Introduction
Delinquency is major problems in American society. Delinquency, however, is not new problems. It has plagued societies throughout history. Delinquency is among the most resistant forms of problem behavior well known. Despite best efforts by the U.S governments, society has failed to make a substantial reduction in this problem of delinquency. The understanding of delinquency and the way to prevent and treat has improved and continues to develop under the control of the Office of Delinquency prevention and Juvenile Justice. Past research shows that many delinquency factors tend to increase the threat of later delinquent behavior. Among these threat factors are child abuse and neglect, birth trauma, family disruptions, ineffective parental discipline, learning disabilities, conduct disorder and hyperactivity in children, school failure, limited employment opportunities, negative peer influences, inadequate housing, and residence in high-crime neighborhoods.
History of Juvenile and Delinquency in the United States
The juvenile courts were "civil" in nature and verdicts were that the courts could focus on the youth, instead of the alleged offenses, and had a variety of options geared to the youth's rehabilitation. The foundation of juvenile courts was formed through the lawful doctrine of "parens patriae." The doctrine meant that the States were given the power to make decisions for the advantage of the child as a parent would. In United States, the doctrine of "parens patriae" remains to the present time in the youthful justice system and schools. Youth in the juvenile court system lacked constitutional legal rights, until the late 1960's. This varied with the United States Supreme Court's 1967 verdict in ''In re Gault.'' In the case, it was ruled that although juvenile courts were civil proceedings, youths subject to these proceedings still faced a possible loss of liberty. In the ''In re Gault'' decision, the United States Congress passed the Juvenile Delinquency Prevention and Control Act in 1968. The Act required states to develop policies designed to curb and address juvenile delinquency in the community to receive federal funding.
As a follow-up, in 1974, Congress passed the Delinquency Prevention and Juvenile Justice Act that enhanced further youth protections in the juvenile justice system, in the U.S. In additional, the Office of Delinquency Prevention and Juvenile Justice was created through the act, which is now a division of the United States National Institute for Juvenile Justice and Delinquency, and Department of Justice.
Cause of Urban Delinquency
According Foster, Giles-Corti, &Knuiman (2010), security is defined as centres on assets and communities being free from violence, crime and related fear. Groups particularly vulnerable to crime include physically challenged persons, children and women as well as the poor and aged. Across all racial, age, income groups and ethnic, girls and women are particularly vulnerable to many forms of violence and crime. Youngsters, ''both boys and girls, '' are also mainly vulnerable and consequently require protection measures in diverse types of environments. Adolescents are the age group most engaged in the offense as perpetrators and mainly affected as victims, mainly of interpersonal crime and violent, with violence in various countries topping the list of causes of demise for the 15 - 24 years age group.
According to Sampson (2011), the following are major factors, which contribute to increase in urban delinquency in U.S.
- Negative and low rates of economic growth
- Persistence of high levels of social inequality
- Lack of role models
- Culture of violence, reinforced by organized crime, the police and the private security services
- Rapid growth of metropolitan areas
- and large cities
- Low level of effectiveness of the institutions in the criminal justice system and police
- Growing presence, strengthening of organized crime
- High level of unemployment
- Weakness or absence of basic urban infrastructure, community organizations and basic social services in the poorest neighbourhoods, in the periphery of metropolitan areas and large cities
- Peer influence
The causes of delinquency are many but may be placed in 3 main categories: institutional, social and situational. Institutional causes include weak criminal justice systems, law enforcement, and deliberate government strategies to marginalize certain sections of society. Situational causes of crime are directly related to the urban environment. They include lack of urban services, failure to master the urbanisation process, degradation of urban neighbourhood, lack of the conception of security in urban policies and planning as well as proliferation and overcrowding of squatter settlements and zoning abuses (Wortley, &Mazerolle, 2013).
Implications for Social Work Practice
Social causes include social exclusion and marginalization, crisis in local traditions lack of socialisation in the family and schooling, lack of social control, and lack of integration into society. Research indicates that children who receive suitable parental supervision are not much expected to engage in illegal activities. Dysfunctional family backgrounds characterized by inadequate parental control, premature autonomy, conflict and weak internal linkages and integration are closely related with juvenile delinquency. Children in poor families that have few chances for legitimate occupation and face a higher threat of social exclusion are more overrepresented among criminals (Siegel, & Welsh, 2011). The plight of migrants and ethnic minorities, including refugees and displaced persons in certain regions of the world, is particularly distressing. The nations in transition are facing certain challenges in this respect, with the associated turmoil and insecurity contributing to an upsurge in the numbers of juveniles and children neglected by their parents and suffering violence and abuse at home.
Geographical study indicates that states in U.S with more urbanized people have higher listed crime rates compared to those with strong rural communities and lifestyles. This might be attributable to the differences in social cohesion and social control. Rural groupings depend on community and family control as a means to deal with antisocial behavior and show evidently lower crime rates. Urban developed societies tend to resort to formal judicial and legal measures, an impersonal approach that seems to be related to higher crime rates. Institutional and cultural differences are such that responses to the same crime may differ extensively from one nation to another (Tilley, 2013). The ongoing procedure of urbanization in U.S is contributing to adolescent involvement in illegal behavior. The features of the urban environment foster the growth of new forms of social behavior deriving from the weakening of primary social relations, increasing dependence on the media at the tendency towards anonymity and the expense of informal communication. The higher degree of heterogeneity, population density, generates these patterns and numbers of persons found in urban contexts.
