Juvenile Crimes

Juvenile crimes are like any other form of crime committed by any regular person and only differ from other crimes because they are committed by younger people- teenagers (Siegel, 2014). The factors that make a child turn behavior in one direction or the other are very complicated and sometimes obscure and could be very hard to detect. However, they are several reasons that have been seen to contribute to teenager crimes in most societies in the world.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

The biggest contributor to the character of a teenager is the family from which they come from. The family plays a major role in the development of an adolescent, positively or negatively (Siegel, 2014). The teenager learns what is acceptable or unacceptable from their immediate family and the people around them when growing up. Thus, they form their character based on what they see. Children coming from broken homes or abusive parents usually end up with lose morals and could have a higher propensity to commit crimes.

At the same time, the mass media and the modern technology, especially the internet has assumed the role of models for most teenagers. Most teenagers tend to emulate what they see on the online movies or read on social media (Siegel, 2014). Either the teenager may be influenced to try doing what they saw on television or they have pressure to want to be like their friends or other celebrities on the social media and television. Such teenagers ends up committing crime while trying to live the virtual lifes they see on television.

There are several solutions to juvenile delinquency, and most start at the family set up and the society the child is brought up (Siegel, 2014). The family needs to form and act as a model for the behavior the children are supposed to imitate. Teaching the children what is right and wrong from an early stage. The children look up to their parents and elder siblings for direction and since they are an empty slate, it is easier to influence them towards good morals

Likewise, parents should know their kids which means we should spent enough time with them and learn their temperaments, their fear and hopes in order to guide them well (Siegel, 2014). Their access to media and their intent should also be monitored to make sure that the children do not fall prey to being brainwashed or some other inappropriate materials.

It takes a village to raise a kid, and to raise them well. Taking control and supervising the childrens activities is the best gift parents and the society can give to their children. Operating with certain straightforward rules and regulations is a good place to start, and somehow teenage crime can be reduced

QUESTION 2

Juvenile Punishment

The debate on whether children offenders should be tried as adults is a complex one. There are those who believe that a crime is a crime and should be tried as such, no matter the offender while others believe that the law should protect the kid against certain treatments. Should the society allow kids to commit crimes and get away with it or should they be subjected to the due process and sentenced?

The law recognizes the nature of a child and the factors that come with it. In most countries, as per the law, children cannot marry, they cannot vote or become elected leaders simply because they are kids (Siegel, 2014). It is, therefore, a bit hypocritical when it comes to crime that the society would decide to treat the child offender as an adult.

At the same time, research has shown that subjecting kids or even transferring them to an adult court and later an adult correctional facility does not necessarily make them stop committing crime or make other teenagers stop committing crime (Siegel, 2014). Children have a very distinct redemption and reform procedure from the adults and what works for adults in correctional facilities is not transferable to kids. Juvenile detention facilities are better equipped to handle children and should be used for children rehabilitation.

Psychology has shown that children tend to act irrationally when faced with moral choices. They are mostly guided by their emotions rather than a clear evaluation of the issue at hand (Siegel, 2014). Children sense of responsibility is immature and underdeveloped, their interpretations of the law causes rebellion and bitterness and if not correctly guided would end up misplaced. Therefore, to judge a child and treat them like an adult denies them their right and imposes premature growth.

Finally, most adult prisons where these children are supposed to be taken are the worst environment for correction (Siegel, 2014). Children always fall prey to harassment and abuse, mostly sexual and the final state of the child becomes worse than before. Its my opinion that children are children and should be allowed to be children and guided towards responsible adulthood without harassment or torture.

QUESTION 3

Crime Rate and Number of Police

The relationship between crime and policing is very complex. It is true that the absence of a significant law and order spikes the increase of crime and criminal activities. However, the situation is different when the changes are in the number of police; the notion that there is a tendency of increase in crime rates due to fewer police in the street is misplaced. Crime rate and police numbers do not have a direct correlation.

The prevalence of crime is propelled by several factors and the number of police is just one of the many (Weisburd, 2015). This does not mean that more police in the street do not impact the level of crime in a manner that reduces it, but it comes down to the security measures in place. Mobilization and police tactics have more impact than just throwing large numbers in the street. Few policemen can perform the work of hundreds of ill equipped or trained policemen.

