Juveniles Are Unfairly Blamed for Increasing Crime and Violence (From Juvenile Crime: Opposing Viewpoints, P 41-44, 1997, A E Sadler, ed. -- See NCJ-167319)

• NCJ Number: 167323
• Author(s): S Douglas
• Date Published: 1997
• Length: 4 pages
• Sale Source: Greenhaven Press
• Publication Type: Issue Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

The author, a media reporter, argues that the concern about juvenile violent crimes is misguided and that many media commentators are scapegoating adolescents rather than addressing the source of the problem.

Abstract

The greater evil, she contends, is not the criminal behavior of today's youth but the indifference of society toward the welfare of children and teenagers. In the wake of murders of tourists in Florida, some media coverage urges white America to throw up its hands in despair and support reactionary, and often unconstitutional, politics. Generally, media commentators focus on punishment and more invasive law enforcement as the primary means for dealing with violent juvenile offenders. There has been little media analysis of the factors that contribute to youth crime and violence, notably poverty, child abuse, and inadequate health services. Few media commentators focus on what governments can do to address juvenile criminal behaviors, other than to pass punitive laws, improve law enforcement, and make corrections more harsh. What is needed are government efforts to control access to guns and address the chronic criminogenic factors that condition the behavior of youth in high-crime areas.