Myth of Delinquency #5: All juvenile delinquents look up to negative role models or lack positive role models.

            Half way through this list of myths and we hit upon one that is hotly contested socially. Are video games too violent? Are sex, drugs, and rock and roll the real culprit? Who is to blame for kids these days? It is nice to have a scapegoat. When something horrible like a school shooting happens, it is easier to blame violence on TV than to look inward. As a result, we march down the wrong path and miss the point altogether.

            If you are new to this blog, please go back to the first post, “Clarifying BeliefsAbout Juvenile Delinquency” for the back-story.

Myth 5 – All juvenile delinquents look up to negative role models or lack positive role models.

            The late 1990s brought a flurry of research about the harmful effects of heavy metal and rap music on adolescents (Binder, 1993; Hook & Weiss, 1994; Johnson, Jackson, & Gatto, 1995). Knowing teenagers, in particular, look to famous individuals as role models, the concern was the message they may be receiving. This is especially troubling for youth without positive role models in their day-to-day lives as found in a recent study, "adolescents' exposure to negative adult behavior was associated with increased externalizing, internalizing, and substance using behaviors, as well as more negative school attitudes and behavior" (Hurd, Zimmerman, & Xue, 2009, p. 777).

            When the United States was first exposed to the violence, cruelty, and horrifying events of the Columbine High School shooting in 1999, people sought a negative role model to blame. At the time, Marilyn Manson’s music was topping the charts and frightening parents, so he became a natural scapegoat. Interestingly, however, it was partly his words that led scholars to look at this situation in a new light. In the documentary Bowling for Columbine, Michael Moore interviewed Marilyn Manson, asking, “If you were to talk directly to the kids at Columbine or the people in that community, what would you say to them if they were here right now?” In his succinct response, Marilyn Manson said, “I wouldn’t say a single word to them. I would listen to what they have to say, and that’s what no one did” (Moore, 2002).

            In a more recent mass shooting in Santa Barbara, California, a journalist for the Washington Post (2014) attempted to blame popular movies for their influence on the deranged shooter, claiming, “[the shooter’s] delusions were inflated, if not created, by the entertainment industry he grew up in” (Hornaday, 2014).

Rap music is popular among youth who are often perceived as delinquent, yet the music they listen to includes both positive and negative messages. There is a common thread of individuality, ambition, and dreams throughout and is the reason rap music is often used as a tool in juvenile justice facilities as a means to motivate adjudicated youth to work toward a better future.

The challenge faced by the role model belief is that different youth looking up to the same role models turn out in disparate ways. In fact, one individual interviewed for this study shared that he watched negative role models in his inner-city neighborhood commit crimes, participate in gang activity, and experience homelessness. Additionally, he lost two friends to gang violence as a teenager. All of these negative experiences and role models led him in the opposite direction. Seeing the type of lifestyle he did not want motivated him to earn good grades throughout high school, graduating in the top of his class, and later earning his college degree at a top-tier private school.

Myth of Delinquency #4: All juvenile delinquents are minorities.

            This is a tough one. With this topic, numbers can be misleading and sources vary greatly. Michelle Alexander made very clear in The New Jim Crow that just because police focus their presence in neighborhoods commonly filled with minority residents of low socio-economic status, does not mean they are the only ones or even among the worst ones committing crimes. This is a very complex issue and I highly recommend reading Alexander’s book if you haven’t yet.

            To show how it is possible to argue this in varied ways because of the myriad information out there on race and criminal justice, I share the following. Before reading this, I recommend you catch up from the first post called “ClarifyingBeliefs About Juvenile Delinquency” so you know where all this is coming from.

Myth 4 – All juvenile delinquents are minorities.

The racial composition of a juvenile detention facility will vary according to its geographic location. As a result, there will be some facilities that are majority minority and some that are majority White. To investigate the belief statement that delinquents are predominately or all minorities, it is necessary to look at national averages instead of specific regions.

