FREE ESSAY ON JUVENILE CRIME

JUVENILE CRIME

Reasons for Juvenile Crime
One of the biggest problems, which the United States is faced with, is juvenile crime.
The reason experts feel juvenile's commit crimes is because of risk factors when they
were younger but experts still have not found the main reason why juvenile's commit
crimes. Some risk factors associated with juvenile crime are poverty, repeated exposure
to violence, drugs, easy access to firearms, unstable family life and family violence,
delinquent peer groups, and media violence. Especially the demise of family life, the
effect of the media on the juveniles today, and the increase of firearms available today
have played a big role in the increase of juveniles crimes.
The most common risk factor is the demise of the family life and the increase in family
violence. Between 1976 and 1992 the number of juveniles living in poverty grew 42% and
this caused an increase in crimes by juveniles. Many of these juvenile criminals have
been abused or neglected and they also grew up in a single-parent household. Research has
found that 53% of these children are more likely to be arrested, and 38% more likely to
commit a violent crime as an adult, then their counterparts who did not suffer such
abuse. The symptoms of child abuse are "high levels of aggression and antisocial
behavior" and these children are twice as likely to become juvenile offenders. Also
improper parental care has been linked to delinquency such as mothers who drink alcohol
or take drugs during pregnancy cause their babies to grow up with learning disorders, a
problem which leads them to be juvenile criminals.
Another risk factor is the effect of the media on the juveniles of today. Before the time
a child has reached seventh grade, the average child has witnessed 8,000 murders and
100,000 acts of violence on the television. There is no doubt that heavy exposure to
televised violence is one of the causes of aggressive behavior, crime and violence in
society. Television violence affects youngsters of all ages, of both genders, at all
economic levels, and all levels of intelligence. Long-term childhood exposure to
television is a casual factor behind one half of the homicides committed by juveniles in
the United States.
The increased availability of guns has played a big part in escalating the number of
crimes committed by juveniles. In Los Angeles juvenile delinquency cases involving weapon
violation grew by 86% from 1988 to 1992, which was more then any other type of juvenile
offense. According to a University of Michigan study found that 270,000 guns accompany
secondary school students to class daily. This is startling because it shows how many
more juveniles are carrying guns and the juvenile use of guns in homicides has increased
from 65 to 80 percent from 1987 to 1991.
The possession of firearms plays a big cause in the delinquency of children and is
playing a bigger role in the crimes which juveniles commit. Another cause of the increase
of juvenile crimes has been the effect of children seeing multiple murders and other acts
of violence on the television. Finally the demise of the family life and the increase in
family violence has been the biggest factor in the increase of juvenile crime.