At the same time, numbers are important but having so many police in the street with strategy is useless (Weisburd, 2015). It is counterproductive putting every police in the street instead of deploying just a few to a particular hotspot of crime since not every part of an area has experienced crime. If it is a question of having more police, it would be brilliant to have them patrol or oversee a place that is thought to have a higher propensity of crime.

The police force in most countries performs different roles and not just dealing with crime. Therefore, sending all the police in the street to combat crime leaves other areas unintended (Weisburd, 2015). At the same time, the public has grown rather paranoid of the police and their presence in the streets is no longer viewed positively.

In my opinion, if there is a relationship between the increase or decrease in crime rate and the number of police in the street, the relationship is not directly proportional, and sometimes, it is outweighed by strategic deployment

QUESTION 4

Women Careers

Career women are sometimes faced with the question of whether or not they are better suited for the jobs they do and whether their male counterparts would outperform them in similar jobs. This question is a subject for debate where some people maintain that women could do some kind of work they qualify for while others hold that there are different jobs for different genders. Policing is one such job that has evoked a lot of opinions with some maintaining that the work of maintaining law and order is for the man, and the woman has no place in the police force.

Women are known to be calmer and gentler people mainly because of their role as mothers and care givers in families (Belknap, 2014). They are seen as kind people who are not suited for the violent nature of the police force. However, history has taught us that women can be tough and become very resolute, two qualities that make a good policeperson. There are hundreds of thousands of policewomen in this country working in police stations or going round the cities in crime hotspot doing patrol and bringing criminals to the book. They have portrayed that they can do as much policing as a man can and some have even higher ranks than the men.

Secondly, Policing is about training, it is a course like any other and no one is guaranteed a place in the force, whether male or female (Belknap, 2014). Both have to pass through a thorough training process that prepares them for the life of a police officer. At the same time, becoming better in any profession requires hard work. There is no relations between the gender of a person and the job they chose to do, success comes down to how much one is willing to work to improve their status.

It is therefore unfair to think that women or any person for that matter, is limited by virtue of their gender towards handling a particular task. If they are willing to work for it and give it their best, they can do whatever they are qualified for. Professionalism is and should be about qualifications and nothing to do with gender.

QUESTION 5

Alcohol and Crime

Most criminals are often under the influence of certain forms of intoxications that tend to numb them out of the reality of life and dispel the fear factors associated with breaking the law. At the same time, people, under the influence of alcohol tend to lose their moral ground and can end up doing things they would not have done were they sober. Most criminals are usually drunk while committing crime as such, most people believe that the only way to curb crime is placing a ban on alcohol. I disagree with this notion.

However much the consumption of alcohol could influence the commission of crime, forbidding it is not among the best solutions for reducing crime or the rate of criminal activities (Dingwall, 2013). Research has shown that this is a drinking nation and most people actually drink in the comfort of their houses. These people do not cause any harm to anyone and only take alcohol for purposes of recreation and fun.

At the same time, banning alcohol could spike another form of crime altogether. As it is with some illegal drugs like cocaine and heroin, banning alcohol would not mean that people will stop drinking (Dingwall, 2013). This means that alcohol traffickers will arise and the sale of alcohol will be done underground like it is with cocaine and heroin. This will pressure the government to introduce some form of policing to enforce the ban, which means that some part of the government spending will be directed towards dealing with alcohol offenders. At the end of the day, the ban will have increased crime and added unnecessary spending for government.

The solution is reducing crime not banning of alcohol but rather controlling its consumption (Dingwall, 2013). As such, both parents and the government needs to be involved in the regulation of alcohol consumption. Parents should control their children and forbid them from underage drinking and at the same time the government should enforce heavy penalties for those selling alcohol to underage children. Children are prone to mistakes, and the likelihood of them engaging in crime increases if they take up alcohol since it undermines good judgment. Similarly, the government should update the educational system to teach children and the general public about the harmful side of alcohol consumption. It is easier to control the consumption of alcohol than to enforce a ban on its consumption because naturally people tend to do that which they are not supposed.

QUESTION 6

Fixed Punishment

In most democratic countries around the world, different offenses carry different punishment for the offenders. The punishments range from death penalties to a few months in prison depending on the nature of crime the offender is found guilty of. However, there are those who believe that there should be fixed punishment for all nature of offenses (Currie, 2013). They maintain that a crime is a crime and no on...