Prevention of Juvenile Crime

Prevention of Juvenile Crime
Juvenile crime is a legal behaviour for youth or juvenile involves themselves in crime. For example, youth violence, violence youth gangs, drugs-related offences, murder, rape and so on. In most of the country the age range for juvenile is eleven to eighteen years old. Youth who committed in crime within this age range is consider as Juvenile Crime. When we flip though the newspapers, there are more and more report on juvenile crime. It seems like a trend for our society nowadays. According the statistic from Malaysia Crime Prevention Foundation (MCPF) found out that in year 2008 juvenile crime represent 2 percents from the overall crime (Kulasagaran, 2009). Why youth today take the route of crime? According to Ziiadova (2004), ‘‘Social, political, and economic transformations in the country have had a greater impact on juveniles than other categories of the population.’’(pp. 23-31. para 3). In economic point of view, youth think of getting rich quickly, so they have to breaking of laws to commit in crimes. Another major factor is the availability of weapons in the country like Unite State or Republic of Dagestan. Therefore, youth can commit in crime easily. Moreover, television has become an essential source of entertainment in our daily life. But, television also become a mass of destruction, it destruct youth’s mind indirectly because it contain violent scene. Lastly, the psychological factor of juvenile crime is emotional alienation of the growing young person. The relationship between parents and young people in home is very important. If the parents fail to maintain the relationship with their children, the children will come to have feeling of insecure lack of protection. In this stage, they will easily influence by negative peers to involve themselves in delinquency or even worst (Ziiadova, 2004). However, the problems of juvenile crime is rising these days is because parents are not focusing on prevention. Base on this evidence, several prevention methods have to develop to reducing juvenile crime.
There are two types of prevention in juvenile crime. The first prevention will take place before becoming early starters and also known as Early Childhood Prevention or Intervention. And the other one will start after the age of 10 or 11 to concentrate on children at risk of becoming late bloomers (Bogenschneider, nd).
Early childhood intervention on juvenile crime is essential because it is vital role to ensure children away from violence and keep them with healthy development. There have several early childhood intervention programs which effectively decreasing future delinquency or juvenile crime. First of all, Pre-School program must be held in order to support early childhood intervention. Why children need to attend pre-school? This is because pre-school have expert and experience early childhood teachers or caregivers to look after the children. Besides, caregivers will observe children during activities and identify children’s strength; this is the best timing to identify their behaviour and weaknesses as well (American Psychological Association, 2002). If child started to behave violently during activities or in class, caregiver and expert childhood teacher will find out the solution to bring the child back to the correct track.
Moreover, in pre-school program it provides lots of opportunities for children to learn social though regular playing and learning with other children. They will learn how to deal with effect of violence with other children and they will learn the effective ways to managing anger (American Psychological Association, 2002). This normally will bring a positive interaction between children and their friends. Nonetheless, during early childhood intervention, parents also need to prevent childhood injuries (Berk, 2008). Ramsay et al (2003) mentioned childhood injuries have many causes such as poverty, low parental education, many children in a home and discriminate by peers (as cited in Berk, 2008, p. 310). The mentality of a child with childhood injury is imbalance. As they grow up, they will do something that harm the society or commit in juvenile crime. Next, parents and caregiver have to teach them to be empathy and sympathy during early childhood intervention (Berk, 2008). According to Eisenberg, Fabes, and Spinrad, (2006), empathy is an action that benefit of another person without any think of reward for ourselves (as cited in Berk, 2008, p. 373). Next, sympathy is a feeling of concern for another person’s plight or tragedy (Brek, 2008). Bentson, Eisenberget and Valiente et al explained that children who are sociable and good at regulating are better than poor emotion regulators to show sympathy are more likely helpful, sharing and comforting others in sorrow (as cited in Berk, 2008, p. 373). Children, in general, they are a reflection of parents. To illustrate, when parent is a smoker and children in house are more likely to become a smoker in the future. When parents are violence, children will become violence too. Social scientist and genetic researcher claimed that parents’ behaviour can affect the generation to the next. Children are the mirror of parents, if mentality and behaviour of parents are positive, the development of children will be positive as well (Stephens, 2004). Parents, as a good role model does not mean that they have to be perfect. Nonetheless, parents have to be honest and share their own experience with children. This can ensure that children are not going to repeat the mistake again (“Role of model,” n.d.). However, parents have to eliminate the bad habit like smoke, violence, alcoholic and more. So, parents can make sure that children are not following the footstep of bad habit. In a nutshell, early childhood prevention or intervention is necessary for children to prevent commit in crime in the future. Singh (2011) mentioned that appropriate early childhood intervention will help to harness the potential in these children and reduce the burden on the society in later years.
