Delinquency and Military Teenagers - Research Paper Example

Delinquency and Military Teenagers Abstract Various researches have been undertaken with a view of solving the problem of juvenile delinquency. However the proposed and implemented policies have been found to be ineffective in most cases: Juvenile delinquency still persists. Military teenagers still engage themselves in unethical activities such as underage drinking, truancy, and violating curfew. It is therefore vital to conduct studies on the possible factors so as to obtain effective solutions to the problem. The main aim for this research is driven by a passion to positively contribute to the current efforts that have been directed towards reduction of delinquency among youths. Primary data will used in conducting this research. Data collection methods will include the use of questioners which will specifically entail open ended questions for simply understanding by the interviewees. Samples of youths from different military families specifically youths, parents and other members of the public that may give pertinent information regarding the topic of study will be used for collecting data. The most important information that will be required from the data collected is whether military families are a contributing factor to juvenile delinquency. Key words: Juvenile delinquency, military families Introduction A juvenile is simply a child or a person who have not yet attained the age of maturity (adult) but is treated as an adult especially in criminal cases (Mathews, Deary & Whiteman 2009). Juvenile deliquesce is therefore the violation of the law exercised by a juvenile and cannot be punished by death or life imprisonment. It is usually caused by various factors, majorly social factors emanating from family challenges. In the past, children between the ages of seven and fourteen years were never held responsible for criminal acts but those over the age of 14 could be held responsible of any criminal act just like adults (Mathews, Deary & Whiteman 2009). Nowadays, all states have some limits in determining whether an accused person is treated as an adult or juvenile. In many countries, people are considered juveniles up to the age of 18 years. In most countries, a juvenile maybe charged with a serious offense, like murder. As a result of a get tough approach concerning juvenile crime, many countries have manipulated their juvenile codes in order to ease transferring juvenile offenders to adult court. Recently, there has been a rise in serious crimes acted by juveniles. As a result, there has been a progress in congress in a number of countries to further lower the age at which juveniles can be treated as adults. Some people think all juveniles should be treated as adults when they commit particular violent crimes. Explaining crime and delinquency is a complicated task that is usually faced by law makers. Several factors exist that leads someone to engage in delinquent behavior. Apart from biological and psychological factors, social factors can really contribute to juvenile delinquency. The public is much more aware of juvenile crime currently than in the past. Official U.S. crime reports indicates that about a quarter of all people arrested because of criminal cases crimes are below 18 years. Problem statement Several researches have been conducted to address the juvenile delinquency problem. According to past studies, various possible factors have been seen contributing to the problem. However no specific cause of the problem has been discovered. One of these risk factors is children raised under military families i.e. a scenario where the mother or the father of a child is a military personnel and is deployed for military missions in other countries. Research has shown that the deployment of parents (soldiers) is factor that creates a gap between parents and their children especially when they are deployed for extended periods of time: Thus, this leads to a scenario where children lack the necessary parental care. In a research article published by the Worldwide Web 2007, it is indicated that youths within military families lack proper contacts with their parents creating a scenario of inappropriate mentorship. The research also indicated that most of the mentorship programs provided to the youths, those whose parents are on missions, are quite ineffective and need re-evaluation for improvement. The article also indicated that a group of youths who participated in a roundtable meeting acknowledged that due to various psychological stresses caused by the essence of their parents being in overseas missions, compelled them to commit juvenile offenses such as: Underage drinking, truancy as well as the curfew violations. Research questions This study will attempt to answer the following research questions: Is deployment among military families the root cause of juvenile delinquency? What makes military teenagers engage themselves in immoral activities like underage drunkenness and truancy? Hypotheses Ho1: Military teens are more likely to engage in underage drinking, truancy, and violating curfew. Ha1: Military teens are not likely to engage in underage drinking, truancy, and violating curfew. Ho2: Deployment leads to delinquency. Ha2: Deployment does not lead to delinquency Literature review A lot of research has been undertaken pertaining juvenile delinquency among military teenagers. Despite the more involved research, the problem of juvenile delinquency among military teenagers still persists. In relation to previous studies, juvenile delinquency has considerable negative effects on families, community and also on the society. Most of the previous researches have been conducted with a sole aim of reducing the risk factors among military families which contributes increased incidences of juvenile delinquency. It has been hypothesized that Military teens are more likely to engage in underage drinking, truancy, and violating curfew and this is caused by cases deployment. The following