...Youth crime is a serious problem in Canada today and has been for many years. From 2000-2010, there have been decreases in the overall youth crime rate, properly crime rate, and violent crime rate, although youth crime remains high in many areas ("A Statistical Snapshot"). At-risk youth frequently become involved in criminal activity after joining a gang. Although Canadian youth from all socioeconomic backgrounds may join a gang, those who do so often come from low income backgrounds and single parent or foster homes or they may have a mental illness. Aboriginal youth are particularly susceptible to joining gangs due to the high levels of poverty and violence that plague many Aboriginal communities. Traditional methods of crime prevention...
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...The RCMP is also involved in combating gang activity and in preventing youth from joining gangs. One of the RCMP's five strategic priorities is to reduce youth involvement in crime, with current priority issues being bullying, youth radicalization, and drugs and alcohol. The goal of the RCMP is to support sustainable responses that are consistent with the Youth Criminal Justice Act while focusing on early intervention and youth engagement. The RCMP increases youth awareness through programs such as school based prevention initiatives, community engagement, youth consultation, and youth-police partnerships while also intervening with young offenders through extra-judicial measures and restorative justice approaches. Many schools in RCMP jurisdictions...
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...useful in the identification of the proportion of youth in the community who claim gang membership or who are at high risk for gang membership. School-level data and information from school staff are vital to rounding out the picture of gang activity in the community. This chapter provides guidance on collecting data on the following: Student characteristics and disciplinary actions School-aged youths’ perceptions of gangs and gang activity (student survey) School staff perspectives on gang activity on campus Prevalence of Gangs in Schools In the mid-1990s, 28 percent of the national sample of students reported that gangs were present in their schools (Chandler, Chapman, Rand, and Taylor, 1998). This number dropped to 17 percent in 1999 and then increased to 24 percent in 2005, almost the level reported a decade earlier (Dinkes, Cataldi, Kena et al., 2006). Thus respondents to the national survey of students reported a decrease in gang activity in the late 1990s and an increase in the opening years of this century. Impact of Gangs in Schools Where they have a substantial community presence, youth gangs are linked with serious delinquency problems in elementary and secondary schools across the United States (Chandler, Chapman, Rand, and Taylor, 1998). This study of data gathered in the School Crime Supplement to the 1995 National Crime Victim Survey documented several examples. First, there is a strong correlation between gang presence in schools and between both guns and availability...
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...Introduction Gangs have been around for over a hundred years. In the late 1800’s to 1930’s there were a lot of famous people known for their association with gangs, some are Jesse James, Billy the Kid, and Al Capone. There have been many movies about gangs and in the movies make it seem like being part of a gang is really cool, but in reality there are many risks with being part of a gang. This paper will discuss three articles discussing the risks of gangs. Article 1: “Why Do Youth Join Gangs? The Problem, Risks, and Attraction to Gang Life” This article discusses the increase in gangs across Canada. Most gangs in Canada are adult gangs, however there is an increase in youth gangs and problems arising in the community. The article further describes specific things that they believe attract youth to join gangs at an early age. This article addresses five characteristics that can cause youth to join gangs. They are poor school...
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...for Juvenile Delinquents With the never ending problem of juvenile delinquency on the rise in United States, a solution to this problem has never been more important. Many of today’s youth actively and proudly engage in criminal activities, with much of it being spurred on by gang activity. The lack of structure within the lives of adolescents and lack of discipline has created a generation of unlawful, disrespectful delinquents that are difficult to successfully integrate into society. This column reviews three article that take an in depth look at what can cause this scenery to play out for youth and what some of the solutions may be to the problem. The first article examines the connection that has recently been discovered between level of functioning and the recidivism risk for offenders based on that. The second article takes a look into gang life and how the use of drugs within gangs plays a vital role in the ability of youth to successfully integrate into society. The third article reviews the developmental aspect of juvenile delinquency and how serious juvenile offenders are often overlooked in many studies dealing with mental health social disorders. Level of Functioning and Recidivism Shepherd, J. B., Green, K. R., Omobien, E. O., (2009). Level of functioning and recidivism risk among adolescent offenders. Adolescence. 40, 23-32. In this article the author’s main focus is that there should be more attention paid to the level of functioning in adolescent offenders...
