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Race and ethnicity of juvenile offenders | week four final

The increase in criminal and deviant behavior among juveniles in America has been a national concern for some time. The Reports of juvenile crimes can range from serious crime- murder, attack with weapons, rape, larceny, kidnapping to minor crimes such as petty theft, vandalism, and drug related problems. The dynamics of gender, race, and social class all have a great deal to do, with the outcome of the juvenile offenders in the criminal justice system. Juveniles are charged with more severe offenses today, than in the past. These offenses are not restricted to a gender either both female as well as male juveniles are carrying out the acts. !t has become such an issue that for the first time ever, record "uantities of juveniles are filling up the criminal justice system. According to #erriam-$ebster online dictionary, The %efinition of Juvenile %elin"uency &' conduct by a juvenile characteri(ed by antisocial behavior that is beyond parental control and therefore subject to legal action )' a violation of the law committed by a juvenile and not punishable by death or life imprisonment *#erriam-$ebster, )+&,The word .race/ relates to social as well as physical "ualities used to categori(e folks and put them in groups or classes regarded as different from others. An ethnicity is a variety of types consisting of a specific population with anatomical characteristics, which differentiate it from other ethnicities *01ford, )+&,-

The most up to date figures uncover substantial racial as well as cultural difference in the confinement of child criminals. %uring &223, minorities composed onethird of the child population countrywide however made up nearly two-thirds of the detained and committed population in safe child locations. 4or black child criminals, the differences were most evident. Though black juveniles ages &+ to &3 composed roughly &56 of the child population, they made up )76 of juveniles imprisoned and 856 of delin"uency cases concerning detention. Roughly, one-third of adjudicated cases involved black youth, however 8+6 of juveniles in secure residential placements were black *9ilchik, &222 p.&-. Research carried out during &22: provided proof that there was a substantial differential rate of arrest, for offenses because they linked to ethnicity. !t also shows that 3&6 of child criminals below &: are white, while )76 are black. The other ,6 are a mi1 of !ndian, Alaska ;ative, and Asian as well as <acific !slanders. 0ne thing to remember is that at times, the proportions of arrests don=t completely show the populace totals. 9lack youths were over represented taking into consideration, they just constitute &56 of the child populace. $hite juveniles make up 326 and the others constitute 56 of the remaining totals. $hen it comes to aggressive offenses, black youths were accountable for 8)6 of the arrests, white youths were accountable for 556 and the other ethnicities were accountable for the rest of the ,6. !f black youths are compared to white youths, the black youths are the fre"uently most over represented in arrests for thievery, where they constitute for 586 and 8,6 for killing and non-negligent manslaughter, 826 are black

and 836 are white. $hen it comes to arson this is e1actly the same, black youths were least disproportionately concerned where &:6 of the arrests made were of black youths and :+6 were of white youths. *>awkins, )+++-. $hen it comes to the death rate of black juveniles compared to other races, out 0f the )8,25+ juveniles ages &)?&3 who were murdered between &2:+ and )+++, &),::+ *5)6- were black and &&,)3+ *876- were white. The remaining 7)+ murder victims were American !ndian, Alaska ;ative, Asian, or <acific !slander., The large change in the overall murder rates for juvenile victims ages &)?&3 between &2:+ and )+++ is reflected in the rate for black juveniles. The murder rate for black juveniles ages &)?&3 increased &7,6 between &2:+ and &22,, reaching a peak rate of ,&.7 murders for every &++,+++ blacks in this age group. !n comparison, the murder rate for white victims in the &)?&3 age group increased 826 during the same time period, to peak at 8.8 murders per &++,+++ in &22, . *0JJ%<, )++8-

%espite the fact that black juveniles constitute appro1imately &76 of the general population of youth, latest statistics reveal that black youths are the reason for ,:6 of youth in child location, ,+6 of child court referrals, and 5:6 of youth in adult jail. Results from the ;ational @ouncil on @rime and %elin"uency *;@@%- reveal that black youth are detained at increased rates compared to whites and Aatinos as well as Aatino youth are detained at increased rates compared to whites. The Bentencing <roject that computed state rates of prison time by ethnicity as well as race concluded that black

youth are incarcerated at si1 times more than white youth, while Aatino youth are incarcerated two times more than white youth. A few reasons ,that disproportionate contact is the variations in how minorities are treated by the justice method, with minority youth getting harsher inspection as well as treatment compared to whites. 0ther people insist that there are racial variations in criminal behavior, which minority youth just carry out more offense *0JJ%<, )+&)-. Cven though researches= results aren=t totally constant, data readily available for most areas across the nation reveal that minorities, particularly black youths, are over represented in the child justice method, most in safe centers. The information indicate that minority youth are more likely to be placed in public secure centers, while white youth are more likely to be kept in private centers or diverted from the child justice method. Additional considerable proof indicates that minority youth are fre"uently treated in a different way from majority youth within the child justice method. Two-thirds of the scientific studies analy(ed demonstrated that racial as well as cultural position impact decision-making within the child justice system *9ilchik, &222, p. ,-.

The reasons for assault seem to be similarly rooted in structural variations throughout communities as well as towns, irrespective of ethnicity. 9lacks fre"uently reside in communities "uite different from those of whites. 4amily trouble characteri(es the communities, in which poor blacks reside relative family stability characteri(es those of poor whites *>awkins, )+++-.

