Please accept my apologies for not being in class on Wed. April 20th. One of my case workers was involved in a crisis and required my help. Unfortunately, this occurred too late to call and have a note posted.
See you on the 27th.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Violence and Murder
Juveniles accounted for 10% of those arrested during the 1980's for murder. By 1990, one in six people arrested for murder was a juvenile.
Today, murder constitutes 5% of arrests of juveniles for violent crimes.
Other juvenile statistics:
Rape accounts for 12% of violent crimes.
Robbery accounts for 14% of violent crimes.
Aggravated assault accounts for 12%.
In one year, 1700 juveniles were involved in 1400 murders. Of these, 130 were committed by females. Approximately 10% of these murders were committed using firearms. 40% involved two or more perpetrators. 56% of the victims were acquainted with their killers. Two percent of the murder victims were parents of the perpetrators.
Juvenile arrests for homicide and other violent crimes increased 90% during a recent 10-year period.
Whether violent or not, juvenile crime is most likely to occur on school days right after dismissal. On non-school days, the most likely time for juvenile crime to occur is between 8 and 10 pm.
Today, murder constitutes 5% of arrests of juveniles for violent crimes.
Other juvenile statistics:
Rape accounts for 12% of violent crimes.
Robbery accounts for 14% of violent crimes.
Aggravated assault accounts for 12%.
In one year, 1700 juveniles were involved in 1400 murders. Of these, 130 were committed by females. Approximately 10% of these murders were committed using firearms. 40% involved two or more perpetrators. 56% of the victims were acquainted with their killers. Two percent of the murder victims were parents of the perpetrators.
Juvenile arrests for homicide and other violent crimes increased 90% during a recent 10-year period.
Whether violent or not, juvenile crime is most likely to occur on school days right after dismissal. On non-school days, the most likely time for juvenile crime to occur is between 8 and 10 pm.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Two Old Posts
For this week, read "Recent Incident in Quincy" (10/11/09) and "Outcome of 8-Year Old's Murder Confession" (10/08/09). To access these previous posts, see the column on the right side of the page for "Blog Archive." Click on 2009; the posts from October 2009 are about half-way down the page. Please respond in the usual manner. Thanks!
Friday, April 1, 2011
Tour of Detention Facility
Class will meet Wednesday, April 6, 1:00 PM at the Adams County Juvenile Detention Center. Please be on time, as they are expecting our tour to begin on time. Directions to the facility: Travel east on Broadway as if you were going to Walmart. Instead of turning left, or north, at Walmart, turn right at the Walmart/Bed, Bath & Beyond intersection. Approximately one block south of Broadway will be a drive and parking lot on the left side of the street. You may have to be buzzed into the center. The tour should last approximately 1/2 hour, or less, depending on the number of questions you have. Thanks to Matt for making the arrangements for this!
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Some Thoughts on Overindulgence and Conduct Disorder
There are four primary methods of overindulgence: 1) giving things as replacements for attention, involvement and nurturing. Many parents are unable to differentiate between loving a child and overindulging him/her. 2) Giving too much permission to a child who does not yet have the skills to handle the responsibility. Many parents give privileges that haven't been earned, leading to confusion and inability to manage life and its complications. 3) Parents over-nurture, meaning they hover over their children, in the process depriving them of opportunities to grow and experience life with its joys and disappointments. 4) Providing too little structure. Children need guidance, limits, rules and consequences. They need boundaries and responsibilities.
Middle-class American children, who enjoy better health, the benefits of a peaceful society, and more material comfort than any children in the history of the world, often seem miserable. Some of the misery is related to a sense of there never being enough. Interest is lost in a new toy or game almost as soon as it's attained. This tends to result in adults who don't know how much is enough with eating, spending, gambling, sex, drugs, and relationships. Some of the research suggests that adults who were overindulged as children tend to have more extra-marital affairs. There is also a link between overindulgence and the development of bulimia and anorexia.
Research also indicates that overindulged children become self-centered, detached, angry, dependent, entitled, manipulative, and incapable of empathy. In other words, overindulgence fails to prepare children for healthy relationships and responsibilities of adulthood.
Conduct disorder is a disorder of childhood that is categorized as an externalizing disorder. Externalizing means acting out feelings, often anger and aggression. The DSM-IV-TR defines conduct disorder as "A repetitive and persistent pattern of behavior in which the basic rights of others or major age appropriate societal norms are violated, as manifested by three or more of the following:
Aggression against people or animals (e.g. bullying, threatening, physical cruelty to animals or people, forcing sex on someone, etc).
Property destruction (e.g. fire-setting, breaking windows, etc).
Lying or theft.
Serious rule violations (e.g. running away, chronic truancy, etc).
Concuct disorder is often a precursor to the development of Antisocial Personality Disorder or sociopathy.
Does this mean that anyone, especially a child, who gets "lots of stuff" will become a criminal? By no means! I have family members who are quite wealthy, and their children usually had an abundance of material things. Their parents, however, provided structure, rules, consequences, many things were privileges that had to be earned. These children had their parents' attention and involvement, and they were helped to learn how to deal with anger, sadness and disappointment in effective and realistic ways.
