Introduction
In the end of the twentieth century the United States was concerned with the spread of the drug abuse among the pregnant females. Several experts came to the conclusion that the addiction to the drug during the pregnancy will impact the mental and physical health of the child. Moreover, the experts predicted that the children born by the mother using the drugs will show the unsatisfactory academic performance. Besides, it should be said that the increased interest of society to the problem with crack babies was caused by the policy introduced by Ronald Reagan on position of the President of the United States. It was decided to launch the War on Drugs with the purpose to change the perception towards the recreational drug use. In this respect, the specialists in the healthcare sector jointly with media sector developed the advertisements and different media campaigns that promoted the myths about the usage of the drugs by the pregnant women. However, the new researchers conducted in the twentieth century shows that the issue with crack babies have little effect on the physical and mental development of the child. Regardless the evaluation of the health of the crack baby, there are not enough researches devoted to the analysis of the influence of the behavior of these children on the stability in society. In this respect, this paper is devoted to the consideration of the notion of crack babies and its perspective influence on the performance of the juvenile criminal justice system in the United States. The interest to this topic is confirmed by the position of the experts that the crack babies have the inclination to the improper and criminal behavior that is prosecuted by the state bodies.
Overview of the problem
For the purposes of the conduction the evaluation of the situation in the juvenile criminal justice system and its linkage to the spread of the crack babies, it is highly important to note the notion of this event. Under the crack babies, any individual should understand the coverage of the children born by the mothers addicted to the drugs during the pregnancy. This issue raises several concerns among the population as it is hard to obtain the reliable outcomes of the investigation regarding the influence of the drug usage during the pregnancy. In fact, the policy of Ronald Reagan introduced in the 1982 was caused by the political and economical reasons. Today the contemporary society is concerned with the protection of the life and health of the individuals. Therefore, it is high time to define the impact of the crack babies on the development of the personality and examination of his further conduct in society. The first research concerning the effect of the crack babies was conducted in 1994. According to the findings of this research, there is no substantial evidence that the exposure in utero to cocaine may lead to the negative harm and influence over the development of the child. Besides, the experts believe that the impact of the drug abuse is similar by the consequences to the consumption of the alcoholic and tobacco products.
Regardless the fact that the overwhelming amount of the surveys were devoted since 1982 to the analysis of the influence of the crack usage on the health of the child, only recent study dwelled on the examination of the factors forming the behavior of the personality. In particular, one investigation suggests that the exposure to the crack cocaine during pregnancy can not influence the level of the risk of the formation of the criminal behavior in youth age, However, the other research contains dramatically different findings. The usage of the drug mayn result in the long-lasting effect on the behavior of the individual an his further development. This fact was not taken into account in the end of the twentieth century, while the government is concerned with the increase of the drug usage today.
The recent analysis shows that the behavior of the children which were the subject of the drug abuse is different in the behavior and development with other children. Besides, it is hard to states that this behavior is featured with the criminal activity. Meanwhile, the experts came to the conclusion that the crack babies perform less successfully in the educational facilities, while the entire academic performance fall within the lieu of normal signs. The provident specialists in medical sphere conducted the evaluation of the behavior of different group of children that were growing in different years in the utero with cocaine and without. The experts did not find any signs of the differences having the critical importance. This statement should be understood that the range in the performance differs, while there is no evidence that the juvenile delinquency, robbery and other illegal activity is caused by the crack exposure. In contrast, the scientists state that alcoholic abuse cause much more detrimental effects to the health of the children as it gives rise to the formation of the fetal alcohol syndrome. At the same time, the percentage of the pregnant women using the drugs is quite low. From this perspective, 1% of the female population under the pregnancy can not influence the increase of the level of criminal activity in the country. With that, one may assume that the government should focus on the necessity to remove the racial discrimination in the juvenile criminal justice system, while the crack babies is not the urgent problem today.
