Youth Violence
Over the past decade, criminal and violent acts committed by juveniles have increased dramatically. A national crisis is engulfing this country. Over half of the people arrested for murder in the United States in 1991 were under age 25 (Wilson & Howell, 1993). The Children’s Defense fund estimates that an American child is arrested for a violent crime every five minutes and is killed by guns every 2 hours (Edelman, 1995). Over the past 10 years, our youth have appeared to commit more violent acts and to commit them at younger ages. Because this is a major problem in society, many programs, strategies, and policies have been implemented in an attempt to reduce . It is understood that ...
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as a juvenile by 53% (league of Women Voters of Texas Education Fund. 1994, p.3). In Houston Texas, Judge Eric Andell stated that “95% of all youth seen in court share one very predictable problem: alcoholism in the family” (league of Women Voters of Texas Education Fund. 1994, p.5). Each day, nearly 3,000 children see their parents divorce, and 59% of all children will live in a single-parent household before reaching age 18 (Edelman, 1995 p.46). Divorce often results in economic hardship, psychological problems , reconstituted families, and overwhelmed parents (Edelman, 1995, p.54). Youth who lack a closeness with their parents or who feel a lack of family cohesion are more likely to get into trouble.
Personal characteristics of young people can also contribute to the type of development that progresses to violent behavior. Edelman. (1995) reported that babies that are irritable, who do not adapt to changes, who have eating and sleeping problems, and who are fearless, ...
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at-risk family situations and who display aggressive behavior early in life probably attend schools in poor school districts. These schools often overcrowded, under-funded, and have a high percentage of children with aggressive behavior, and have inexperienced teachers (Osofsky 1997, p.46). Inexperienced teachers as with unskilled parents, tend to resort to punishment and social isolation to deal with inappropriate behavior (Osofsky 1997, p.47). As a result, children’s behavior problems could increase rather than decrease.
The cultural glorification of violence is most noticeable in the media. It has been reported that most boys tend to copy aggressive acts they see modeled (Gable, et. ...
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Youth Violence. (2008, February 21). Retrieved December 23, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Youth-Violence/79386
"Youth Violence." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 21 Feb. 2008. Web. 23 Dec. 2024. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Youth-Violence/79386>
"Youth Violence." Essayworld.com. February 21, 2008. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Youth-Violence/79386.
"Youth Violence." Essayworld.com. February 21, 2008. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Youth-Violence/79386.
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