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... Fraternities do have plenty of social events, service projects and other school and community related events. There are several factors such as personal, social, emotional and community factors that influence students to join fraternities. In order to join a fraternity, a neophyte has to undergo different rites or servicing in order to be accepted. The frequent reason that students join fraternity is for brotherhood and a place to belong. A special bond is formed between fraternity brothers. They will be there and will do almost anything for each other. Whether these set of friends make or break the student’s academic career, maybe hard to differentiate if a member is having too much fun. It sometimes depends on the individuals on how they will handle their selves as they join fraternities. But regardless, a fraternity is like any other group: what you get out of it depends on who you are and how you handle it .The problem focused on the involvement population/students in fraternities. Presently, the school/community does not recognize the presence of fraternities in the campus/population and have implied rules concerning this matter. But then, even with rules and policies regarding fraternities, still many students/community are involved and are joining different fraternities .Thus, this research regarding the factors influencing the involvement of students/population in fraternities will be conducted. The relationship between variables is presented in the paradigm that following...
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...Motherhood, criminal justice system involvement and life occurrences. In a study done by Fleisher and Krienert, O'Neal, Decker, Moule and Pyrooz (2014), stated that 63% of female gang members that were surveyed left the gang due to pregnancy. Yet, these facts are controversial, to another study that found no such factor of motherhood to play a role (O'Neal, Decker, Moule, Pyrooz, 2014). Being part of the criminal justice system, can be a turning factor for female gang members. Being incarcerated can result in a more realistic approach in the life of a gag member (O'Neal, Decker, Moule, Pyrooz,...
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...numbers of child delinquents that are handled in the nation's juvenile courts have increased over the past few decades. This is a major concern because offense patterns reflect more serious crimes among the youngsters, and the young offenders are more likely to continue with criminal acts. Child delinquents are more liable to become serious and violent offenders than youths whose delinquent behavior begins in the teens. Several studies indicate increased cases of violence committed by young children, which have resulted in children delinquents inflicting more deadly harm. For this reason, child delinquents represent a significant problem for the society. Several studies show that young males are associated with multitude Jihad warriors. The perpetrators are likely to be between 15 to 25 years. Adolescence brings a dramatic increase in the number of people who are willing to offend, generally between 15 and 18 years. With Jihad wars, the same factors attract young men to deviant activity can play a significant role in the attraction terrorism hold. Higher impulsivity, great confidence, and attraction to risk –taking gives a particular appeal to some young males. In addition, a desire for revenge and retribution is also a common motive for joining terrorist groups. Research indicates that most young men hold the most positive attitude towards vengeance and are likely to approve vengeful behavior. Most of the Jihads terrorists are in their teens to mid-twenties. Another significant...
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...Abstract Many factors contribute to juvenile delinquency and research has recognized that there is not one single pathway to delinquency. Studies have shown that the more risk factors the juvenile faces the probability of offending increases. The major factors contributing to juvenile delinquency are individual factors, social factors, and community factors. Many people have tried to figure out and understand the factors that lead our youths to commit crimes and what can we do to prevent and rehabilitate them to keep them from committing these crimes again. Juvenile delinquency is one of the most important issues around the world today. Despite the social awareness surrounding the topic, juvenile delinquency is on the rise and needs to be addressed in order to stop our youth from becoming criminals instead of important members of society. There have been many efforts to understand and analyze the reasons that juveniles commit crimes however there is no set reason, but rather several reasons that can lead a youth to commit crimes. Recent research shows that violence among juveniles is rising rapidly and shows that more than 60% of youths will have either been a victim or will have committed a crime sometime during their youth years (Garza, 2011). Research has also stated that the crime rate among juveniles has increases rapidly since the 1980’s and in 2009 youths were responsible for more than 2 million violent crimes in the United States (Garza, 2011). At the same time...
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...Counseling Children and Adolescents Dr. Lawrence Rubin Capstone Module 4 People join gangs for many reasons, not least to fulfill the universal needs among young people for status, identity and companionship. There is some evidence to suggest low self-esteem has a significant relationship with the characteristic features of gang membership: aggression, antisocial and offending behavior. Other important psychological motivations contributing to gang membership include the need for money, protection against victimization, connectedness to others in the gang, the need for status and respect, and excitement (Madden, 2013). As a former probation officer, I was able to supervise and form relationships with a significant amount of gang members. I was able to see firsthand the risk factors that circle around the neighborhoods where gang activity was prevalent. Gang membership doesn’t just appear in a vacuum. There are so many different forces at play and risk factors that coincide with mental health problems in these environments including: low-income households, unemployment, use of illicit substances, low parental involvement, low educational attainment, and involvement in the criminal justice system. As a therapist, I realize there will be numerous mental health issues that will be challenging. There appears to be a high prevalence of conduct and antisocial personality disorders among the gang membership population. Violence before age 15 that persists into adulthood is one...
