Impact of Family Violence on Incidence of Juvenile Homicide in the U.S. And New York.
Around 14% of juvenile homicides involve family members as victims, compared to 55% that involve friends or acquaintances and 31% that involve strangers (Moeller, 2001). Therefore, approximately 66% of juvenile homicides involve an individual known by the juvenile, but not necessarily family members (Moeller, 2001). According to this author, "The large increase in murders by juveniles from 1984 to 1993 is accounted for primarily by an increase in the killings of strangers and acquaintances rather than family members" (Moeller, 2001, p. 236). Likewise, a meta-analysis of studies that examined the family background characteristics of 14 juvenile offenders condemned to death during a one-year period identified a number of common themes, including sexual abuse (five of the 14 had been sodomized by relatives), violent acts by the parents (nine of 14 had experienced such an occurrence and of the remaining five cases, three involved other notable forms of violence including extreme violence by a father who preferred hunting people to animals) (Crespi & Rigazio-Digilio, 1996).
The juveniles involved in these latter cases were reluctant to share this information, even with their defense counsel, and the parents involved were also not forthcoming in admitting any culpability because of their own criminal or immoral behaviors. "The subjects were ashamed of their parents' brutality and had tried to minimize or conceal this information. In essence, this meant the youngsters had not revealed information which could mitigate a death sentence! Moreover, the parents were unable to assist in their children's defense, largely by virtue of their own psychopathology" (p. 354). In this regard, although other researchers suggest that while there is a direct association between the incidence of family violence and juvenile homicide, through education and increased community awareness, it is possible for parents to learn what effect their behaviors are having on their children and can become partners in solving the problem. For example, as Horowitz (2000) emphasizes, "Early intervention must begin at home due to the profound effect a parent has on his or her child. Helping parents learn to be parents is not only an important step towards reducing abuse and/or neglect, it is also an important step towards reducing the number of children who kill" (p. 133).
This point was also made by former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno, who credits such initiatives with stemming the tide of juvenile homicides in New York State: "Prevention programs that teach parents how to better supervise their children or provide more outlets for young people in the after-school hours, when most juvenile crime takes place. Prevention us 'a lot cheaper than a detention facility" (the attorney general also noted that the cost of maintaining juveniles in New York State juvenile justice facilities is approximately $80,000 a year, an amount sufficient to send three students to Harvard or Yale for a year) (quoted in Butterfield, 1996 at p. 3). Moreover, because resources are by definition scarce, it is reasonable to assume that the juvenile justice system in New York State continues to struggle with a lack of resources that can be dedicated to addressing major crimes such as juvenile homicides, a fact that will undoubtedly further contribute to juveniles in New York becoming involved in the criminal justice system in more serious ways because of a lack of early community-level intervention services. As noted above, while about two-thirds of all juvenile homicides involve someone known to the perpetrator, this means that about one-third involve complete strangers, but both trends have some profound concomitant social problems associated with them as well, and these are discussed further below.
Societal Problems Associated with Juvenile Homicide.
Although the economic costs associated with juvenile homicide are significant in terms of their adjudication in the juvenile justice system, the
Findings revealed the importance of early intervention and other schooling factors in reducing delinquency. They also emphasized the benefits of early intervention as one effective measure in preventing delinquency (Mann & Reynolds). The study established the connection between a large-scale preschool program and reductions in the incidence, frequency and severity of juvenile crime (Mann & Reynolds, 2006). The connection is between early social functioning and severe behavioral problems. Social functioning
Juvenile delinquency seems to be growing in this country; at least the media's handling of it seems to be increasing. This paper will provide research into violence in the various forms of media and how it affects juvenile delinquency. Studies indicate violence in the media can contribute to violence in young people. They also indicate that there are many instances of violence in the media every day. Another issue facing
Washington courts registered 13,127 juvenile offenses in 2005, of whom 77% were boys and 76% of them had previous offenses and imprisonments (SGC, 2008). Of the total rate of recidivists, 72% were girls. Those convicted are given dispositions rather than sentenced. Information on race and ethnicity appeared inaccurate. While only 3.94% of the Washington population was African-American, African-American accounted for 13.11% of all recorded juvenile dispositions. This was a disproportionately
Criminal Justice Juvenile justice Gang Control Methods Descriptions Law Enforcement Efforts The traditional police personnel from the youth unit control the gang. Police officers from youth or detective unit are charged with controlling activities of the gang. Setting up of gang unit within the police to exclusively control gang activity. The Chicago Police Department set up gang crime section to process information on gangs and gang leaders. The Los Angeles Police Department engages in crime breaking activities that involve
Crime As Schmalleger explains, the American juvenile-justice system was designed a century ago to reform kids found guilty of minor crimes, but more and more, the system has to cope with more violent crimes committed by younger people. The response on the part of lawmakers has been largely to siphon the worst of these young people out of the juvenile system by lowering the age at which juveniles charged with serious
The prosecutor allowed that the crime is third-degree battery and that the homicide occurred during the battery. The mitigating circumstance in Alex King's situation was the influence that Ricky Chavez exerted over Alex, who was 12 years old at the time of this crime. Alex asserted that Mr. Chavez and he were in love and that if Mr. King were alive, he would not let Alex live with him.
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