Juvenile Delinquency and Its Effects on Our School System and Communities

Juvenile delinquency is the participation of various illegal behaviors by minors, who are considered as individuals younger than the statutory majority age. The aspect of juvenile delinquency has been a phenomenon that has become common over the past years and has had a major effect on the various social aspects within any given communities CITATION Bon13 \l 1033 (Bonello, 2013). The rise of juvenile offenses and their mitigation recommendations such as rehabilitation centers, laws governing minors among others have increased over the past years. However, the following paper will put an emphasis on how Juvenile delinquency has had an adverse impact on our school system and communities, specifically addressing on the various effects this vice has on the education system, families, as well as the community in general.

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Juvenile delinquency is commonly associated with minors who are still in school. There are various reasons that lead minors to engage or act in minor vices within their lifestyles, and this may be attributed to aspects such as the presence of gang affiliation, substance abuse among other vices present within the community CITATION Gar96 \l 1033 (Garry, 1996). The presence of such adverse effects within minors brings about the change in school behavior amongst them. In most cases, juvenile delinquent acts will lead to the change in school behavior among students. Vices such as truancy are a common phenomenon within such offenders.

According to statistics in the United States, absentees from the majority of the public schools are as high as 30% out of the total student population within the K Level CITATION Wel15 \l 1033 (Welsh & Harding, 2015). Most education boards and facilities believe that the presence of such large numbers of chronic absenteeism tends to lead to the increase of delinquency within minors, and they end up being drawn to behaviors involving substance abuse, gang affiliation, alcohol and violence among other vices.

Bullying and violence within school systems tend to be another effect of delinquency among minors. In most cases, juvenile delinquents are prone to violence and mistreat other students within any given school setting. The major effect this might have on the overall performance of individuals would be the presence of low performance or even truancy, just to avoid being bullied CITATION Bon13 \l 1033 (Bonello, 2013). Psychological effects are also a significant effect of bullying, which will also have an adverse impact on the victims within any school setting. According to general research, it was concluded that about 60% of students who were bullies through grades 7 through 10, were convicted of at least two crimes as adults, compared to those who did not bully.

Lack of Opportunity for Juvenile Delinquents

There are various reasons as to why juvenile delinquency is a growing phenomenon within todays community. The presence of economic impacts within the society is considered as one of the primary reasons as to why most teenagers or minors lack opportunities within their upbringing. Most of these delinquents are raised in families that are living under the burden of hard economic times CITATION Gar96 \l 1033 (Garry, 1996). Poverty and unemployment have led to the inability of parents to provide the necessities for their children. It thus leads to minors engaging in gang affiliation violence and drug trafficking and abuse for them to survive. Social stratification within the society is also another major factor that leads to the rise of juvenile delinquency amongst minors within the community. The lack of privileges such as good education systems, health, and housing among others also lead to vices such as absenteeism within the school, bullying among others CITATION Bon13 \l 1033 (Bonello, 2013). The lack of complete family units is also another major lack of opportunity that these minors undergo, thus leading to juvenile delinquency. According to research, three out seven children within the world are from families that are not intact. They live either in cohabiting families or those that have single parents.

Causes and Effects of Juvenile Delinquency on the Family

The act of juvenile delinquency has also set back the various family units and society in general. Families are considered as the foundation of human society and are viewed as the strongest socializing forces within any given community. According to statistical research, within the last 5 years, the number of juvenile cases being handled by juvenile courts were to an extent of up to 1.5 million CITATION Par13 \l 1033 (Parks, 2013). Most of these children were seen to be living in non-traditional homes, where they were exposed to greater risk of adverse outcomes because of such environments. Most researchers would place an emphasis on the difference in delinquency because of the family structure, through the assessment of factors such as involvement, monitoring, supervision and attachment within the various family structures.

The presence of delinquency behavioral attributes within minors was evident from youths who were from broken homes. The presence of factors such as divorce among family units recorded a higher presence of juvenile delinquency within such subjects CITATION Par13 \l 1033 (Parks, 2013). The presence of children with single parents has also been proven to have a significant contribution to the occurrence of delinquency amongst minors, especially teenagers. Cohabitation among parents is also another major reason as to the increase in juvenile delinquency amongst families has been growing within the society. Research has pointed out that minors living within cohabitating households tend to participate in juvenile delinquency compared to those who grow up in homes having two-biological-parents setting CITATION Par13 \l 1033 (Parks, 2013). Father figures who are not present within these family units is also one of the major reasons why majority f the minors will engage in juvenile delinquency. Research tries to prove or identify if the presence of parental absence, especially the father figure, is the leading cause of children having increased juvenile records. It was proved, that children brought up by single parent families were more prone to these vices and phenomenon compared to children from the intact family.

