Adolescent Crime a Result of Socioeconomic Instabilities

The overwhelming increase in crime during the mid-1980s through the early 1990s created a disenfranchisement that placed a great deal of pressure on the juvenile justice system. Pressure associated with increased levels of crime gears conservative believers in social responsibility to implement harsher punishments as an avenue for social protection. Conversely, liberally-minded individuals gravitate toward the social problems perspective, believing that rehabilitation is the only method adequate to protect society. Inherent in the controversial topic of trying juveniles as adults is an increased responsibility to create a functional system geared towards improving society as a whole. The reasons to decrease the practice of trying juveniles†¦show more content†¦Cognitive restructuring should be the first priority for youth offenders, as this may be the only time where such a pursuit will reap any positive benefits. With regard to juvenile offenders, what should the overall goal of imprisonment be? For adult offenders, prison has always been, in this country, a matter of protecting society and deterring potential offenders; however, juvenile offenders present the greatest opportunity for rehabilitation. It seems plausible for the justice system to pursue education and cognitive restructuring for these offenders. Young offenders, particularly adolescents, may engage in â€Å"reckless behaviors,† but they â€Å"may be caused, in part, by age-related physicological changes in brain development† (Hansen). Strangers and peers, especially those within the school system or neighborhood, seem to have the greatest impact on the developing mind. Perhaps the best example of society perpetuating delinquency is the crack epidemic of the late-1980s to mid 1990s. Levitt and Murphy, researchers from the University of Chicago, studied the effects of crack cocaine on society and found that â€Å"mo st social ills resulting from the crack epidemic were caused by drug gangs fighting for territory and killing each other, not from the ill effects of the drug, as lawmakers had long claimed† (Kingsbury). Adolescents, growing up inShow MoreRelatedFactors Contributing For Criminal Activity Among African Americans1587 Words   |  7 Pagesenvironments, they began to lose harmony with the environment that results in crime (Shaun L. Gabbidon,2015). Dubois used variables such as age, unemployment, and poverty to explain crime (1899). Furthermore, Dubois study became a template to be used in studies that come to follow. During the 1900’s, cities such as Chicago began to experience some of the same challenges that were previously studied in Philadelphia (Gabbidon,2015). 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