literature will support and manifest this literature. Kuper 2005, in his work, “Military Training and Children in Military Conflict”, emphasizes on unity as a family after military deployment, which is not an easy task among concerned stakeholders. After deployment, reintegration requires time and effort with understanding that everyone has changed during the separation. In coping with the situation, every member of the family will form a new view point on his or her responsibility in the family. The reunion usually becomes stressful and sometimes disappointing. According to the study, a family needs a shared begining of purpose to serve as a catalyst in order for the family to be reunited. However reunion does not just come in a short time, it takes quite a lot of time, and is a process of mutual compassion, motivation and persistence (Nilsson 2013). According to the study published by the Worldwide Web, military deployment leads to a new life of feelings of lack of support from either the family or the federal government, new responsibilities, like paying bills, being the disciplinarian, beginning working outside far from home, or enrolling in college. Deployment can also lead to a feeling of loss of connection with the support and familiarity of the military community and also changes of emotions on the demands placed on them during the deployment (Rubin, Weiss & Coll 2013). The study published by the Worldwide Web indicated that various strategies were imposed to enhance reintegration following deployment some of which are; before the deployed parent reaches home every one should know how he or she would like his or her fist days together to unfold. Another strategy is to find things that members of the family will enjoy like movies, picnics or other enjoyable activities. The results of the study revealed that, military deployment leads to various negative effects on their families especially, their teen and children. It was seen that reunion after deployment is not an overnight event despite it is a process. During the process of reintegration, so many things can happen within the family members. Such is like domestic violence within the couple. This will lead to misunderstandings within the parents. When the parents cannot talk well and solve family issues, this is an enough reason for making their children disrespect them. This can make the teens to engage themselves in some activities like drinking, premarital sex, truancy among others. Kuper 2005 also tries to analyze the impacts of deployment on military families especially in the United States. In his work, Kuper looks at various effects resulting from military deployment some of which are as follows: Impact of Deployment on Service Members In terms of manpower utilization and several deployments, the today’s U.S. armed forces are significantly strained. According to a study published by the American Psychological association, American service members have deployed almost 3.3 million times since the year 2001.This extraordinary various deployment rate coincides with a major reduction in the size of the military over the previous 25 years. Although military deployment is not a novel research area, several distinctive aspects of the current conflicts have made researchers to start a chain of seminal descriptive studies reinvestigating the results of deployments on service members’ mental several effects from these studies are important. As far as they talk to the possible long term results of deployment on the comfort of service members and their families. Military Deployment and Child Outcomes According to the study, military deployment has several adverse effects on the children such as child maltreatment, academic functioning, and mental health and behavior. The Military Deployment Cycle Military deployments can be conceptualized in various ways and may differ in several factors for example: Deployments can differ in terms of their intention and also in the level of risk to service members (Astor 2012). Deployments also vary with respect to the quantity of notice provided in advance with regard to a pending deployment. Deployments may differ in terms of their span (Astor 2012). Although deployments are sometimes considered a separate event with particular departure and return dates, it is possible to understand deployment as a process which stars long before the service member actually returns home. This understanding of deployment is the same as the notions of other major life changes like divorce entails an important implication for understanding its possible results on a child According to the study, understanding the results of military deployment on service members and their families is a compound issue, and there are several ways to come up to this significant and sensible topic. Addressing such a wide subject demands a balance between meticulousness and conciseness. An important subject of this study is to recognize and articulate the applicable constructs in a manner that demonstrates both an appreciation for their difficulty as well as an effort to assist future conversation. Kuper 2005, makes it clear that military deployment leads to various negative effects on people associated with them. Their children ad especially the teens are likely to be much affected and as a result engage themselves in immoral and harmful activities such as drug addiction, drunkenness and even sexual immorality. Some might even become thieves as they struggle to get some money for drinking. Another study on the causes and solutions of juvenile delinquency was also conducted. The main aim of this study was to determine what really contributes to juvenile delinquency and finding possible ways of solving the problem. According to the study, various factors were seen to contribute to juvenile delinquency. The factors are as follows: Family Family is the essential socialization society for the children. Children learn fundamental ideas concerning good and bad from their family. They make their