Tag Archives: juvenile delinquency

December 10, 2023 · 1:00 am

Headphones and a Vape Pen – Juvenile Crime

File:Sennheiser hd-25 headphones.jpg

Sennheiser HD-25-1 headphones, Author Bizzarle (CC BY-SA 4.0 International)

WARNING:  Graphic Images

Eight Las Vegas teens have been charged with murder, in connection with the beating death of a classmate widely distributed on social media [1].  The assailants range in age from 13 y.o. to 17 y.o.  Their victim, Jonathan Lewis Jr., was 17 y.o.  The altercation was apparently about headphones and a vape pen.

It is difficult to say which aspect of this crime is most disturbing:  the age of the victim whose life was taken, the age of his assailants and their relationship to him, the trivial cause for this violence, or the fact the crime was shared on social media.

Causes of  Violence

Most of us assume that children are incapable of violence, certainly incapable of murder.   We are shocked when confronted with the facts.

In 2020, there were 930 arrests made nationally for murder or manslaughter where the perpetrator was 17 y.o. or younger [2A].   There were 19,140 arrests made for aggravated assault in that age range, and another 70, 940 made for simple assault [2B].

Gang dynamics, the psychology of crowds, and peer pressure all have bearing on the crime here.  Abuse is likely, also, to have played a role.

A.  Gangs

Gang violence in the United States emerged as early as 1783.  In New York City, in particular, gangs were well organized by 1826 [3].

Dangerous street gangs, outlaw motorcycle clubs, organized crime (once actually termed gangland), and drug cartels are all representative of this underworld culture.  Little has changed with time, except that drugs have been added to the mix.

Teens and young men are known to have been participants from the start (though girls and young women are not immune to the lure).  Depending on age, young people serve as messengers, look-outs, bagmen, thieves, and thugs (some later specializing as enforcers or hitmen).

Although gangs may thrive on violence, they provide a sense of acceptance, security, inclusion, and identity to their members [4].  In effect, they substitute for the family structure many young people lack.

B.  Crowds and Peer Pressure

It is well recognized that human beings will do in a crowd what they might never do alone [5].  The bounds of acceptable behavior are more easily transgressed in a group.  Personal responsibility is abandoned.  Morals are swept aside in the frenzy of the moment.

This applies to young people even more so than adults.  Still trying to decide who they are, anxious to fit in, teens and pre-teens are more susceptible than adults to peer pressure. Continue reading →

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April 18, 2021 · 1:00 am

Bad Parental Behavior

Juvenile Criminal Law | Criminal Defense Attorney in Tampa

Image courtesy of Barnett, Howard & Williams, PLLC

Maryland resident, Cornella Rookard, drove her armed 14 y.o. son to confront another boy.  The teen fired several times at the intended victim from the backseat of his mother’s vehicle with a shotgun.  He was later charged with attempted murder.  His mother was charged with assault, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and reckless endangerment [1].

We assume parents will raise their children to become good citizens, and teach them right from wrong.  Unfortunately, that assumption is often mistaken.

Parental Impact

Parents have enormous impact on the behavior of their children.  Parental interest and encouragement can increase a child’s self-esteem, motivation, and interest in school [2].  The reverse is, also, however, true.

Children who are rejected by their parents, who are inadequately supervised or grow up amid conflict run the highest risk of delinquency [3A].  Where parents are, themselves, involved in criminal activity, that risk increases exponentially [3B].

Absent Fathers

“But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever” (1 Tim. 5: 8).

It may be painful to hear.  But the absence of a father from the home is considered the single most important cause of crime [4].  Boys who do not share a home with their fathers after the age of 10 y.o. – 14 y.o. are twice as likely to be jailed as those from intact homes.  Boys fatherless from birth are three times as likely to be jailed.

This is not intended to cast aspersions on single or divorced mothers.  It is simply to point out that fathers serve a purpose above and beyond procreation (a concept that seems lost on our society). Continue reading →

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