Report on Youth Crimes

Report on Youth Crimes: Assignment Essay Help 

Each person requires proper care and love from their guardians and parents.  While growing up to adulthood, numerous changes occur. According to Healy (2013), it is during adolescence period that almost everyone all over the world learns a lot about life. To this extent, individuals can either develop a negative or a positive character. Consequently, youths do not at any time, turn out to be criminals overnight; instead, it is a gradual process. Also, Healy (2013) explains that a lot of teens turn out to be criminals due to lack of attention and parental guidance. The youths, in turn, are driven by negative impacts to find attention, cheap thrills, and fun. The youth crime rate is slightly lower than the adult rate of crime. In contemporary times, youths should be held responsible for their mistakes. Therefore, they should face the wrath of breaking the law through community service, returning what they stole or repairing the property they have damaged.

Youth Crime

The public domain associates the youth with a wide spectrum of crimes. Many of the teens commit non-violent crimes more than violent crimes (Fisher, 2010). Some of the common crimes that juveniles commit include joy-riding, shooting, battery, assault, stabbings, vandalism, stealing, petty theft, shoplifting, robbery, and car theft (Fisher, 2010). There is a perception by the public that many youths who commit crimes have a high probability of committing other crimes in the future.

Causes of Youth Crimes

There has been a lot of debate on how youth crimes can be prevented with the rate increasing daily. To curb youth crimes, experts need to identify the factors that lead to these crimes. One of them is financial hardships that youths face as they grow up. Some youths are raised from humble backgrounds with financial difficulties. According to Williams (2017), such youths tend to compare their lives with those of richer kids and end up looking for ways to try and close the gap. It is at this moment that they turn to crime, especially in groups making it even more exciting while at the same time decreasing their chances of being caught by the authorities teens start committing petty offences and later as time pass start indulging deeper in other crimes.

Secondly, youths may commit crimes due to peer pressure or rather influence. As a common reason that leads teens to commit a crime, many youths fall prey to the idea of committing crime as a group which they consider pleasurable and exciting. According to research, teens that associate with criminal friends have a high probability of becoming criminals. Youth delinquency is mostly considered to be a team game. It is therefore advisable for parents and guardians to keep a close eye on their kinds and know who they associate within the daily lives (Fisher, 2010)

Thirdly lack of attention from family and guardians plays a substantive role in youth crimes. Youths or teens also require love, care, and affection compared to all other things. About research carried out, youths who are neglected by their guardians and family end are more prone to turn to crime for solace. Lack of care, attention, and love may cause the teens to carry out criminal activities such as assault due to anger and violence to anyone who interferes with their lives. As a result, they channel their energy to crime-related activities (Muncie, 2015).

The fourth factor is bullying. Bullying in society among youths is a crime itself, and can also lead to other crimes. According to research, adolescents with the tendency of bullying other teens have a high probability of becoming criminals in the future. Abusive behavior, therefore, can lead to criminal activities. Also, youths who have abusive behavior or youths who relate with bullies may look at last commit crimes. In some scenarios, youths who are victims of a bully may carry out revenge on society (Curran, 2007).

Another cause is drug and alcohol abuse. A minor indulging in drugs and alcohol abuse is considered to be committing a criminal offence, and that is why they are prohibited, especially for teens. Drugs and alcohol abuse results in numerous crimes affect youths’ judgments and increase their tendencies of committing crimes such as vandalism and theft. In most cases, drug and alcohol abusers suffer from addiction. As a result, they end up finding money to quench their addiction, and when there is no money, they turn to criminal activities to sustain their drug and alcohol expenses (Muncie, 2015).

Theories Explaining Youth Crimes

According to Curran (2007), some theories explain and best describe youth crimes, their causes, and deviant behavior exhibited by youths. One of the theories is the differential association theory by Edwin Sutherland. The theory depicts how youths engage in criminal behavior. According to the theory, criminal behavior is usually learned and acquired by social contact with other people in society. As stipulated by the theory, people learn now to indulge in criminal activities through motive, attitude, and drive behind the criminal activity they want to carry out. The chances of carrying out a criminal activity depend on the time one involves them in criminal behavior.

According to Gaylord & Galliher (1987), there is a factor that explains why individuals, especially youths, engage in criminal behaviours. One is that a person engages in criminal behavior because he or she learned about it. Secondly, criminal behavior is learned through relating to others while communicating. Thirdly, people indulge in criminal behavior as a result of the influence they get from behaviors of intimate people. Fourthly, learning criminal behavior entails learning specific ways such as motives, drives, and rationalisation. The fifth factor is looking at cultural factors in the U.S., and U.K.  Sixth is that individuals believe and accept criminal behavior after associating with deviants. The seventh factor is that varying associations vary in duration, frequency, and intensity (Gaylord & Galliher, 1987).

The other theory is the labeling theory, which stipulates that conformity and deviance do not develop from a person’s actions. According to Taylor (2018), the theory depicts a social response to deviance and crime. One assumption of the theory is that deviant behavior is based on norms violations in the society and also by any form of behavior described as deviant. More so, deviance is not perceived to be the act that an individual indulges in, but it is related to the response other people have towards the act.

Conclusion

According to the report, youth crime is an issue of concern globally. It is, therefore, the role of actors such as governments, learning institutions, parents, and guardians to streamline their children as they grow to adulthood and educate them about crime. Also, they need to analyse and evaluate the causes of crimes among youth and lay down a set of ways on how to curb youth crimes. More so, causes of youth crime need to be analysed and assessed to come up with better ways of curbing crime among youths. As a matter of facts, society is obliged to join hands with the government and justice system in shaping the behaviours of youths in the society. 

Recommendations

My recommendation is that youths need to keep away from bad influences and peer pressure. More so, youths need to engage in constructive activities in society instead of hanging out with criminally minded individuals. Besides, parents and guardians should play their role and not neglect their children as this might play a significant role during their growth and development.