Therefore, a great deal of Africa Americans are raised around all kinds of assault, narcotics, gangs, abuse, and so much more which they have to fend for themselves. A standardi(ed model, for standard data collection, assists local data collectors e1actly document as well as report details. 0ne essential re"uirement of information collection is to recogni(e and document both ethnicity as well as race. Btudies suggest that, if race and ethnicity aren=t determined separately, >ispanic youth might be substantially under- counted. %ependable data are essential to effectively evaluate and growth as well as development of proper methods to decrease racial differences. A danger evaluation instrument might help prevent e1cessive use of safe detention, the keeping of youth in a child detention center. %ecreasing useless detention of youth that present little danger assists in easing minority detention and also over representation *Armour D >ammond, )++2, pp. :-2-. A weak point does e1ist however for the arrest information. The issue with this gathered information is that it only accounts, for the offenses carried out by the criminals that have been captured. !f a child delin"uent is carrying out criminal offenses, however, is never caught then there=s not a way true way possible to account as well as monitor or document information for all those offenses. $hen the child delin"uent is never caught there is no proof for the information. Earious cultural and racial groups as well as ethnicities for that matter take various stances on reporting offenses to the correct government bodies. This may be depending on whatever reasoning, and thinking that they have e1perienced or encountered and it is mostly dependent and affected by the region in

which they reside. These elements alone may influence the estimations, and provide an unjust disproportional prejudice that may contort the rates and leave the racial variations though still showed to a level, however, to some e1tent deceptive. This prejudice cannot be put completely on the hands of the cultural groups, racial groups, or ethnicities either The <olice and courts perform an important role as well. The <olice have been discovered to become potentially biased in regard to their arrest plans, and can even go as far as to deal with each culprit in a different way within the framework of the regulation based on the potential criminal=s ethnic, racial, or social history. This important fact also alters the rates creating a true estimation tough to gauge *>awkins, )+++-. February 26, 2012 - George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch captain in Sanford, Florida, calls 11 to report !a suspicious person! in the neighborhood" #e is instructed not to get out of his S$% or approach the person" Zimmerman disregards the instructions" &oments later, neighbors report hearing gunfire" Zimmerman ac'nowledges that he shot &artin, claiming it was in self-defense" (n a police report, )fficer *imothy Smith writes that Zimmerman was bleeding from the nose and bac' of the head. *@nn, )+&,-

!n conclusion, we can study and research all of the facts, but the truth is, either most people do not believe the facts, or they simple do not care. The life of a young black male in America is very difficult. !t started with our ancestors who were kidnapped

at gunpoint, and brought thousands of miles away, to a strange land. 0ver time, we learned to be obedient slaves because the penalty for disobeying was death or maiming. Cventually, we were freed but the laws were designed to keep us in another form of slavery. The same government, who brought us here in chains, released us from those chains, only to put us in mental and legal chains. The images and portrayal of African Americans have been negative since the invention of the television. The impact of those negative images, plus the lack of positive black leaders, the impact of crack and A!%B, along with the police departments as well as government agencies, has left the African American community devastated, on the brink of destruction, and near e1tinction. The only way that this problem can be fi1ed is if the Fnited Btates Government, make reparations to the African-American people. The reparations can come in the form of grants for school, and community based- programs. The programs need to be designed to assist the entire family, with education, credit building, job skills, interview techni"ues, training, individualHfamily counseling, first time home ownership, and drugHalcohol related treatment. The laws will need to be changed as well, to ensure fair and e"ual rights for all will be enforced immediately and indefinitely. ! personally believe that if the above recommendations are not met, in &+ years, those numbers will increase drastically. !n short, the government knows the facts, but is slow to act on the information. #y guess is that they have no idea how to fi1 the problem or they do not want to fi1 the problem, but either way it is a problem that needs to be fi1ed.

References

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http'HHwww.merriam-webster.comHdictionaryHjuvenile

6)+delin"uency

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http'HHwww.o1forddictionaries.comHusHdefinitionHamericanIenglishHra

9ilchik, Bhay &222 Juvenile Justice' A @entury of @hange. 0ffice of

Juvenile Justice and %elin"uency <revention. Juvenile Justice 9ulletin, %ecember &222. $ashington, %@.

>awkins, J. %., >errenkohl, T. !., 4arrington, %. <., 9rewer, %.,

@atalano, R. 4., >arachi, T. $., D @othern, A. *)+++-. <redictors of youth violence. Juvenile Justice 9ulletin, 0ffice of Juvenile Justice and %elin"uency <revention, &-&&.

https'HHwww.ncjrs.govHhtmlHojjdpH&287+2Hpage5.html

http'HHwww.ncsl.orgHprintHcjHminoritiesinjj.pdf

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Journal of the American Academy of @hild D Adolescent

<sychiatry. 85*2-'&+52-&+73, Beptember )++7 !nternet @itation' 0JJ%< Btatistical 9riefing 9ook. 0nline. Available'

http'HHwww.ojjdp.govHojstatbbHcrimeHJARI%isplay.aspJ!%K"a+5)7&.

%ecember &3, )+&).

factsH

http'HHwww.cnn.comH)+&,H+7H+5HusHtrayvon-martin-shooting-fast-