Moreover, the findings of the experts suggest that the cause of the criminal behavior may be linked to the negative situation with the family. Given the fact that the overwhelming amount of people live in poverty in the Untied States, the reasons for the exposure to crimes are evident. Therefore, the experts believe that the mothers of the crack babies should not inform them that these mothers took drugs during pregnancy. In this respect, it is hard to imagine the consequences of this act of honesty. The physical stability of the child is vague, so that the parents should take care of it. There are no obligations and evident reasons that should impose the obligation over the mother to tell the child about the drug usage during the pregnancy. The reports of the provident specialists show that such honesty may cause depression, anxiety, etc. Thus, it is highly recommended to keep the truth away from the child with the purpose to keep the stability of the neural system of the child.
The policy adopted by Ronald Reagan has the negative effect over formation of negative stereotype among the population regarding the usage of the drugs. In fact, the people were under the influence of the social misperceptions that the drug usage will be prosecuted by the relevant state bodies. This attitude to the crack usage has changed, while the experts believe that this problem should be addressed from another point. Despite the fact that the experts can not come to the conclusion that the crack abuse should cause the criminal behavior, it was agreed that the provision of support among the family will influence positively the mental and physical health of the child (Lyons & Rittner, 1998, p. 316).
Meanwhile, the concern of the population in 1986 was caused by the feat that the new generation has the origin during the pregnancy from the crack mother. In this respect, the government considered that the state authorities should introduce the S trick surveillance over the drug usage by females in order to protect the welfare of the population. The position of the government was strengthened initially by the publication of different scientific reports. For example, in1985 expert Chasnoff highlighted that prenatal exposure to the drug substances will result in the detrimental effect on the infants upon the birth. The next report suggested that the crack abuse gives rise to the unexpected abortion. This fact influenced the calm in the society. The media started the campaign blaming woman adopting the drugs. In addition, the evident tension appeared between different races in the society. In particular, white people accused the people of minorities in proliferation the crack within the territory of the United States.
In addition to this fact, the attention of society was focused on the investigation of the direct effects of the crack exposure during the pregnancy. However, the supplementary consequences were not taken into account. One research states that the crack exposure has chances that this child upon this birth will lack attention of the mother. Furthermore, the author of this survey shows that the child will have low weight and height, while the perspective academic performance will not high. In this respect, the linkage with the absence of the parental care to the formation of the behavior of the teenager should be evaluated. It is a common fact that the child abusers gives rise to the criminal and illegal behavior of the individual. Given the fact that the actions of the teenager of child in the childhood are not controlled by the parents, this category of children decided to draw the attention of the parents by the illegal or criminal behavior. Since the early beginning, these actions even can not be taken into account as serious one. The child may fight in school, miss the classes, etc. if this behavior is not addresses accordingly, the child refers to new actions of much more seriousness. With that, the small robbery may take place for the attraction the attention of the adults. From this point of view, the child neglect having place in the frustrated families facilitate the breeding of the vulnerable category of society. Therefore, one may assume that the efforts of the government should be focused on the analysis of the actions of the families where the child abuse or neglect takes place. Moreover, it os highly important to keep in mind that the child abuse is grounded on the drug or alcoholic addiction of the parents, absence of the financial resources, etc. Thus, there are many factors that may trigger the criminal behavior of the child in some years while all possible reasons and causes should be tackled. Besides, there is no unique approach that may support the fact that the crack exposure during the pregnancy will influence negatively the situation in the juvenile criminal justice system. Furthermore, there is no evidence that the major portion of juveniles in the criminal justice system was born by the mothers with the crack exposure (Litt & McNeil, 1997, p.38).
In contrast to the social effects of the crack exposure, the mass media and state authorities did not consider the perspective outcomes of the spread of crack epidemic within the country. In fact, there are several other issues that should be considered by the law enforcement agencies due to the increase amount of the crack babies:
the entire volume of the population is expanding so that the law enforcement agencies should launch the opening of new prisons;
perspective proliferation of the young sociopathic adults;
the children born by the abused mothers may have the mental disorders which should be addressed by society properly, while the specialists in the healthcare sector are not prepared for it;
the overloading of the juvenile court system.
