may have inherited the genes of being an imposter from a relative of his. Since the report was meant to cover some few methods through which development of juvenile delinquency behaviours can be avoided, sample solutions captured from the literature review include sharing problems with parents in an open relationship, avoiding peer influence and drug abuse that may impair one’s reasoning, and having positive social orientations to limit the negative effects of peer influence. In a general sense, obtaining basic education is imperative to improving the IQ of children and parents and they would therefore be able to make informed decisions in regard to relating as family and availing resources that satisfy desires that may affect interactions. It is clear from the above analysis that several family factors predict delinquent behaviours, but less clear are what the main underlying family elements that should be taken into consideration. The major predictor is many a time parents that are criminal in behaviour or antisocial. In addition, other major replicable predictors of delinquency are large family sizes, conflicts between parents, poor supervision of children by parents and family disruptions. However, abuse of children and young inexperienced mothers are minor predictors of developing delinquency behaviours. In order to improve knowledge about factors that lead to development of delinquent behaviours in families, new future longitudinal researches are needed. Such research activities should aim to estimate the biological influences, and more specifically genetic impacts, and should evaluate a wide range of risk factors such as neighbourhood, individual attitudes, peer, family and many more. The studies should purpose to ascertain independent, sequential, reciprocal and interactive effects of family factors on developing delinquency characteristics. Bibliography 2013, Boy accused of impersonating medic. ABC News, viewed 07 September 2013, < http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-01-31/teen-charged-for-offering-false-treatment/4493502> Baker, LA, Bezdjian, S & Raine, A 2006, ‘Behavioural genetics: The science of antisocial behaviour’, Law and contemporary problems, vol. 69, no. 7, pp. 1-2. Beaver, K M, Vaughn, M G & DeLisi, M 2013, ‘Non-shared environmental effects on adulthood psychopathic personality traits: Results from a monozygotic twin difference scores analysis’, Psychiatric Quarterly, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 1-13. Besemer, S & Farrington, D P 2012, ‘Intergenerational transmission of criminal behaviour: Conviction trajectories of fathers and their children’, European Journal of Criminology, vol. 9, no. 2, pp. 120-141. Blake, M 2013, ‘Catch Me If You Can’ teenager, 17, who posed as a doctor at two Australian hospitals is finally arrested after ‘treating’ 12 year old girl, Mail Online, viewed 07 September 2013, < http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2271876/Catch-Me-If-You-Can-teenager-17-posed-doctor-Australian-hospitals-finally-arrested-treating-12-year-old-girl.html>. Blonigen, D M, Hicks, B M, Krueger, R F, Patrick, C J & Iacono, W G 2005, ‘Psychopathic personality traits: Heritability and genetic overlap with internalizing and externalizing psychopathology’, Psychological medicine, vol. 35, no. 05, pp. 637-648. Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group. (2010). Fast Track intervention effects on youth arrests and delinquency. Journal of Experimental Criminology, 6(2), 131-157. Denno, D 2006, ‘Revisiting the Legal Link Between Genetics and Crime’, Law and Contemporary Problems, vol. 69, pp. 209-257. Dong, F, Cao, F, Cheng, P, Cui, N & Li, Y 2013, ‘Prevalence and associated factors of poly‐victimization in Chinese adolescents’, Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, vol. 1, no. 1, n.p. Founten, L 2013, Teen ‘doctor’ makes medic claims online, court told. . ABC News, viewed 07 September 2013, < http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-06/pretend-doctor-still-making-social-media-claims-court-told/4672368> Founten, L 2013, Teenager accused of posing as doctor released on bail. ABC News, viewed 3 August 2013, < http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-07-29/teenager-accused-of-posing-as-doctor-released-on-bail/4851274?section=sa>. Kaye, D H 2006, ‘Behavioural Genetics Research and Criminal DNA Databases’, Law and Contemporary Problems, vol. 69, no. 1/2, pp. 259-299. Kendler, K S, Patrick, C J, Larsson, H, Gardner, C O & Lichtenstein, P 2013, ‘Genetic and environmental risk factors in males for self-report externalizing traits in mid-adolescence and criminal behaviour through young adulthood’, Psychological medicine, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 1-8. Lachman, P, Roman, C G & Cahill, M 2012, ‘Assessing Youth Motivations for Joining a Peer Group as Risk Factors for Delinquent and Gang Behaviour’, Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, vol. 1, no. 1, n.p. Larsson, H, Andershed, H & Lichtenstein, P 2006, ‘A genetic factor explains most of the variation in the psychopathic personality’, Journal of abnormal psychology, vol. 115, no. 2, pp. 221. Moffitt, TE 2005, ‘The new look of behavioural genetics in developmental psychopathology: gene-environment interplay in antisocial behaviours’ Psychological bulletin, vol. 131, no. 4, p. 533. Ollie, J 2013, Doogie Howser Gone Wrong: Teen Arrested for Impersonating a Doctor, Time, viewed 07 September 2013, < http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/02/03/doogie-howser-gone-wrong-teen-arrested-for-impersonating-a-doctor/>. Pearlman, J 2012, ‘Catch Me If You Can’ teenager impersonates doctor, telegraph, viewed 7 September 2013, < http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/australia/9741748/Catch-Me-If-You-Can-teenager-impersonates-doctor.html>. Shandra, C L & Hogan, DP 2012, ‘Delinquency Among Adolescents with Disabilities’, Child Indicators Research, vol. 5, no. 4, pp. 771-788. Turanovic, J. J., & Pratt, T. C. (2012). The consequences of maladaptive coping: integrating general strain and self-control theories to specify a causal pathway between victimization and offending. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 1-25. Read More