Intervention Focus of the Juvenile Program - Research Paper Example

Intervention Focus of the Juvenile Program of Learning In essence, most of the juvenile programs aim at increasing the intervention mechanisms to reduce and subsequently end a number of problems affecting the children in society. Notably, committing a crime is not, a one time venture, because it develops in the offender’s psychology for a protracted period and eventually manifests. It proceeds gradually from minimal crimes such as pick pocketing, pilferage to gross crime such as robberies and bullying. Indeed, keeping the children busy in a given environment under different controls would enable the researcher to determine the best practice, which for sure, would create deterrent on gross child’s hostility. As a result of such intervention, the organization succeeded in addressing the problem and creates a hospitable environment. Statement of Problem The problem of youth gang is real and causing a lot of worries to society. Frequently, children develop certain behavior that compromises the life of other ordinary citizens in the society (Freitas & Chesney-Lind, 2001). Probably, lack of early childhood role model during their psychological development might be responsible for their problems. Freitas & Chesney-Lind postulated that the criminal activities of such young and energetic people account for a good percentage of insecurity in society, necessitating intervention measures in reducing or possible elimination (Freitas & Chesney-Lind, 2001). In this research, the problem under discussion focuses on youth gang, which is a major social problem in many countries. The research seeks to determine the connection between their way of early life and the development of criminal activities. Literature Review The intervention focus in this research is on Devonshire Youth center, which is a place where the children are encouraged to engage on their work more than the time that they spend idling in the community (Alexander, 2000). Usually, the programs are comprised of volunteers from both genders, most of whom are seeking work experience in counseling the youth (Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, 2000). In the center, the participants engage in cleaning the compound to make it safe for the kids. Once the kids arrive, they directly move to their designated areas, where they immediately remove their homework and become serious with them. At the center, the various characters emanate and spread among the other children. Such influences are responsible for their exposure to expose to gang and rough childhood styles, which are very dangerous to the other innocent children (Devonshire PALS, 2011). Some children are noted as bully, meaning that he does not respect the older people, including the volunteers. If the child continues with his bullies, the other children would follow the style, and if he develops self-respect, the others would follow (Devonshire PALS, 2011). In the documentary, when the child purporting to be a bully was asked his name, his response was suggesting poor behavior and lack of respect for the older people, when he said hat “Ask them, they know who I Am.” Perhaps, the parents, or guardians might not be aware that the child’s behavior and the center would rehabilitate the child. The reply that the child always used contained coarse language that signifying that there was low sense or absence of a responsible person to give the child direction (Bloom & Covington, 2011). Thanks to the center, because the kinds learned to behave in a respectful manner. In the society, the challenge of behavioral models during life shapes the future of children and the community at large (Ramsay & Morrison, 2011). Parents, guardians and the social groups, therefore work together to foster a hospitable society, where no one compromises the life of his/her neighbor. Moreover, they try their best to make sure that the children develop characters, which result to desirable outcome. Indeed, this would enable the public to carry out their business and enjoy life without fear of intimidation or harassment. Unfortunately, the effort to realize such outcome is thrown into doubt following the revelation of innate criminal activities, which perhaps resulted from poor development during the initial stage of their life (Freitas & Chesney-Lind, 2001). Most likely, the environment under which the children live and operate could actually be equated to their overall behavior during adulthood. Within their psychological conviction, they are right and justify the criminal activities they commit (Alexander, 2000). There are significant claims in the society that the growing children could be who they are expected to be, a process that starts early in their life. According to Chaskin, comparative studies have shown that the children would emulate certain unique characteristics that the society depicts, or practices (Chaskin, 2010). They are quick to adopt the behavior that is peculiars since they believe that would increase their public image and reputation. Some of them do not understand the long term implication of their actions. Usually developing into a gang is not an instant occurrence. It is a gradual process that begins with pilferage in supermarkets, stealing what they called minor items belonging to other people including wallets, bags among others (Bloom & Covington, 2011). Once they realize that there is no deterrent from society, they would increase their hostility and advance their actions to compromise most of the activities, which the other people are engaged in doing (Ramsay & Morrison, 2011). Notably, measures to curb such criminal operation are usually fruitless owing to lack of deterrent in the early ages of life (Devonshire PALS, 2011). Consequential security measures could only leave to death since the actions have their way of earning a living. Probably, the intervention programs would be of much assistance to the people having such problems relating to social identity of the