Although, the actions of the state bodies are dramatically different. The policy of the government since the start of the crack baby issue in the United States is featured with the strict actions aimed to tackle the pregnancy of the abused females, etc. In particular, in 1980 the United States became aware of the special prosecution strategy which had the purpose to arrest or impose the burden of responsibility over the pregnant females with the drug abuse. Given the fact that this policy of the government was oppressed, the state bodies referred to other actions assisting in the realization of this strategy. In fact, the women were accused during the trials in the child abuse, neglect, drug trafficking, etc. Moreover, in 1989 the precedent in the criminal justice system was considered. The female of the African American was found guilty by the court in the fact that she gave birth to the child being previously exposed to the drugs. Regardless the fact that the woman was imposed with the long term of imprisonment, the judges ordered that this female should consult with the probation officer about new decision on the pregnancy as it may influence the stability of the society. By virtue of this dimension of the policy, the states bodies showed that the exposed to drugs females represents the risk to the society. In this respect, several hospitals were ordered to test the infants on the cocaine in order to define the improper conduct of the females. From one perspective, this policy and actions of the state bodies are seemed to be quite strict for the females. However, from another side this activity is grounded on the reasonable basis as there are no other leverages that may limit the spread of the drugs within the country and form the understanding among the population that the drug abuse bears only negative effects (Keren-Paz, 2005, p. 180).
Simultaneously, the United States conducts the extended survey among the population regarding the necessity of the criminal liability for the pregnant women with the drug abuse. Major part of the participants states that these females should be subject of the strict responsibility in terms of the criminal justice system upon the birth of the child. However, this attitude is the fork in the road due to the following reasons. In fact, the society accepts the fact that the crack babies bear the risk and the level of the criminal actions may be increased. Moreover, approximately no one take into account that in case the woman will be imprisoned due to the drug abuse, the infant will be left without the parental care. With that fact in mind, the risk of the negative influence on the criminal justice system and its juvenile dimension is increasing. Therefore, the attitude of the leadership of the country to this problem should be properly developed in order to find the balance in society.
Besides, the findings of Chasnoff conducted in the end of the twentieth century can not be confirmed today. In the contemporary society, the states bodies prefer to stand to the position that crack babies can not influence negatively the crime rates in the United States. This position is confirmed by the fact that since the identification of the issue with the crack babies in 1980s, the crime rates in the juvenile criminal justice system has fallen up to 50%. Moreover, the recent researches show that the long-term effects of the exposure of the infant during the pregnancy does not influence the brain development of the individual and his further behavior in the society. At the same time, the experts stand to the position that there is not strong connection between the drug exposed children to the juveniles accused in the juvenile criminal justice system. Furthermore, certain experts believe that the state bodies should put the efforts on the reduction of the level of the poverty in the society as the financial instability in the family is regarded the main reason of the illegal behavior of the person. Simultaneously, the additional investigations add value to the fact that the effect of the drug abuse by the pregnancy woman is even less than the effect of the alcoholic abuse. Under this statement one should understand that it is not favorable to use cigarettes, alcoholic drinks or drugs during pregnancy, however the person should limit its consumption for the personal safe.
Meanwhile, there is an opinion that the crack babies issue is the myth developed by the political leaders with the aim to limit the spread of the drugs within the United States. Given this fact, up to 13 states were forced to impose the obligation over the medical staff to inform the law enforcement agencies about the prenatal drug abuse. This policy was launched with the purpose to prosecute the females with this diagnosis in order to impose the relevant penalty for them falling within the scope of the child neglect. Moreover, the entire amount of the females tested with the drug abuse was extremely high in the last decade of the twentieth century. In this respect, the politicians believed that the population can be saved with the introduction of the limitations of the drug abuse for the pregnant women. However, it should be said that the actions of the law enforcement agents towards the representatives of the minorities were stricter than to the females of the local American population. There are huge concerns that the living of African American influences the behavior of the white people so that they decide to take the drugs during the pregnancy.