The presence of such factors has also had numerous effects within various family units, as well as the community in general. The existence of delinquents among such families has known to cause trauma and family breakups amongst relatives because of the presence of such cases. The stigmatization that comes with such vices from minors, especially towards their parents, may cause psychological complications, as well as, social seclusion from the community. It also tends to bring about the presence of financial hardships, since payments made to lawyers for them to sort out cases against their children CITATION Wel15 \l 1033 (Welsh & Harding, 2015).

The various negative causes that these juvenile delinquents may inflict on their victims such as bullying and injury may also have their family units deal with the different ethical issues and convictions of responsibilities to the victims of their childs actions and crimes. Violence among these delinquents has also been a common factor that is affecting families. Since juvenile delinquency tends to be substantially associated with substance abuse, alcohol abuse, gang affiliation among other vices, violence is bound to be present in such households. In most cases, these delinquent end up having altercations with their parents, since they are not in real terms due to impaired judgments or just misunderstandings. These are but some of the main effects that juvenile delinquency has on the family structure, as well as, the community as a whole.

Action Recommendation for Juvenile Delinquents

Legal Systems Rehabilitation Centers

One of the primary recommendation actions that most law enforcement agencies, as well as, agencies dealing with juvenile delinquency is enhancing the legal systems and rehabilitation centers or programs when it comes to addressing this particular issue CITATION Wel15 \l 1033 (Welsh & Harding, 2015). The presence of various laws has been implemented to curb the spread of juvenile delinquency, especially when it comes to aspects such as gang affiliation, violence and drug abuse. Rehabilitation centers are being fitted with therapeutic programs that are aimed at ensuring that juvenile delinquents are reformed.

Counseling and Guidance for Families and Juvenile Delinquents

The presence of direction and counseling sessions amongst young offenders is another major way in ensuring an action plan is set to curb this social vice. In addition to the above, families and the community should also be engaged in these sessions, to ensure that the vice is addressed and the needed awareness of juvenile delinquency is addressed CITATION Wel15 \l 1033 (Welsh & Harding, 2015). These could be done using reformed juvenile and families that have already triumphed through these instances, and they could be used to create the needed awareness in ensuring that juvenile delinquency is handled, especially within the society.

Engage In Awareness Campaigns against Substance, Alcohol and Gang Associations

It is through the presence of such vices within the society that lead to the increase of cases of juvenile delinquency CITATION Bon13 \l 1033 (Bonello, 2013). Addressing the issue of alcohol and substance abuse, as well as the adverse effects brought about by gang affiliations, will create the significant long-term impact in dealing with the vice within the society CITATION Wel15 \l 1033 (Welsh & Harding, 2015). With the implementations of such recommendations within the society, the extent of juvenile delinquency will be addressed to extensively.

References

Annotated Bibliography

BIBLIOGRAPHY \l 1033 Bonello, R. (2013). Delinquency and School Performance. Retrieved from Academia.edu: http://www.academia.edu/1855029/Delinquency_and_School_Performance

The main reason for choosing this source is that it provided the relevant information addressing the effects of performance of delinquent children as well as their victims. It provides various reason such as bullying and other vices, which undermine the performing abilities of minors, be it the perpetrator or victim. It also provided the necessary statistics and relevant information when it comes to research figures based on the effects of juvenile delinquency among minors.

Garry, M. E. (1996). Truancy: First Step to a Lifetime of Problems. Retrieved from U.S. Department of Justice (Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention): https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles/truncy.pdf

The above source also provided the relevant information and needed research material, since it based on accounts presented within the justice department. it proved to be relevant within the research, since it relates well with the problem question, and provided the required information without biasness. In addition to the above, the relevance of the cases provided, prove to be essential within the research.

Parks, B. A. (2013). The Effects of Family Structure on Juvenile. Retrieved from Electronic Thesis and Disertations: http://dc.etsu.edu/etd/2279

The following source provided the relevant information utilized in the research based on the effects of juvenile delinquency within the family level. it also provided the needed statistics, which was relevant from various researches carried out before, thus providing accurate information. it brought about the needed understanding of the various effects brought within the family and community i...