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Programs reported the demographics of youth involved in cases handled by juvenile courts in 2011 was 61.7% Caucasion, 38.3% “minority,” 35.1% Black, 1.9% American Indian, and 1.3% Asian (Sickmund, Sladky, & Kang, 2014). The arrests in 2011 showed similar racial disparity. Of the total number of juvenile arrests, 66% of offenders where White. When these statistics are disaggregated by type of crime, the majority of offenders are still categorized as White. For example, White offenders topped the following crimes for 2011 juvenile arrests: driving under the influence (91%), liquor laws (89%), drunkenness (87%), vandalism (76%), vagrancy (73%), arson (72%), sex offense (70%), forcible rape (64%), aggravated assault (56%), and many more (Puzzanchera, 2013, p. 4).

These statistics show that although regional differences exist, nationally the majority of juvenile delinquents are not, in fact, minorities. Interestingly, the statistics about victims of juvenile crime tell a different story. Statistics from 1980 through 2003 consistently show “the serious violent crime victimization rate for…Black juveniles averaged 67% above the White race” (Snyder & Sickmund, 2006, p. 27).

Myth of Delinquency #3: All juvenile delinquents are violent and/or use weapons.

            Remember the days of the “super predator” and the media campaigns about how we should all be terrified of teenagers? Well, it worked on many of us and it continues even though it is seldom warranted. Media headlines are frightening and for the majority of folks who don’t seek out alternative sources on information about juvenile offenders, it is easy to believe they are best avoided and feared.

            To catch up on this discussion, start at the beginning by reading “ClarifyingBeliefs About Juvenile Delinquency.”

Myth 3 – All juvenile delinquents are violent and/or use weapons.

It is a common belief that crime rates among youth have risen, which news headlines encourage. Contrary to this belief, however, juvenile violent crime has actually decreased. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports through their National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, violent crime arrest rates among male youth ages ten to 24 has decreased “from 850.8 arrests per 100,000 population in 1995, to 423.1 arrests per 100,000 in 2011” (CDC, 2013, para. 1). This shows the rate of offending among young males has decreased by more than half over these 16 years. Additionally, in the Juvenile Offenders and Victims: National Report Series, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention reported “juvenile arrests for violent crime declined for the fifth consecutive year” (Puzzanchera, 2013, p. 5).

Most arrests involving juvenile crime are for minor offenses. In 2011, the most frequent offense for which juveniles were arrested was larceny-theft of property with 17.27% of total arrests (Puzzanchera, 2013). The top five offenses for juvenile arrests in 2011 after larceny-theft were simple assaults (12.99%), drug abuse violations (10.12%), disorderly conduct (9.47%), liquor laws (6.01%), and curfew and loitering (5.23%) (Puzzanchera, 2013, p. 3). Arrests for violent crimes made up only 4.64% of the total. Disaggregated by type of offense, aggravated assault was 2.77% of total juvenile arrests, robbery was 1.62%, forcible rape was 0.19%, and murder and nonnegligent homicide was 0.06% (Puzzanchera, 2013, p. 3).  

Myth of Delinquency #2: All juvenile delinquents have a history of “bad” or criminal behavior.

To catch up on what this is all about, read “Clarifying Beliefs About Juvenile Delinquency” to understand where this is all coming from and why. This myth is one that is really in the grey area of what may or may not be true. The focus, therefore, is more about factors that contribute to undesirable behaviors and how those may be inappropriately blown out of proportion or may lead to worse behaviors because of the over-reaching consequence.

Myth 2 – All juvenile delinquents have a history of “bad” or criminal behavior.

Respondents shared views that bring light to the motivation behind strict policies in schools. “Most juvenile delinquents crave boundaries, someone to care about them.” “They start their behavior long before they are caught.” The truth of these belief statements depends wholly on the individual child involved. However, the rampant acceptance of this belief statement as absolute truth has had dire consequences. With the idea that offenses are constantly occurring and stricter boundaries will stop behaviors before they get out of hand, policing in schools became the initiative-de-jour.

