Understanding of Juvenile Delinquency - Report Example

The juvenile crime rates have increased due to child conduct problems. Juvenile offending is a severe problem to the public. It has contributed to the rise of the violent and property crimes. Therefore, it has been difficult for the judicial systems to control such offenders.

Initial Understanding on the Topic

The initial understanding of Juvenile delinquency involved the street children aspects. However, such understanding has evolved due to different readings on the topic that include social issues, drug abuse and lack of parental monitoring as the major factors that contribute to juvenile Delinquency. I learned that the problem majorly occurs at adolescence and hence children tend to develop different attitudes and beliefs regarding the guidance or discipline provided to them by their parents or school teachers.

How the Understanding on Juvenile Delinquency has Changed

According to my understanding, different factors contribute to juvenile delinquency. For instance child maltreatment is still prevalent across diverse societies in the world (Friedlander, p.12). Therefore, children tend to take actions that might not favor effective behavior. Some of the children isolate themselves into offensive activities.

Child neglect and physical abuse have contributed to child delinquency. Therefore, children opt to seek other means of survival. The significant number of those that find an alternative solutions involve themselves in different crime activities (Egley, Et al., p.212). Anti-social behaviors are developed which may continue into the adulthood. However, when the problem is noted and addressed earlier, the child could reform and show an improved behavior regarding offenses (Friedlander, p.42).

Child protection has also contributed to the involvement of children in crime incidences. When a child is found with an offense protection of minors is often emphasized. Most of the parents and guardians fail to understand that such kind of protection has contributed to more risks of offending the public (Egley, Et al., p.212). Juvenile justice systems ought to target individual youth when dealing with offense cases. Family systems surrounding the child should also be analyzed to ensure that the child's welfare is considered during the judicial processes.

The behavioral actions that have been mostly noted to increase the juvenile delinquency involve drug abuse, alcohol, and addiction. Drug abuse has been associated with an attempt of addressing mental pressure (Lambie, Et al., p. 448). Mental issues that results from lack of basic needs and parental support lead to involvement in criminal groups.

The social and cultural environment further contribute to juvenile delinquency. For example, different social norms outline values that the youth should practiced when transforming from adolescence to adulthood (Ryan, Et al., p. 454). However, most of the youths fail to exercise the values outlined due to youth culture. Such culture could favor negative behaviors since they observe examples of the senior youth, in such a case if a specific age group failed to set a compelling example, the younger generation would be misled.

Lack of positive development impact significantly on juvenile delinquency. Parental monitoring often reflects on the juvenile behaviors (Lambie, Et al., p. 447). Furthermore, it reflects on social control behaviors. The positive development is also affected by the socializing agents around the children. For instance, the effects of social media have resulted in different aspects of peer pressure and reduced social control from the parents.

Peer pressure is determined the kind of friends that a child is involved. The anti-social behaviors and post social behaviors have been majorly contributed by the impacts of peer pressure (Friedlander, p.12). Gang membership is created from the social peer groups. For example, youth often have different friends that are inconsistency regarding behavior. A youth using drugs would often try to involve others in doing the same.

Juvenile conduct problems have led to parental rejection. The minors often try to avoid different challenges by taking personal decisions without involving the parents (Tolan, Et al., p.212). The habits often lead to a perception of dependency regarding child's welfare. Such perceptions of the adolescence create mental risk which could expose them to cases of suicide or murder cases. Therefore, controlling different mental related issues in schools and homes would play a key role in ensuring that juvenile offender cases are reduced (Ryan, Et al., p. 454). The children associated with arrest due to offense tend to be further viewed negatively by the family members. The incidence further enhances neglect which creates the risk to the children's psychological and cognitive functioning of the children.

Normative adolescent behavior has contributed to juvenile offending. At this stage, non-violent crimes are often evidenced. However, when these actions are repeated, they are most likely to lead to violent and later to robbery behaviors. Antisocial behavior is displayed before young age (Friedlander, p.22). Juvenile courts should, therefore, consider adolescent behaviors to address any violent crimes effectively.