Can you see the connection between overindulgence and the development of conduct disorder?
Middle-class American children, who enjoy better health, the benefits of a peaceful society, and more material comfort than any children in the history of the world, often seem miserable. Some of the misery is related to a sense of there never being enough. Interest is lost in a new toy or game almost as soon as it's attained. This tends to result in adults who don't know how much is enough with eating, spending, gambling, sex, drugs, and relationships. Some of the research suggests that adults who were overindulged as children tend to have more extra-marital affairs. There is also a link between overindulgence and the development of bulimia and anorexia.
Research also indicates that overindulged children become self-centered, detached, angry, dependent, entitled, manipulative, and incapable of empathy. In other words, overindulgence fails to prepare children for healthy relationships and responsibilities of adulthood.
Conduct disorder is a disorder of childhood that is categorized as an externalizing disorder. Externalizing means acting out feelings, often anger and aggression. The DSM-IV-TR defines conduct disorder as "A repetitive and persistent pattern of behavior in which the basic rights of others or major age appropriate societal norms are violated, as manifested by three or more of the following:
Aggression against people or animals (e.g. bullying, threatening, physical cruelty to animals or people, forcing sex on someone, etc).
Property destruction (e.g. fire-setting, breaking windows, etc).
Lying or theft.
Serious rule violations (e.g. running away, chronic truancy, etc).
Concuct disorder is often a precursor to the development of Antisocial Personality Disorder or sociopathy.
Does this mean that anyone, especially a child, who gets "lots of stuff" will become a criminal? By no means! I have family members who are quite wealthy, and their children usually had an abundance of material things. Their parents, however, provided structure, rules, consequences, many things were privileges that had to be earned. These children had their parents' attention and involvement, and they were helped to learn how to deal with anger, sadness and disappointment in effective and realistic ways.
Can you see the connection between overindulgence and the development of conduct disorder?
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Writing Assignment #1
Please write a 2 to 3 page paper based on some personal experience of delinquency. This can be about someone you knew as you were growing up, a family member, or maybe yourself. Describe the delinquent behaviors, and identify what you believe were the causes of the delinquency. Think about class discussions and use anything pertinent as you develop your theory of the delinquency.
Please type your papers. I will not accept hand-written assignments.
Make sure your name is on each page of your paper, and please staple the pages together.
This paper will be due on March 23.
Please type your papers. I will not accept hand-written assignments.
Make sure your name is on each page of your paper, and please staple the pages together.
This paper will be due on March 23.
Cultural Deviance
Theorists from this perspective look at the environment and sub-culture in which a juvenile resides. This perspective sees delinquency as a function of the surroundings or environment in which a juvenile lives. The saying, "society made me do it," could help to better understand this perspective.
Delinquency rates were, and are, consistently higher in inner city, impoverished neighborhoods. Looking at delinquency rates over time researchers found a very interesting thing. The delinquency rates for neighborhoods remained remarkably constant over time even though the population of the neighborhood often completely changed. A neighborhood might be Italian for a number of years, then change to mainly Irish, and then gradually change until it was almost completely African American, yet the delinquency rate stayed constant.
The cultural deviance theory would state that juvenile delinquency is a function of the environment. So what are the environmental conditions that are conducive to creating a delinquent environment? The social conditions that make up these areas are "deterioration; economic segregation; racial and ethnic segregation; a high incidence of social ills, such as infant mortality, mental illness, unemployment, divorce and desertion; and a high rate of dropping out of school.
A juvenile growing up in a culturally deviant area will be subjected to criminal lifestyles, and could learn deviant practices, patterns of behavior, and norms.
What are your thoughts about the cultural deviance theory of delinquency?
Delinquency rates were, and are, consistently higher in inner city, impoverished neighborhoods. Looking at delinquency rates over time researchers found a very interesting thing. The delinquency rates for neighborhoods remained remarkably constant over time even though the population of the neighborhood often completely changed. A neighborhood might be Italian for a number of years, then change to mainly Irish, and then gradually change until it was almost completely African American, yet the delinquency rate stayed constant.
The cultural deviance theory would state that juvenile delinquency is a function of the environment. So what are the environmental conditions that are conducive to creating a delinquent environment? The social conditions that make up these areas are "deterioration; economic segregation; racial and ethnic segregation; a high incidence of social ills, such as infant mortality, mental illness, unemployment, divorce and desertion; and a high rate of dropping out of school.
A juvenile growing up in a culturally deviant area will be subjected to criminal lifestyles, and could learn deviant practices, patterns of behavior, and norms.
What are your thoughts about the cultural deviance theory of delinquency?
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Does Juvenile Killer Deserve Life in Prison?
On November 9, 2009, the US Supreme Court heard oral arguments challinging the constitutionality of juvenile life without parole (JLWOP) sentences.
