Presentation Summary: Adolescence Criminal Justice Group Project
Santrock (466) has noted that adolescents normally endure four major problems as they emerge into adulthood: juvenile delinquency, drug abuse, sexual problems and school related problems. Studies have also shown that during this stage the teenagers are very much susceptible to outside pressures and influences which cause them to have less control of their decisions and actions. The situation is much prevalent on adolescents from poor social economic background, especially among those that cannot benefit from juvenile rights and empowerment programs. The programs are helpful in making them to cope up with their risky situations of trauma, stigma and other cases of mental disorders. Apparently, if community programs are well set up with elaborate measures to rehabilitate the teens, there is no doubt that they would reclaim their positive lives.
Studies have also shown that increased stigma, especially for adolescent trying to cope up with severe conditions such as AIDS and criminal offences will increase their trauma (Cluver et al. 417). Trauma normally occurs due to overwhelming stress that is repeated for a long period of time. Psychologists have noted that trauma can impact on the impairment of neuroendocrine systems in one’s body which can trigger extreme stress that will cause flight or fight survival responses. However, at extreme level, it will cause destructions of brain cells and alteration of brain development. When traumatized children lose themselves in the process of coping with ongoing threats, they will feel unlovable, helpless, hateful and unworthy for protection and love. These feelings will lead to poor self-image, self-destructiveness and self-abandonment. Studies have associated mental issues with juvenile problems. Since mental health problems will lead a child to regulate himself less, both emotionally and physically, there is no doubt that they may develop very deviant behaviors. The behaviors may include withdrawal or dissociation, avoidance of eye contact, terrified responses to sights, drug abuse and theft among others. However, influences and pressures from outside agents may aggravate them (Moroz 4-7).
Behavior pathology has related biologic factors such as hormones, puberty, brain and genes to an individual’s problems. It is noted that early maturation in adolescent girls can be linked to problems such as delinquency and drug abuse. Moreover, hormonal imbalances that occur as one approaches puberty have been the cause of depression in adolescent boys and girls (Santrock 434).
Some cases of unequal representations of juvenile delinquencies among ethnicities and social economic statuses have also been discussed. Studies have found that a number of ethnicity issues will affect the development of adolescents as they emerge into adulthood; this will have an impact on them regarding delinquency. In this regard a lesser percentage of non-Latino white American is represented in the adolescents that suffer from mental and hence delinquency problems. As 35% and 32% of all adolescents that live under poverty are African Americana and Latinos respectively, it should be expected that they will represent a bigger number of adolescent youths in juvenile criminal activities compared to the 17% of non- Latino white American youths (Santrock 415). Although it has been hard to show how social economic factors interact with ethnicities to result in disparities that exist among adolescents, researchers have concluded that the major reason for them to develop deviant behaviors is one’s social economic status. Since the two ethnic groups compose the majority of adolescents who live in poor areas, there have been stereotyping arguments that they harbor most adolescents with criminal records (Santrock 417). However, the fact remains that they face a double disadvantage: stressful effects of poverty and discrimination and prejudice in employment and other ways of sharing the country’s resources. Therefore, one can see that while discussing adolescent crimes, there is a greater intersectionality among terms like African-American adolescents, Latino adolescents, low social economic status, trauma, stigma, mental disorders, victimization or stereotyping, criminal justice processes and offending (Santrock 428).
However, as various ethnic groups continue to arrive in the US, there is hope that stereotyping could decline. Although ethnicity stipulates that individuals continue to share certain values that will enable its members to continue coping with others in the same group, arrival of members of various ethnic groups in America have altered the way individuals think as members of their ethnic groups. Currently in the United States there exist over 511 different ethnicities. These diversities have led to failure for one to recognize one’s ethnicity, as most people are more engaged with economic activities than they are with social activities (Santrock 417).
