Essay Sample on Violence Among Young People Which Include Poverty and One-Parent Families

Introduction

As immigrants, the black Canadians are subjected to a society that considers them to be law-breakers and therefore, inassimilable. Such characterization brings about a sense of temporality which affects how society deals with them especially in school. In the past, African Canadians have appeared to conform to this stereotypic thinking, but to some extent, they seem to be resisting it by refusing to be labeled as foreigners. Close to 46% of African Canadian children grow up in a single-parent -mostly the mother - set up and they are therefore tagged as fatherless. As such, these families are viewed as dysfunctional with the result being damaged children that have disciplinary problems. Such ideologies suggest that mothers are incapable of providing their children with the social tools required to make it through social and educational structures in society.

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Other stereotypes recognize African Canadians as underachievers. This is because of the inequitable schooling system where teachers' approach to students' learning and the European-based education system both operate as hindrances to the success of many African Canadian students. Such stereotypes are maintained by the teachers' attitude towards these students and the general social context of schooling. In most cases, many of these young people are dissatisfied by the education system, and any form of animated reactions to response to this is viewed as troublesome, disorderly, or disruptive. Finally, many of these stereotypes see African Canadians as natural athletes. The use of this stereotype has widely been used by coaches and institutional administrators when referring to black players.

Understanding Risk in the Context of the YCJA

Maurrutto & Hannah-Moffat (2007) indicate that many of these criminogenic risks or need indicators are as a result of socio-economic marginalization which leads to punitive treatment from other groups. Both the society and the government have failed to acknowledge the differences between various subgroups of youth which consequently leads to discrimination. The failure to consider the differences in race and gender often compromise reliability, validity, legitimacy as well as the relevance of the risk assessment tools. Such variables are important when coming up with a risk management plan. Also, failure to account for such variables affects everything else including the assessment of the needs of the youth as well as the data found in the PSR/RPS. There is a likelihood that during sentencing if the existing instruments are utilized, there is potential discrimination.

Explaining Discrepancies in Arrest Rates Between Black and White Male Juveniles

Fite et al. (2009) looked into the discrepancies in arrest rates made among black and white male juveniles while researching the role played by various risk factors that characterize arrests. Previous findings indicated that black youths were three times more likely to be arrested as compared to their white counterparts. The authors of the article, therefore, hypothesized that this was due to experiencing and the display of more risk factors as compared to the white juveniles. Risk factors include either individual or contextual risk factors. Examples of individual risk factors include behavioral disorder or poor academic achievements. Friends, peers, and family relations are an example of contextual risk factors. The group found out that black males showed higher levels of both individual and contextual risk factors. Also, these risk factors were also found to exist across different domains which meant that black males were more likely to be arrested as compared to the white males. The group of researchers also advocated for more investigations and assessment into the court system to establish particular services that could be offered to overcome some of these risk factors that face black males at an early age.

Racial/Ethnic Disproportionality in Psychiatric Diagnoses and Treatment in a Sample of Serious Juvenile Offenders

Michael et al. (2016) focus on the ethnic and racial disproportionality witnessed in psychiatric disorder that is found within the juvenile population and the treatment methods employed to deal with the recorder disorders that are closely associated with delinquency. This study aimed at examining demographic data, offense, placement, and risk assessment history to establish whether or not black juvenile offenders received behavioral diagnoses at higher rates as compared to their white counterparts and if so, they aimed at determining whether this group received the necessary treatment or whether both diagnosis and treatment were biased. The researchers found out that black juveniles had higher disorder prevalence, but unfortunately only 58% to 60% of the identified group was likely to receive the treatment they required. Therefore, the authors indicated that there was a need for clinical training to help reduce biases during diagnoses and treatment. Such measures would help curb negative behavior during incarceration.

