YOUTH CRIME

The causes of Violence in Youth

The causes of Violence in Youth

Introduction

The purpose of this study is to expand the boundaries of our knowledge by exploring some relevant facts and figures relating to the causes of the increase in violence and deaths of young people. Delinquency is perceived differently by the experience of the observer. For parents, it takes the form of rudeness, of incorrigibility, flights home, running away from drug use. At school, it is manifested by conduct disorder in the classroom and disrespect for teachers, flights and lots of vandalism. Media, crime is reduced violent crime, inter-ethnic incidents and gang fights.

For the police, judiciary and professional assistance, delinquency is made of Criminal Code offenses, assaults and thefts, and violations of civil laws on driving, on attendance at licensed premises, etc. It is clear that parents, educators, police, judges, social workers, do not respond identically to these three types of crime. Social policies of prevention, control and treatment cannot rely on the same principles in all cases. Doctors can use the same instruments for screening and diagnosis and the same methods of intervention to address these different forms of delinquency. For instance, delinquency used called understanding and tolerance, delinquency transition assumes appropriate assistance to get out as quickly as possible to the crisis and chronic offending requires early and intensive intervention (Shaffer, 2002, pp. 89-97).

Discussion & Analysis

Youth Gangs and Crimes

Gangs today are a worldwide phenomenon and, moreover, not unique to contemporary societies. Youth gangs have existed in Western and Eastern societies for centuries, and in the United States, gangs in urban centers existed before the 19th century. More recently, researchers have studied gangs in Amsterdam, Australia, Brazil, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Kenya, Mexico, the Netherlands, and Norway, the People's Republic of China, Peru, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan, and Tanzania. In many instances, gangs use the symbols, style of dress, and behavior of American gangs because these features are transmitted through movies, books, videos, and magazines. Indeed, today's urbanized and globalized world is producing gangs faster than ever before in a variety of shapes and forms, and contemporary gangs play a significant role in many kinds of violence (Sampson, 2002, pp. 110-139).

Curry and Decker (2003) indicate that gangs in the United States developed during four distinct periods. The first stage occurred as a consequence of immigration and industrialization in the latter part of the 19th century, when groups of recent immigrants-primarily Irish and Italian-engaged in petty property crimes. In the 1920s, a second wave of gangs emerged in cities, again composed of recent immigrants, but they had symbols of membership and were more actively involved in crime than the gangs of the first period. In the 1960s, another generation of gangs developed that contained a significant number of racial minorities. The availability of automobiles and guns gave these gangs the ability to fight other gangs in neighborhoods across a city. As a consequence, more gang members served time in prison and the prison itself became a source ...