Evidence-based cases have indicated that teens in highly risk areas should be empowered and taught about their juvenile rights. For the youths from underserved communities who attended the Boys Clubs America; Girls Clubs of America in Massachusetts and New York, it was found that the emotional training they underwent was very much instrumental for them to overcome their emotional conditions. Moreover, if adolescents with criminal records are given necessary support, it is evident that they will cope very well with their problem. Officers at YouthConnect club have found that when the youth in underserved communities are involved in community based services and after school programs, they will obviously be empowered to overcome their emotional conditions. However, general support is also necessary for families and their youths to cope positively and reduce their risky tendencies. The groups had mental health officers who insisted on youths to have their mental statuses tested before undergoing various treatments to cope well in the society. Involved in this therapy too was the program to connect young people with jobs so that they can emerge out as productive. Apparently, the clubs had elaborate ways of preventing child delinquencies. Apart from advocacy to reduce such behaviors, the groups also engaged in educational programs to help those returning from correctional facilities to transition well in the society without experiencing any cases of stigmatization or discrimination. Nonetheless, by engaging youths during the time that they think about substance abuse, risky sexual behaviors, gangs and community violence, they definitely reduced adolescent delinquencies in the community.
Empirical studies have shown that when children grow up with correct successful ethnic role models, they will learn to live positively from them. Moreover, it has been identified that television programs with sexual and violent contents will obviously affect the adolescents. Evidences have also shown that adolescents who think positively and optimistically about their situation and self control become better off to overcome depressive aspects of their lives. Moreover, counseling and therapists’ services are also important for one to continue living well. Most studies indicate that adolescents can use various strategies such as social support, exercising regularly, practice relaxation, drinking reduction and talking to a mental professional for appropriate help.
Treatments for adolescents should be individualized. The first step should involve creating safety for those traumatized from underserved societies to feel safe. Hopeful community organizations should provide both physical and psychological facilities that ensure safety for them. The next stage would involve telling an event that relate to their real event so that the individual can release the traumatic memory, and thus trauma related emotions. With the transformation of traumatic memory, major symptoms of traumatic disorders will be released, which will be accompanied with physiological changes. The next stage will involve placing the youth into appropriate social, creative and learning experience. Since some of the participants may be schooling, it will be important if such programs are incorporated in their school programs. However, trauma and stigma suffering individuals can also receive trauma system therapy that involves regulating an individual’s emotions in a more supportive environment. Meanwhile, medical trauma, will involve one being admitted in an intensive care unit so that he can be treated from acute stress disorder (Moroz 19-25).
Participants in developmental psychopathology focus on exploring and describing an individual’s developmental problem pathways that lead to the current deviant behaviors such as drug abuse and risky behaviors. In this regard, they will be more concerned with transformations that resulted in the outcome. Researchers employ longitudinal researches to unfold an individual’s problems over time. In this way, they will be able to generate risk factors to elicit possible preventive and treatment mechanisms. For instance, when individual’s real income increases, it is expected that his problems such as property theft would also decrease. However studies have also found that despite stringent traumatizing factors such as poverty, racism and discrimination and violence, some people move ahead to triumph over them. In this regard arming oneself with the right resilience measures will make one to face adversarial conditions with extra-familial measures. Individuals with resilience would obviously have learnt about how to make certain decision and act during a certain situation (Santrock 434).
According to PVEST Theory, people with higher net vulnerability level need stronger net stress engagement measures to enable them lead a positive life. Further, an individual’s reactive coping mechanism should be overemphasized to resolve dissonance-producing scenarios. The reactive coping strategies should also be repeated to boost his new emergent identity due to renewed self-appraisals. Boosting the new self identity of the most vulnerable adolescents should affect the adolescent’s later life positively as regards achievement, health and self-esteem (Cluver et al. 417).
Works Cited
Cluver, Lucie D. et al. Effects of Stigma on the Mental Health of Adolescents Orphaned by
AIDS. Journal of Adolescent Health, 2008:42. Print.
Moroz, Kathleen J. The Effects of Psychological Trauma on Children and Adolescents.
Vermont Agency of Human Services Department of Health Division of Mental Health Child. Adolescent and Family Unit, 2005. Print.
Santrock, John W. Adolescence. 15th ed. Dallas: University of Texas, 2014. Print.