morals and the norms of the community. In a family the most vital responsibility is played by the parents. Most of the teenagers who show delinquent actions in any way belong to families that cannot provide a firm base to the children (McDermid & Riggs 2011). Usually, the cause of juvenile delinquency is economic problems in a family. Youth from poor economical condition easily engage themselves in criminal activities (Krebs 2011). They want to develop their status and for this reason they use harmful way. In this view frequently people do not help teenagers from poor families and they opt for criminal activities (Krebs 2011). Psychological problems can also be a risk factor of juvenile delinquency. Mental diseases by the parents can cause the child feel disadvantaged among friends. Sometimes they adopt hopelessness and anger from parents (Astor 2012). The following solutions were recommended for the family problems. The family must develop a positive attitude towards the society. It was recommended that parents should show their children positive morals and standards of society. This could enable the children to behave well according to the society. Also the government was encouraged to give support to families with poor economic backgrounds so as to improve their financial status. Parents were also recommended to teach their children on the importance of obeying laws of the society. Personal Reasons Sometimes parents do not contribute to delinquent behavior of the juvenile. There are sometimes individual reasons accountable for the delinquent behavior (McDermid & Riggs 2011). In other cases, the adolescent faces suffering in life because of some physical or problems that they experience (Kazdin 2005). A physical handicap will experience many challenges as the culture does not recognize a person who does not have related capacities and abilities like a normal person. Society is regularly cruel towards a physically challenged and this unjust approach of the society foams negative approach in the person (Kazdin 2005). The negative feelings make one to commit crime even when he comes from a good family. This is an enough reason for committing crime in adolescence. Recommendations have also been made that parents should take the obligation of fighting any odd that their children have (Kazdin 2005). Children in specific teenagers have not attained the maturity age where they can differentiate between good and bad. Parents were therefore encouraged to be concerned of the people who always interact with their children especially friends and their other mates (Martin, Rosen & Sparacio 2000). Conclusion It is apparent that juvenile delinquency is an act that is majorly propagated by inappropriate parental care on children. Research has indicated that inappropriate parental care usually exist in families where children and parents do not have appropriate contacts; an incident that majorly occurs in military families. Deployment of parents (Military Officials) to mission creates a gap in their families. This leads to a scenario where children do not have appropriate parental guidance and in most cases tend to seek ‘solace’ from their age-mates or children of the same problem. As a result, they may end up engaging in activities considered unethical in the society for instance: Under-age drinking, truancy even engaging in early sexual activities. In addition, evidence indicates that military families are usually faced with psyco-social problems that generally arise from effects of deployment of one family member i.e. father or mother. These psycho-social problems are basically mental stresses that the family may be subjected to especially in cases of inadequate finances or other mental challenges among the veterans of war. In such cases, children may end up lacking the appropriate family care hence resolve to under-age drinking, truancy as well as other juvenile offences. Methodology This research will focus on the use of a single method approach, basically applying qualitative data. The specific tool for data collection in this research shall involve the use of open-ended questionnaire that shall provide an opportunity for selected respondents to explicit their views and ideologies regarding the information required. This method is also imperative owing to the fact that it creates a platform for data analysis in a generalized viewed basically taking the answers provided by the respondents into great consideration. The data obtained from the open-ended questionnaire shall be important in dismissal or confirmation of the research hypotheses. Sample of the Questionnaire 1. Do you think deployment is a cause of juvenile delinquency among youths? Briefly explain 2. Kindly name causes of juvenile family delinquency among youth, apart from those caused by military deployment 3. Do you think the programs implemented by government to solve challenges of delinquencies are effective? What could be the reasons of their inefficacy or efficacy? 4. What are your perceptions on the current challenges faced by youths, in relation to criminal offences? 5. Briefly describe the roles played by parents to shape their children behavior. Do you think they are effective? 6. Do psychological challenges faced by children in military families a contributing factor to juvenile delinquency? Briefly explain. 7. What intervention programs would you suggest to solve challenges of delinquencies? 8. Is it possible that juvenile delinquency could be reduced by reduction of military conflicts and deployment? Briefly explain? 9. How does deployment affect your psycho-social facets on a personal basis? 10. How does juvenile delinquency affect the society? References Asṭor, R. (2012). The military family's parent guide for supporting your child in school. Akers, R. L. (2009). Social learning and social structure: A general theory of crime and deviance. New Brunswick [N.J.: Transaction Publishers. Britt, T. W., Adler, A. B., & Castro, C. A. 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