A Holistic Perspective on Juvenile Delinquency

Ploeger looks to explain he differences in juvenile delinquency young adults that are employed and those that are not. It would appear that employed juveniles will have lower rates of delinquency, this belief is not necessarily apparent in the findings. The difference exists prior to employment, working increases independence from parents along with parental influence, and working exposes adolescents to wider variety of delinquent peers. Data is obtained from the National Youth Survey. The study found that controlling for parental influence had no effect on the relationship between employment and delinquency.

The exposure to delinquent peers explained most of the relationship between these variables. This article demonstrates that employment may not be as positive for juveniles as originally believed. It seems that the youths who worked had more time from home with more money and influence from peers were more likely to become involved with drugs, alcohol and cigarettes. The author, Matthew Ploeger, is a professor from the University of Texas at Austin.

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His research interests include juvenile delinquency and sociology of law, including empirical research on law and legal institutions. He is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Sociology at the University of Texas at Austin. Ploegers has reported his findings in a way that can be understood by the lay person. Ploegers article is important to my research because it shows that juveniles who appear to be responsible are not necessarily so.

This article speaks of a study that attempts know why there is crime and juvenile delinquency, particularly in America's inner-city neighborhoods.

Essentially what the findings are is that if there is a vested interest in community then it is more likely that the juveniles of the neighborhood are less likely to commit crime, or vandalize. There is a sense of responsibility by the people, and parents of the community to hold the adolescents accountable for their actions. They take stands against those who are not part of this side. According to Dr. Felton Earls, there is a critical characteristic of collective efficacy. This is a "willingness by residents to intervene in the lives of children." The study determined that sticking together as a community would find that the adolescents were less likely to become involved in crime. Ken Hamblin is a writer for columns to the Denver Post and the New York Times Syndicate.

He has written this article to an audience of the masses. His work is important to my research as it shows how personal and community involvement in the lives of our troubled youth can be a deterrent to juvenile delinquency. Judge Mathis was on his way to failing at life by the age of 13 he had been involved in a number of petty crimes. Mathis grew up in the toughest neighborhoods in Detroit and was raised by a single mother who worked two jobs to make ends meet. He and his brothers fell victim to gang life. His family life was the opposite though. He grew up in a home with strong Christian values, with love and discipline as a home life.

He went to church twice a week but dropped out of school in the tenth grade. By the time he was 17 he had been in jail 10 times. Thankfully his mother had instilled some values as a child which made his decision to return to school an easy one. His life was an interesting one. He went on to become a lawyer and a judge which intrigued Hollywood to tell his story. He was able to perform his duties on TV like other reality-show judges, but he had a different outlook than many of them. This is due to the Been there, done that idea. His story has been told on Broadway and an HBO special about his life. Now Mathis is raising 4 children just as his mother did with good Christian values, discipline and commitment. Jillian Bullock is a writer for Next Step Magazine and received her education from La Salle University. The author is writing this article with the general public in mind.

This article is important to my research as it shows anyone that anything is possible if you apply yourself. Wright and Cullen examine the interaction of parental support and control along with their influence on delinquency. The term parental efficacy, is derived from the research on the collective efficacy of neighborhood and communities. The authors essentially argue that parents differ in their ability to restrict their childs delinquency. Indirect parental controls, such as attachment, and direct parental controls, such as supervision and rules, are analyzed along with parental support which includes reliability and emotional support. The research demonstrates that delinquency was reduced by the child-parent attachment, household rules, and parental supervision. Support was also inversely related with delinquency. This research presents the unique idea of combining parental support and parental control, which although they seem contradictory are actually complimentary, to reduce delinquency.

Parents who are attached to their children are also parents who control, and support their children. It shouldnt be forgotten that any change takes time and that it is commitment to the change is what makes the ability to change possible. John Paul Wright is an Associate Professor and Doctor of Criminal Justice in the Division of Criminal Justice at the University of Cincinnati. Francis T. Cullen is a research professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at the University of Cincinnati. The authors audience is intended for those with a history or study of criminal justice. This paper is important to my research because it takes into account the responsibility of the parents to their children, which is often overlooked. By request of the Netherlands government, researchers studied trends in juvenile crime and violence. The trends were organized around two issues. These were Patterns and changes in juvenile crime and The state of knowledge and research about the causes of juvenile crime and violence.

In particular, such violent crimes as robbery, assault, rape, and homicide were recorded by law enforcement in several European Union countries, but comparing the data on juvenile crime rates was challenging. Most of the countries used different ways to define juvenile violent crimes, and classify crimes. There is a link between the increase in juvenile violence to an increase in unemployment and poverty. Some countries more than others, but the figures were staggering. Non violent crimes rose also, but what is interesting is that majority of crimes on juveniles were committed by juveniles as well. Young men were more likely to be victims than women. The increase in alcohol, drug use and the ease at which firearms could be obtained, and domestic violence also played a factor. This paper describes juvenile offenders processed in the Federal criminal justice system, including the number of juveniles charged with acts of delinquency.

Also included are the offenses for which they were charged, the count of delinquents, and the penalties charged. Few juveniles are sentenced in the Federal criminal justice system. This is due to many of the delinquents being Native American and the tribes not having the recourses or jurisdiction to take care of the matters. Juveniles that were prosecuted were half as likely to commit crimes as adults. It is illegal to commit to the act of juvenile delinquency under federal law (Federal Juvenile Delinquency Act). The federal government does not have a separate juvenile justice system like state and local government. With that, under federal law, and during certain instances described in the law, an adolescent may be tried as an adult. The paper informs the reader of many statistical findings. This is why I think the authors audience is directed to law enforcement for the purpose of educating them with social patterns in regards to juvenile delinquency. This article is important to my research as it shows a window into what can happen when an adolescent is charged when committing a crime.