people who have been designated as gang members. Indeed, the gangs develop a specific culture that they use to identify their associates, for example, the manner in which they greet one another, their mode of dressing and the kind of places that they stay. Therefore, protracted behavior deterioration in society among the youths is of much concern because they are the people to be responsible for the future. In fact, it might be interesting to learn the gang membership and some of their resistant to intervention and rehabilitation initiatives. Literally, many juvenile programs have a lot of contribution in shaping the societal behavior (Bloom & Covington, 2011). Usually, at high risk are the juveniles attending these after school programs that their fellow youths have initiated (Devonshire PALS, 2011). In reality, service behavior modifications of the social identity community intervention with individuals are always at risk. Theory According to R. Greenwald, delivering the possible interventions consistent with the theory explain the emergence and other facts relating to the problem gives is significant, because it increases the understanding of specific aspects of the problem (Greenwald, 2002). The theoretical outline could also assist the organization to attain implementation fidelity, relative to the efficacy trials. The differential opportunity theory outlines the reasons prompting youth involvement in criminal gang (Chaskin, 2010). In this theory, when the child gets an opportunity without proper information, he/she would like to utilize it, sometimes not considering the side effects of their action. Therefore, it calls for close monitoring of the activities that the children do, where?, When?, and with whom? (Chaskin, 2010). For the implementation of the programs to succeed, there should be adequate integration of the theory and research findings (Chaskin, 2010). Through this venture, the coordinated efforts between the group implementing the intervention strategies and the community would also offer significant impact on the success of the initiative. Hypotheses The relationship between individual behavior and his/her early orientation is very important in determining the way such child would develop to adulthood. Various suggestions offer explanation to the arguments based on, the practical observation concerning the particular participant. For this research, the hypotheses to be investigated tested, and result findings to be analyzed are, weather there is a significant relationship between child behavior and early orientation or there is no correlation. Fore example, Null Hypothesis: Ho: There is no significant different between individual behavior and early orientation. Alternative Hypothesis: HI: There is significant different between individual behavior and early orientation. Methodology Since the exercise is pragmatic in nature, the methodology would consider having two sets of children. One set put under control, while the other set is left free without any control. Notably, the experimental control would work, for example, one of the control experiment would be the set of children put under training on deterrent behaviors, which make them able to highly effective in identifying gangs among the people and able to prevent their actions (Bloom & Covington, 2011). The group would be put under intensive programs running daily for two hours. Notably, such enriching programs would develop the children’s capability to analyze situations to come up with proper risk-free initiatives, which would deter organized gangs from committing atrocities. Through the controlled groups, they would be able to identify the ways of making sure that the desired outcome is achieved. The other group would not have any from of enrichment program, and their actions not predetermined (Chaskin, 2010). Actually, they will depend on their psychological status in making decision on the practice to embrace. Indeed, this would provide an opportunity of making comparison and contrasts between the two groups to be able to make informed choice, on the best practice. Findings Some of the findings of the intervention program include the following; through observation, some of the children showed unruly behavior, sometimes being in the form of bullying and rudeness (Chaskin, 2010). In fact the characters seemed to be innate and developed for a long time. In addition, the child depicting such unruly behavior might have been out of guidance as a better guidance approach would bring a huge difference on their life (Freitas & Chesney-Lind, 2001). Therefore, an integrated corrective approach would be more appropriate in dealing with the problem, within the social context to serve, for example, to the other participants (Poe-Yamagata & Jones, 2000). Notably, innate character is difficult to change. Considering the case of the bully child in the group, he was preoccupied with other activities and could not create enough time to accomplish the homework. He rushed and packed his unfinished work saying that, “I am late to my boxing class”, indicating that he had prioritized other things than the homework (Devonshire PALS, 2011). Other than the unruly child, it was also observed that there are calm characters; polite, pretty smart and very composed despite gender differences (Chesney-Lind & Okamoto, 2001). Comparing this child to the other, there was significant differences between them. The research also found out that the learning environment in which the children are exposed could have an impact on their behavior and reasoning. In the same environment, such calm characters would be called “fools” no matter their psychological status (Chesney-Lind & Okamoto, 2001). Games are really interactive and since other games do not have age restrictions, it could be a source of learning if properly structured and coordinated. For example, the Dodge ball game that did not have age restriction offered a learning ground for those children with questionable characters. (Ramsay & Morrison, 