Defendent: Rudolfo Sandoval
Victim: Ryan Briner
Crime: First Degree Murder
Crime Date: May 5, 2004 in Ventura, CA.
Summary:
Rudolfo Sandoval shot and killed a random victim with a shotgun.
Facts:
Rudolfo Sandoval was a member of the Ventura Avenue Gangsters. The gang is Ventura's most prominent Hispanic criminal street gang, and its members commit a variety of crimes within the community, from assaults to drug-related offenses to murder.
Members of the Ventura Avenue Gang view most other gangs as their rivals, but they dislike gangs from Montalvo in particular. According to gang-crime experts, a Ventura Avenue Gang member's stock would rise in the gang if he were to shoot a random white male in Montalvo.
On May 4, 2004, Sandoval struck a man in the head with a shotgun and then gave the shotgun to Javier Acevedo, a fellow gang member, who shot up the victim's car.
The following evening, Sandoval and Acevedo decided to "go cruising" around Montalvo in Acevedo's car, which contained Acevedo's 12-gauge Mossberg shotgun. At around 11:25 pm, as the two drove down Wolverine Street in Montalvo, they spotted Ryan Briner, a 25-year-old white male walking toward his parents' home at the end of the cul-de-sac.
Sandoval and Acevedo exchanged words with Briner as they drove by him. They made a U-turn at the end of the street and parked. Sandoval, bearing the shotgun, and Acevedo walked toward Briner.
Briner, fearing a fist fight, removed his shirt and wrapped it around his fist. But when he was just a few feet from Briner, Sandoval fired the shotgun, blowing a two-inch hole in Briner's chest. Briner collapsed and, bleeding profusely, attempted to flee toward home, leaving a trail of blood in the street.
Sandoval fired a second shot, striking Briner in the back. Briner fell to the ground and bled to death. Sandoval and Acevedo returned to the car and drove away. Many people, including Briner's mother, witnessed the shooting. Briner's mother ran out into the street, saw her bloodied son on the ground and suffering, and broke down in tears.
After leaving the murder scene, Acevedo and Sandoval drove to Acevedo's grandmother's home, where Sandoval shaved his head to avoid detection. They managed to avoid police scrutiny for over six months, until Acevedo was stopped by police officers for a traffic offense. A search of his car revealed shotgun ammunition, methamphetamine, a shi-mask, and the 12-gauge shotgun used to kill Briner.
Both before and after his arrest, Sandoval told many people that he shot Briner.
What do you think: Does Rudolfo Sandoval deserve life in prison?
Defendent: Rudolfo Sandoval
Victim: Ryan Briner
Crime: First Degree Murder
Crime Date: May 5, 2004 in Ventura, CA.
Summary:
Rudolfo Sandoval shot and killed a random victim with a shotgun.
Facts:
Rudolfo Sandoval was a member of the Ventura Avenue Gangsters. The gang is Ventura's most prominent Hispanic criminal street gang, and its members commit a variety of crimes within the community, from assaults to drug-related offenses to murder.
Members of the Ventura Avenue Gang view most other gangs as their rivals, but they dislike gangs from Montalvo in particular. According to gang-crime experts, a Ventura Avenue Gang member's stock would rise in the gang if he were to shoot a random white male in Montalvo.
On May 4, 2004, Sandoval struck a man in the head with a shotgun and then gave the shotgun to Javier Acevedo, a fellow gang member, who shot up the victim's car.
The following evening, Sandoval and Acevedo decided to "go cruising" around Montalvo in Acevedo's car, which contained Acevedo's 12-gauge Mossberg shotgun. At around 11:25 pm, as the two drove down Wolverine Street in Montalvo, they spotted Ryan Briner, a 25-year-old white male walking toward his parents' home at the end of the cul-de-sac.
Sandoval and Acevedo exchanged words with Briner as they drove by him. They made a U-turn at the end of the street and parked. Sandoval, bearing the shotgun, and Acevedo walked toward Briner.
Briner, fearing a fist fight, removed his shirt and wrapped it around his fist. But when he was just a few feet from Briner, Sandoval fired the shotgun, blowing a two-inch hole in Briner's chest. Briner collapsed and, bleeding profusely, attempted to flee toward home, leaving a trail of blood in the street.
Sandoval fired a second shot, striking Briner in the back. Briner fell to the ground and bled to death. Sandoval and Acevedo returned to the car and drove away. Many people, including Briner's mother, witnessed the shooting. Briner's mother ran out into the street, saw her bloodied son on the ground and suffering, and broke down in tears.
After leaving the murder scene, Acevedo and Sandoval drove to Acevedo's grandmother's home, where Sandoval shaved his head to avoid detection. They managed to avoid police scrutiny for over six months, until Acevedo was stopped by police officers for a traffic offense. A search of his car revealed shotgun ammunition, methamphetamine, a shi-mask, and the 12-gauge shotgun used to kill Briner.
Both before and after his arrest, Sandoval told many people that he shot Briner.
What do you think: Does Rudolfo Sandoval deserve life in prison?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