The risk of delinquency is rapidly growing due to the minimal parental control. The growing population has complicated the process of identifying the offenders to the public (Tolan, Et al., p.212). Therefore, the security personnel should conduct relevant investigations to ensure that the delinquency is reduced.

Most of the adolescents tend to drop the offensive behaviors when they grow to adulthood. This occurs when relevant justice is conducted and found with an offense. Moreover, when psychological intervention is introduced at immature stages the minors are most likely to drop offensive behaviors before the adult age (Ryan, Et al., p. 454).

Examples of Robbery Cases encountered and Perceptions

Violent rates have also been encountered across the streets. The cases often relate to misunderstandings among the gangs and the public. The gangs usually use violence to acquire property from the public forcefully. It is often witnessed in the streets.

The offenses committed by the children have affected different people. The cases are rampant in major cities. Personally, I have been affected in different instances. For Example, I encountered robbery case twice in Afghanistan. It involved a robbing of $15000 and my mum's jewelry. The incident created a sense of insecurity due to fear of the robbers coming back to the house. Therefore, in considering this occurrence, I noticed that the aspect of peer pressure had contributed to the formation of such a gang group. It proves that they often rely on robbery for a living.

The robbery of personal items has often been witnessed across the city streets. The children involved in such robbery often plan and monitor different opportunities for conducting such actions. The cities that have reduced security supervision are majorly affected by juvenile delinquency compared to the highly secured streets and cities. For instance, there was a case that I was robbed on my way from school. Two people on a motorcycle robbed my phone. Such robbery often affects businesses in major cities since people tend to close businesses early in fear of robbery cases. Furthermore, when such action fails to be accounted for, the gangs tend to increase and take advantage of the public.

The two incidences encountered proved the adverse effects of child neglect, peer pressure and reduced social bond in the families. Such robbers of property and money do so to meet the basic needs probably. Therefore, the most critical aspect in addressing the issue involves establishing security so that justice can be conducted when cases are taken before the court.

How the Incidences Changed my Conduct

The incidences of robbery changed my conduct in the streets and securing household property. I also learned to keep my phone securely and be precautious when traveling from home to school. Reporting robbery incidence to the security personnel is one of the crucial steps that an individual should take. The most important conclusion is that the gangs are difficult to control. My perception on the street robbers also changed, the minors are the significant victims involved in such activities. Furthermore, I concluded that when the robbery is regularly reported, the cases are most likely to reduce the security officers would conduct an investigation and trace the group of children involved in such cases.

The most surprising aspects of the topic involved the rising number of juvenile delinquency. For instance, in most cases when the robbery occurs, adults are associated with the situation. However, when researching on Juvenile Delinquency, I realized that minors are the major group involved in street offenses.

Summary

The juvenile delinquency has contributed to the crime rate encountered across the world. Some of the factors that have led to juvenile delinquency involve Child maltreatment, peer pressure, and neglect. My perception of this aspect has changed since I initially thought that adults commit most of the offenses. The robbery incidences that I was involved in proved that most of the gangs rob to meet different basic needs.

Work Cited

Egley Jr, Arlen, James C. Howell, and Meena Harris. "Highlights of the 2012 National Youth Gang Survey. Juvenile Justice Fact Sheet." Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (2014).

Friedlander, Kate. A Psycho-Analytical Approach to Juvenile Delinquency: Theory, Case Studies, Treatment. Vol. 9. Routledge, 2013.

Lambie, Ian, and Isabel Randell. "The impact of incarceration on juvenile offenders." Clinical Psychology Review 33.3 (2013): 448-459.

Ryan, Joseph P., Abigail B. Williams, and Mark E. Courtney. "Adolescent neglect, juvenile delinquency and the risk of recidivism." Journal of youth and adolescence 42.3 (2013): 454-465.

Tolan, Patrick, et al. "Mentoring interventions to affect juvenile delinquency and associated problems: A systematic review." Campbell Systematic Reviews 9.10 (2013).