The contemporary society is disturbed by the alarming increase in the number of youth who are engaged in criminal activities. In the year 2000, there were 2,369,400 arrests recorded involving children, and 363,500 of these arrests were categorized as theft. The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) remarked that theft accounts for the greatest cause of youth arrest.
This particular statistic raises considerable concern from the members of the society, particularly in terms of the young children’s capability to go through a trial. The youth of today’s generation are greatly different from the children before. The prevalence of children tried in courts is a very alarming issue when children should be molded and shaped to have a better future. It has a considerable impact in everyone’s life for the issue of children being involved in crimes gives a hint on the futures of the next generation. Personally, I am a little worried of the children’s fate, on the kind of future they would have if they always get engaged in crimes and misconducts. They may suffer from lack of confidence to start anew and continue the lifestyle they have. How can we give justice to the victims when the perpetrators are minors?
One of the surprising facts in juvenile delinquency is the overall effect of the escalating rate of the number of childn engaged in criminal activities, which is quite devastating as the age of the committers of crime is getting younger. And as such, the impact of this trend to the society is very disturbing.
There are several contributing factors in the society that significantly influence children to participate in juvenile crimes. For instance, exposures to sex, violence, and other harmful materials have an effect on their viewpoint. Losing their childhood innocence and core values that should be present in them, places them in a situation which they are unable to handle or manage, making them vulnerable to commit crimes.
These activities of children may be attributed to a lot of factors such as the total upbringing or rearing of their parents. These children may have been brought up by incompetent parents. As such, the roles of the parents are very important because they are the ones responsible for providing complete guidance and teach the children the essential lessons they need for growth and development.
Youth may also be influenced by their peers and by their desire to be in the “in-group’ or become accepted, they commit and do everything for the group. Children may also be influenced by their environment. When they have lived in environment with prevalent crime, they may think that it is right to commit such crimes.
One of the areas that should be explored more in the area of juvenile delinquency is the juvenile justice system where youth offenders are tried and sentenced. It is quite difficult to develop an effective and fair juvenile justice system. The policymakers are having difficulty in balancing the important considerations in deciding how to modify the type of justice system needed for the welfare of youth who committed crimes and how to ensure public safety. Over the years, the juvenile justice system swung from one side to the other, unable to decide which to follow.
One of the challenges of working with youth offenders is to be able to let them speak of what happened and their problems. Children may hinder pertinent information that may lower their sentence or solve the crime. Committing a crime and being tried in front of a jury may have psychological effects for children.
One of my strengths in the aspect of juvenile delinquency is maybe my inherent capability to be an effective communicator which is very essential in dealing with youth offenders. If you want to let the children speak and defend themselves, you need to establish first a good relationship with them. They should see that you do not intrude with their lives and you are their confidant. Once you are able to gain their trust, you can easily acquire the information you need from them which may be very helpful in the improvement of the juvenile justice system and handling youth offenders.
References
Einstein Law. (2008). Juvenile crime. LawyerShop. Retrieved December 22, 2008, from http://www.lawyershop.com/practice-areas/criminal-law/juvenile-law/crimes/.
Steinberg, L. (2007, October 25). Juveniles in the justice system: New evidence from research on adolescent development. Wisconsin Family Impact Seminars. Retrieved December 22, 2008, from http://familyimpactseminars.org/doc.asp?d=s_wifis25c01.pdf.
Young, A.S. (2008). Reflections: Children committing crime and the death of innocence. Helium. Retrieved December 22, 2008, from http://www.helium.com/items/657039-reflections-children-committing-crime-and-the-death-of-innocence.