Consequently, it should be said that this problem preferably is presented by the mass media in relation to the behavior of the females of the minorities, while the white women are believed not to use the drugs during the pregnancy. This fact confirms that there are bias in among the staff of the law enforcement agencies in form of the racial prejudice and discrimination. In this respect, the officers prefer to accuse the minorities in the drug abuse as it is seen as the suitable instrument for the detention of the people. Besides, the state authorities hide the existence of this problem in the criminal justice system by drawing the attention of the community to the important social problem that should be caught. At the same time, it should be stated that the crack babies can not damage the existing situation in the juvenile criminal justice system as the factors of the youth crime are linked to the dramatically other causes. In particular, the high level of the homeless people in the United States, inequality between the different social classes and the poverty are the main reasons when the youth exposes to the criminal actions. The War on Drugs will not assist for the American government to tackle the spread of the criminal activity among the youth population as the economical welfare of the population should be improved. At the same time, numerous researches show that the racial discrimination takes place among the officers in the juvenile criminal justice system. This fact damages the mental and physical health of the juveniles as they observe the absence of the equal treatment in the colonies. According to this, the state bodies of the United States should address the social crisis existing in the community in relation to the disparity as it influences the development and maintenance of the juvenile criminal justice system. Afterwards, it is possible to turn to the measures limiting the proliferation of the drugs in the country.
Meanwhile, it should be said that the previous research on the effects of the crack abuse was funded by the government of the United States. In this respect, the reliability of the findings of this study are not clear as the process was not transparent enough for the population. Besides, the government shared the opinion that the drug abuse is negative for the infants as in some time they will face the problems with the brain development. Align with the survey initiated in the last decade of the twentieth century, the government conducted the supplementary analysis. This survey shows that the generation born in 1980s will not be regarded as lost one. In fact, the mothers have the financial problems and can not observe the duration of the pregnancy under the strict observation of medical personnel. Furthermore, the poverty is the main problem of the American society so that is it quite difficult for the state bodies to monitor the flow of the illegal drugs to the territory of the United States. In case the border control can be changed, the problem with the proliferation of the crack drugs within the country will be removed. Accordingly, the analysis of the performance of the children born by the abused mothers show that these children have moderate results in the educational facilities. At the same time, these children are not noticed to be exposed to the criminal behaviour in comparison with the conduct of the classmates. From this perspective, it is hard to imagine that the crack babies should be regarded as the most important factor causing the increase of the crime rates in the juvenile justice system in the United States. With that, the physical appearance of the crack babies does not perform the role of the factor that should be treated by the population as the risk and reason for the perspective illegal conduct. However, the population of the United States used to believe to the findings presented by the state authorities. In this respect, the social perceptions should be changed among the population regarding the crack babies and their position in the community. In case the law enforcement agents will regard crack babies as the reliable parts of the community, there will be no reasons for these people to refer to the criminal behaviour posing the risk to the welfare and safety of the population.
Conclusion
The overview of the problem with crack babies in the United States shows that American society has much more important issues that should be resolved by the state bodies. In the end of the twentieth century, the government of the United States introduced the myth regarding the fact that the drug abuse by the pregnant women influences the development of the infants upon the birth. Besides, the numerous surveys suggest that the crack usage by the female during the pregnancy has the little effect over the mental and physical health of the children. At the same time, the experts came to the conclusion that the alcoholic abuse has much more negative effect over the further development of the child. Meanwhile, the crack babies is not the important social issue today as the researches show that this problem does not affect the criminal rates in the country. In this respect, the criminal justice system is not subject of the impact from the spread of the crack babies as there are several other external factors that form the behavior of the youth. Therefore, the society should remove the causes of the criminal behavior in order to decrease the crime rates in the juvenile justice system.
References
Keren-Paz, T. (2005). On Mothers, Babies and Bathwater: Distributive Justice, Tort Law and Prenatal Duties. Social & Legal Studies, 14(2), 179-196. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0964663905051218
Litt, J., & McNeil, M. (1997). Biological markers and social differentiation: Crack babies and the construction of the dangerous mother. Health Care For Women International, 18(1), 31-41. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07399339709516257
Lyons, P., & Rittner, B. (1998). The construction of the crack babies phenomenon as a social problem. American Journal Of Orthopsychiatry, 68(2), 313-320. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/h0080340