Gender and Ethnicity in Juvenile Risk Assessment (Dispute Segment)

Shepherd et al. (2013) conducted an ethnicity and risk assessment where their studies indicated that ethnic differences based on all the risk scores and predictive accuracy were higher in samples where the participants were white. This was because minority juveniles were under-represented during the study.

Examining the Validity of a Juvenile Offending Risk Assessment Instrument Across Gender and Race/Ethnicity

Baglivio & Jackowski (2013) conducted a PACT assessment study, but unfortunately, they were unable to discern whether the differences found between ethnicity/race subgroups and gender because of shortcomings related to the instrument used or the criminal justice system itself which acted as an external factor. Differential law enforcement practices that included arrest practices, detection, and surveillance cutting across race subgroups and gender, several discretionary practices, and judicial decision-making disparities affected the estimates in terms of the validity of the risk evaluation instruments.

Analysis

Research indicated that black youth are overrepresented in all levels of the juvenile justice system, that is, arrest, secure detention, confinement in secure juvenile facilities, adult jails, adult lockups, the transfer to criminal courts and probation. The current disparity for black Canadians is the driving force behind disproportionate minority representation.

High poverty rates and poor social conditions are some of the significant contributors to increased racial disparity in the Juvenile justice system. Black Canadian children and adolescents are more likely to live in unfavorable conditions as compared to white Canadian children. Black Canadian children are also less likely to grow up in a household where one parent is fully employed. During the early years of childhood, black juveniles are more likely to experience poor health and health care conditions. Also, most of them are more likely to live in poor economic conditions which in most cases leads to segregation and neighborhood isolation with high levels of poverty as compared to white juveniles. Such poor neighborhoods have little racial heterogeneity as well as low mobility which is strongly associated with increased burglary and assault cases as indicated in the number of police calls made in such areas.

Researchers are still trying to explain the continued overrepresentation of racial minorities in the juvenile system. Some researchers argue that racially disproportionate offensive behavior patterns are the main reason why the current disparity trends exist. Others say that these trends are as a result of biases among decision and policy makers in the juvenile justice system. Interestingly, many of these studies fail to put into account the role played by social injustice in crime production (Clarke, 1998).

Conclusion

There exist strong predictors of violence among young people which include poverty and one-parent families, physical punishment, poor school achievement, young maternal age, and bad neighborhoods. The black race is exposed to various risk factors that are much more intense as compared to the white race. These different risk factors may also have multiplicative effects or consequences. Such effects might be as a result of enduring stigmatization or chronic poverty experienced by many of these young people. Besides, there are several other ways through which the juvenile justice system affects the crime rate differences like where police increase their efforts and increase arrests. Nevertheless, it is evident that young black Canadians are overrepresented in the Juvenile justice system and more needs to be done to counter the existing numbers. The government needs to pay more attention to these numbers and come up with alternatives to mitigate the situation.

References

Baglivio, M. T., & Jackowski, K. (2013). Examining the validity of a juvenile offending risk assessment instrument across gender and race/ethnicity. Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, 11(1), 26-43.

Baglivio, M. T., Wolff, K. T., Piquero, A. R., Greenwald, M. A., & Epps, N. (2017). Racial/ethnic disproportionality in psychiatric diagnoses and treatment in a sample of serious juvenile offenders. Journal of youth and adolescence, 46(7), 1424-1451.

Fite, P. J., Wynn, P., & Pardini, D. A. (2009). Explaining discrepancies in arrest rates between Black and White male juveniles. Journal of consulting and clinical psychology, 77(5), 916.

James, C. E. (2012). Students "at Risk" Stereotypes and the Schooling of Black Boys. Urban Education, 47(2), 464-494.

Maurutto, P., & Hannah-Moffat, K. (2007). Understanding risk in the context of the Youth Criminal Justice Act. Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice, 49(4), 465-491.

Shepherd, S. M., Luebbers, S., & Dolan, M. (2013). Gender and ethnicity in juvenile risk assessment. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 40(4), 388...