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...Tina Huang CRJ 112 Professor Gutierrez July 7, 2016 Annotated Bibliography Papachristos, A.V. (2005). Gang World. Foreign Policy, pp. 48-55. Andrew V. Papachristos is an Associate Professor of Sociology at Yale University and has studied gangs for more than 12 years. In the article, Papachristos discusses how street gangs have proliferated around the world that one may now consider it a “gang world.” The focus subject of his research is Hector, a 19 year old member of the Latin Kings street gang, who happens to be the son of Mexican immigrants. He sells little bags of cocaine to make a living profit, about $50. The purpose of Hector being the central figure in his research was to demonstrate how the gang lifestyle is glamorized internationally...
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...Chapter 7. DELINQUENCY Juvenile among young people, as they negotiate the transition from childhood to adulthood in an increasingly complex and confusing world, is the issue that this chapter first examines. Some basic assumptions relating to delinquent behaviour are presented, followed by a description of the various factors underlying or contributing to this phenomenon. Some regional variations are highlighted. Effective approaches and measures for preventing juvenile delinquency are detailed, with particular attention given to the development of educational, professional development and community programmes, improvements in family relations and parenting skills, and the value of restorative justice for both perpetrators and victims. The chapter concludes with a summary and recommendations for future action. Delinquent and criminal behaviour For many young people today, traditional patterns guiding the relationships and transitions between family, school and work are being challenged. Social relations that ensure a smooth process of socialization are collapsing; lifestyle trajectories are becoming more varied and less predictable. The restructuring of the labour market, the extension of the maturity gap (the period of dependence of young adults on the family) and, arguably, the more limited opportunities to become an independent adult are all changes influencing relationships with family and friends, educational opportunities and choices, labour market participation...
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...Chapter 7. DELINQUENCY Juvenile among young people, as they negotiate the transition from childhood to adulthood in an increasingly complex and confusing world, is the issue that this chapter first examines. Some basic assumptions relating to delinquent behaviour are presented, followed by a description of the various factors underlying or contributing to this phenomenon. Some regional variations are highlighted. Effective approaches and measures for preventing juvenile delinquency are detailed, with particular attention given to the development of educational, professional development and community programmes, improvements in family relations and parenting skills, and the value of restorative justice for both perpetrators and victims. The chapter concludes with a summary and recommendations for future action. Delinquent and criminal behaviour For many young people today, traditional patterns guiding the relationships and transitions between family, school and work are being challenged. Social relations that ensure a smooth process of socialization are collapsing; lifestyle trajectories are becoming more varied and less predictable. The restructuring of the labour market, the extension of the maturity gap (the period of dependence of young adults on the family) and, arguably, the more limited opportunities to become an independent adult are all changes influencing relationships with family and friends, educational opportunities and choices, labour market participation, leisure...
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...predictable. The reformation of the labour market, the extension of the maturity gap and the limited opportunities to become an independent adult are all changes influencing relationships with family and friends. Also, educational opportunities and choices, labour market participation, leisure activities and lifestyles often create hindrance in the way of developing adolescence normal behaviour. There are some new pressures that influence on young people while undergoing the transition from childhood to independence. The factors which create a bridge with the way of getting delinquent in Bangladesh are rapid population growth, the unavailability of housing and support services, poverty, unemployment and underemployment among youth, the decline in the authority of local communities, overcrowding in poor urban areas, the disintegration of the family, and ineffective educational systems are some of the pressures which young people are dealing with. Young people who are at risk of becoming delinquent often live in difficult circumstances. Children who for various reasons such as poverty, breakdown of the family, manipulation of...
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...Girls and Gangs For much of history, gang members who are female have generally been left out of the equation. When both the layman and the researcher looked at gang life, gang members, and how they function, rarely have women and their role in gang culture been considered. However, women have long played important roles in gang life, culture, and membership, and the importance of such cannot be ignored. When women in gangs are studied, patterns emerge, the paths that often lead to gang life are able to be greater understood, and this understanding may lead to better practices in gang prevention and intervention. Women and girls have not been well-studied in relation to gang life until recently. According to Holsinger (2000), female delinquency has historically been ignored altogether, or researchers have tried to plug the female experience into theories formulated for males. Female roles in gangs were viewed as unimportant, and when they were studied, it was only in relation to their male counterparts (Campbell, 1990). Because the female experience is so much different from the male experience in a wide array of ways, it is important to take into consideration the different factors that may lead girls and women to pursue the gang life and join gangs. It is estimated that between 8-and-32% of gang members are female. That number has been disputed by several surveys, but as one researcher clarified, 32% of the jurisdictions surveyed did not even consider females...
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