Boys N' the Hood: Juvenile Delinquent Activities In America

Boys N' the Hood: Juvenile Delinquent Activities In America

In the early 1990s, scholars believed that crime rates for juvenile delinquents (JDs) would increase to unparalleled levels. This belief' was based mostly on recent crime statistics, such as the claim that Between 1985 and 1992, the rate at which males ages 14 to 17 committed murder increased by about 50 percent for whites and over 300 percent for blacks. Also, between 1985 and 1991 the number of juveniles in custody increased from 49,000 to nearly 58,000. From crime statistics like these, scholars generally concluded that juvenile crime was getting worse, and that it would eventually get much, much worse - "some analysts argued that what had typically only been only a threat to lower-class, inner-city dwellers, might become a reality for the rest of society(Bursik, 2010).

On top of the fact that the number of juvenile crimes would increase, scholars also believed that the severity of their crimes would increase as well. Other longitudinal studies indicated that "each generation of crime-prone boys (the "6 percent") has been about three times as dangerous as the one before it," therefore meaning that this generation would be three times more dangerous as well. So the picture was shaping up as more juveniles, and more dangerous juveniles.

Ultimately, the change toward a more punitive policy seemed to be unwarranted. In retrospect, as one scholar has concluded, "the alarmists were wrong, There will not be a coming youth crime wave. In 1995, juvenile crime stunned most criminal justice experts by actually moving downward, although it was a dip in a high plateau. Overall, violent crime arrests for youths dropped 2.9 percent (Machel, 2012).

Boyz n the Hood follows the lives of T re Sty les (Cuba Gooding Jr.) and Doughboy (Ice Cube), two African-American teenagers growing up in Los Angeles. Tre and Doughboy lead two very different lives. Tre is focused on school, getting a job, and taking the direction of his father, Furious Styles (Laurence Fishburne). Doughboy is focused on his reputation on the streets, maintaining a tough image, and protecting his neighborhood. The film uses these focal points to show the disparate ways that Tre and Doughboy deal with an array of problematic situations, specifically murder, disrespect, drugs, police brutality, and relationships with females. Ultimately, the film tries to capture socially and psychologically what it is like to grow up in the "hood" in Los Angeles.

Boyz n the Hood otTers a mix of both of these ways of caring for children, but does it from the perspective of two juveniles who are nor delinquents. On the one hand, Tre, is so concerned about not becoming a father that he has avoided sex completely. On the other hand, Ricky, one ofTre's good friends, is the complete opposite; only 18, Ricky has a child who is about two years old. Ricky does not care for his child, and constantly puts pressure on his girlfriend to take care of ...