Zero tolerance policies were widely supported as a means to “crack down” on the misbehaviors occurring in schools. In theory, extremely strict discipline practices would keep kids from trying to test the boundaries of a more forgiving system. Unfortunately, little flexibility and room for administrative judgment calls led to a proliferation of injustices.

The examples are numerous. Dontadrian Bruce was suspended from Olive Branch High School in Mississippi for suspected gang activity based on one photo of him holding up three fingers to display his football jersey number (Ferrer, 2014). A 13-year-old boy was arrested in New Mexico for burping in class; this after being previously accused of selling drugs and “forced to strip to his underwear in front of five adults” (Cantor, 2011, para. 1). Also in New Mexico, a 7-year-old with autism “was allegedly handcuffed to a chair after getting upset in class” and another young girl was arrested for not wanting to “sit by the stinky boy in class” (Cantor, 2011, para. 2). Twelve-year-old, Alexa Gonzalez, was arrested in New York for drawing on her desk (Chen, 2010). Fourteen-year-old Kyle Thompson was led out of his Michigan school in handcuffs and is now spending a year under house arrest, punished for resisting to hand a note over to his teacher (Scholl, 2013). Malcom Calvert was arrested and charged with misdemeanor battery for playfully hitting his friend in the head with a Tootsie Pop on the school bus in Florida (Gonzalez, 2013). While the charges against Mr. Calvert were dropped, an arrest for battery remains on his record.

The U.S. attorney general, Eric Holder, stated in a report released in January 2014, “A routine school disciplinary infraction should land a student in the principal’s office, not a police precinct” (Rich, 2014, para. 9). With the belief that youth are inherently or merely already bad, initiatives to scare them straight have instead led to more complications.

Myth of Delinquency #1: All juvenile delinquents are male.

Thanks for joining the discussion on Myths of Delinquency! To be brought up to speed on this discussion, its origins, and its process, please read this first post in this blog series called “Clarifying Beliefs About Juvenile Delinquency.”

            As I gathered beliefs from kind, educated, and compassionate adults, it quickly emerged that the most common statement was when they think of “delinquent youth” they think of them all as male.

Myth 1 – All juvenile delinquents are male.

While it is true the majority of juvenile offenders are male, female incarceration rates have been consistently rising since 1985 (Knoll & Sickmund, 2011). Between 1985 and 2008, the number of delinquency cases involving females increased 102%, yet for males the increase was 29% (Knoll & Sickmund, 2011). “By 2004, girls accounted for 30% of all juvenile arrests” (Zahn et al., 2010, p. 1). The statistics can be misleading or simply miss telling the whole story in that the offenses for which females are most often adjudicated are status offenses such as running away from home or truancy.

However, these minor offenses may disguise more serious concerns in the lives of these juvenile delinquents. In 2010, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention established the Girl Study Group in response to skewed statistics on juvenile arrests by gender. In this project, Zahn and colleagues (2010) found

…although their offense behavior may not appear to be very serious, these girls may be fleeing from serious problems and victimization, some involving illegal behavior by adults, which in turn makes them vulnerable to subsequent victimization and engaging in other behaviors that violate the law such as prostitution, survival sex, and drug use. (p. 3)

Placed in a juvenile justice system designed for males, the female juvenile population is failed by a system that was not set up to meet their needs (Watson & Edelman, 2012). Young women in the system are typically non-violent offenders, making them low-risk, but often high-need (Watson & Edelman, 2012). Subsequently, there has been a reform effort in the juvenile justice system to better meet the needs of females on the local, state, and federal levels (Watson & Edelman, 2012). “Overall, the juvenile justice system is ill-equipped to serve girls effectively, having failed to implement the reforms called for by a growing body of research on the needs of the girls in its care” (Watson & Edelman, 2012, p. 1).