The second prevention program has to start when children reach the age of 10 or 11. Children will start rebel against their parents in this age. A strong parental monitoring to guide youth is necessary in order to prevent juvenile crime. Due to a poor monitoring parental associated with increased problem behaviors like juvenile drug abuse, teenage pregnancy, alcoholism, and more youth crime. Since, parents should know the correct way to communicate with their children. Poor communication skills will lead more misunderstanding and conflict (Neville, King & Beak, 1998). For instance, parents used to raised their voice (shouting) to ordering their children, use more and more words to win an argument ,and going off the point (link current situation to the past which already settle) (Neville, King & Beak, 1998). This will make conflict worst instead of solve the conflict. If parents know how to handle their emotional well and talk in a correct and polite way with children, so children are willing to obey their request and their relationship become stronger. In addition, based on Tamis-LeMonda and Cabrera (2002) if parents should be consensus, cooperate, show respect, and balance communication will help children and youth to develop a positive attitudes (as cited in Santrock, 2002). If father and mother cooperate together and share children’s responsibilities; each party feel less stress and become more positive, because both parties have a supportive partner. In contrast, poor co-parenting (partners in parenting) is related to juvenile crime. If parenting partner lack of cooperation, not warmth, disconnection, and misunderstanding with another partner can affect children’s development on risk (Santrock, 2008).
Furthermore, Parents should not have favouritism toward children. Because favouritism of parents toward other siblings will form youth mentality disorder; youth will easily influence by negative peers. Dunn (2007) stated that approximate 80 percent of American youth have one or more than one siblings (as cited by Santrock, 2007, p. 296). Children with siblings are use to sharing, helping, teaching, fighting and playing with each other, and they also consider as ‘best friend’ with each other. If parents do not have favouritism toward their own children, the relationship between them would not be an issue in the future. Youth become sharing and understanding toward parents and siblings. Santrock stated that youth easily close with those who close in age like siblings; siblings able to understand the youth’s difficulties in life and communicate more effectively than parents do. Thus, when youth have someone who can share with their daily up and downs, they hardly commit in crime in the future. On contrary, when favouritism of one sibling happened in a family, relationship toward both siblings and parents was spoilt. In this case, youth will have difficulties on dealing with parents and sibling. One recent study of 384 adolescent sibling pairs revealed that 65 percent of their mothers and 70 percent of their fathers showed favouritism toward one sibling (Shebloski, Conger, & Widaman, 2005). Youth will easily influence by negative peer during this moment. In sum, in order to prevent children to commit in crime, parents should not have favouritism toward their own children.
Lastly, parents should manage the structure of families well. Nowadays, juvenile who growing up in a various type of family structure like, divorced family and working parents. These are factors that forming an unhealthy development for juvenile. Nowadays, divorce rate is increasing rapidly over many countries. Researchers argue that juvenile whom growing up in divorced families had emotional problem during adulthood (Santrock, 2008). They are more likely have anti-social behaviour, violent, not understanding, having problems to work in groups and so on. So, the best thing for juvenile is parents maintain a healthy and positive relationship, because this can confirm that juvenile are growing in a complete family (Santrock, 2008). Lastly, parents should spend more time to look after children. Without a doubt, parents in twenty- first century are turning to more materialistic. Crosby, Sabattini (2006) and Crouter (2006) stress that working parents are put in little attention to juvenile (as cited in Stantrock 2008, p.305). Especially for parents who have poor working conditions like long working hour, overtime work and stressful work are more likely to be irritable when they get home. Obviously they are engaged in less effective parenting compare with those parents who have better job. Thurs, parents do not know what their children do inside school and outside school; because they got no time to focus on that. Coley, Morris and Hernandez (2004) conclude that juvenile who at 10 to 14 year-olds are easily link to delinquency, drug and alcohol use, and sex abuse (as cited in Santrock, 2008, p.306). In sum, parents should put more time on children to reduce juvenile crime.
In conclusion, prevention is better than cure. Parents and caregivers have to know correct and effective ways to deal with children and juveniles. Early childhood intervention is necessary because it is the time to determine whether they are good or bad in the future. Similarly, parental monitoring is equally important especially at the age of 10 to 12 years old. Without a strong parental monitoring, juvenile easily influence by negative peers at this stage. In my point of view, if parent or authorise have to maximize their effort on juvenile, then the juvenile crime and juvenile delinquency can be minimized. If we want to create a better world for our children we must first change the way we educated them.