2011) Therefore, playing games was a significant approach towards changing the children behavior. Discussion In essence, an intervention mechanism used in shaping behavior could be either fruitless or fruitful, depending on the mode and time of application (Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, 2000). Considering the juvenile program under this study, grouping the children in one environment where they grow under systematic guideline is a sure way of encouraging positive attitude of such children. There are fundamental aspects of need and risk assessments, which match them to the appropriate intervention modules (Devonshire PALS, 2011). Mostly, the people have realized that intervention could have significant impact on the child behavior than waiting to offer solution on such actions (Alexander, 2000). Making sure that the intervention methods yield the required outcome becomes the priority of the juvenile programs. Notably, it is through the integrated approach that Devonshire youth center has managed to minimize increase cases of child gang and other related criminal activities. The relevance of such approaches in controlling crime is the perceived increase of juvenile justice in all the services that the agency provides (Lipsey et al., 2010). This is a systematic way of assuring the quality of output as desired by the center. The approach that was useful in controlling and proved reliable is through using youth offenders in tracking the criminals and their unlawful actions would act as a deterrent to the behavior. Apparently, the youth would prevent their colleagues from becoming prominent adult offenders (Bloom & Covington, 2011). Actually, the improved security in the region account for the success of the intervention program. Also noted is the improvement of behavior change resulting from closer interaction with the children. Through some significant changes in behavior, the rate of crime and other acts of bullying reduced, showing that the intervention methods are successful. If an early intervention strategy fails, the youth would develop into hard-core offenders, low or poor performance in schools, forging affiliation with gangs leading them to commit high-profile atrocities in society (Bloom & Covington, 2011). However, the minimized cases of such activities in the area under the program indicate the success of the intervention methods in combating the problem of gang among the youth. Precisely, their interaction with older people having good behavior could influence them to change the bad characters (Devonshire PALS, 2011). Sometimes, the older people in such play groups might impose discipline on the children proving to be unruly. This is a good gesture, despite the revelation that it might take the form of bullying (Bloom & Covington, 2011). The programs applied in the center include the non-judicial sanctions such as restitution, curfew, community service, forfeiting the offender’s driving license, encouraging the youth to discern associating with offenders (Alexander, 2000). Sometimes, the offenders were referred to the social service agencies, operating in the local area, offering mental health and substance abuse counseling to the youth showing questionable behavior, among other sanctions (Alexander, 2000). Conclusion In summary, intervention programs in eliminating gang and related activities in the community is more vital, than struggling to deal with the consequences of their criminal activities. Due to the reality of youth involvement in gang committing criminal activities, it is perceived that early intervention would minimize or end such actions. The main item to consider is the methodology of the intervention programs. Usually, experimental controls offer the practical and real findings, which would assist in determining the mode of intervention. The use of interactive schedules where the children are put under learning in the same environment could also help in deterring criminal involvement, because they learn from one another. Such conditions, as evidenced in the research findings, are pragmatic and aim at reducing the gross aggression of such children. Indeed, they have proven to be successful in solving the problem of youth involvement gang and participating in criminal activities. Considering the findings, the there is a relationship between the children’s behavior and their orientation during early life-time. Therefore, the alternative hypothesis is accepted, while the null hypothesis is rejected. References Alexander, R. (Jan 17, 2000). Counseling, Treatment, and Intervention Methods with Juvenile and Adult Offenders. New York: Brooks Cole. Bloom, B. E. & Covington, S. S. (2011). Effective Gender-Responsive Interventions in Juvenile Justice. Georgia: American Society of Criminology. Chaskin, R. J. (2010). Youth Gangs and Community Intervention: Research, Practice, and Evidence. Retrieved from Chesney-Lind, M. & Okamoto, S. (2001). “Gender Matters: Patterns in Girl’s Delinquency And Gender Responsive Programming.” Journal of Forensic Psychology Practice, 1(3), 1-28. Devonshire PALS. (2011). Juvenile Diversion Programs. Retrieved from Freitas, K. & Chesney-Lind, M. (2001). Difference doesn’t mean difficult: Practitioners talk About working with girls. Women, Girls & Criminal Justice, 2(5), August/September. Greenwald, R. (2002). Trauma and Juvenile Delinquency: Theory, Research, and Interventions. New York: Routledge. Lipsey, M. W., et al., (2010). Improving the Effectiveness of Juvenile Justice Programs. Georgetown: Center for Juvenile Justice Reform. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (2000). Female delinquency cases, 1997. Washington, DC: Department of Justice. Poe-Yamagata, E. & Jones, M. (2000). And Justice for Some: Differential Treatment of Minority Youth in the Justice System. Building Blocks for Youth. Ramsay, N. A. & Morrison, C. R. (2011).Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice: Causes, Intervention and Treatment Programs. New York: Nova Science Pub Inc. Read More