Another major reason for involvements in crime is the association with delinquent peers. It is because; association with delinquent peers is caused lack of parental attachment. Therefore, this has been the main reason there is an increase in peers involvement, in crime (Tilley, 2013).
The issue of Age and gender has also been considered to be a factor that is likely to increase crime in the community. Where serious crime is concerned males are more involved than females. The ratio of male to participation in the crime keeps on varying, but according to a recent study it is on the ratio of 2:1. In addition to that, age has been considered to be a pre-eminent and a pre-occupation of the young (Tilley, 2013). It is estimated that, on age average of onset of involvement in crime varies from age to age.
The age that is likely to be involved in crime is between 12 and 16 years and is possible to predict the involvement. Crime has been associated with poor parenting; parents are neglecting their children because of having a large family size and poor parent child interaction. Family disruption that is most of the time results from marriage break up has been a major course of the crime in urban communities. Children of families with several risk factors, whether from the same or different categories, there are likely to be involved in crime.
Poverty and unemployment have also been the course of crime rates in the urban. Most of people who are unemployed must find a way to survive in the cities, and this has contributed to increasing in rate of crimes. Economic and social disadvantage is other factors that make areas crime more prone (Tilley, 2013). Criminals commit more crime when there are more opportunities and when there are more incentives.
Crime Committed by Adolescents
In the U.S, some adolescents commit violent crimes, and some researchers believe this is frequently caused by juvenile neglect or abuse. These gangs of angry young person's often carry weapons, such as firearms. In some circumstances, teenagers commit murder; even in residential areas, some teens carry guns to school. Young adults occasionally get into physical fights, and this is considered assault. In additional robbery and burglary are also common in young adults (Zimmerman, &Messner, 2010).
The Consequences of delinquency
Crime affects daily life of urban citizens, the quality of community space, and economic prospects in U.S. Crime have diverted some amounts of scarce resources from social development and scares away investors. The consequences of crime are alike and include an overall feeling of insecurity that results in the abandonment of neighbourhoods and avoidance of some quarters, growth of "architecture of fear” exhibited as proliferation of gated communities, high structure fences and building of fortresses as residences. In additional, there has been an increase in the number of private security organizations and use of guards (Wortley, &Mazerolle, 2013).
Preventive Measures
Violence against children threatens their fundamental human rights. It is consequently imperative to convince institutions, and individuals to commit money, expertise, time and other resources required to address this worldwide problem. A number of United States mechanisms reflect a preference for social instead of judicial approaches in controlling juvenile delinquency. It is extensively believed that early-stage involvement represents the best measure to preventing juvenile delinquency. Prevention requires group, organizational and individual, efforts aimed at protecting adolescents from breaking the law. Some focus on disciplinary prevention intended to scare potential criminals by ensuring they understand the likelihood of severe punishment, may be taken to prevent repeated crime, which includes an explanation of the negative aspects of a crime to a delinquent and trying to reconcile criminals and their victims. Within the U.S economic sector, professional development programs have set up to provide lawful alternatives for income generation (Tilley, 2013). Supplying young people and adolescents with increased economic opportunities, new workplaces, professional education and training and assistance in organizing businesses can prevent youth participation in delinquent activities. Improving youth employment opportunities and education, providing youth with adult role models and mentors and enhancing social skills are essential components of preventing delinquency. A research shows that increased chances for success, positive role models, meaningful activities, viable educational, consistent moral standards and employment opportunities have a prominent place in the Country's crime control approach.The U.S Community-based developments in squatter and slum settlements may prevent individuals from living on the streets and help reintegrate them into their neighborhoods. Additional objective of preventive work is to assist street children engage in positive self-appraisal and form optimistic attitudes.
Youth development activities and recreation are directly encouraged: "A recreational services and facilities of interest to young individuals should be established and made easily available to them." According to Zimmerman, &Messner (2010), in a number of cities in the U.S the establishment of basketball programs for youths led to a 60 % decrease in crime rates. Researchers in New York City indicated that Boys' and Girls' Club in a public housing project reduced the level of crime by an average rate of 13%. In Maryland, in the United States where a large playground and youth center were constructed and some youth clubs organized, young individuals have mainly avoided delinquent activities (Zimmerman, &Messner 2010).
Often, it is likely to reduce the level of juvenile delinquency by providing chances to engage young people's interest. A research study carried out in a city, ''in the United States, '' indicated that most of the activities of juvenile delinquent groups were focused around the city’s only park. The design of the park was redesigned to create many more recreational and leisure alternatives for adolescents and their parents. The number of positive afternoon activities held in schools and parks was also increased. All of these procedures led to a substantial reduction in juvenile delinquency. Lately, greater attention has been given to the responsibility and role of local communities in dealing with juvenile delinquency. There are programs designed to train individual and groups representatives of local communities, in which juvenile delinquency has increased to control youth and include young people in constructive activities. The suggestion that young persons should work in partnership with adults to improve situations in their communities has increased currency in the past decade. Young individuals are being asked to sit on boards, submit ideas and support public efforts through structured volunteering.
According to Sampson (2011), delinquency in U.S can also be reduced by either apply various social controls that will influence potential offenders and crime prevention from occurring in the first place. Crime prevention approaches are mainly directed at preventing a person from becoming a victim by reducing a potential criminal's abilities and opportunities to commit a crime. Crime control approaches are directed at reducing a potential criminal's motivation to commit the offence through correctional, penal, social, economic and cultural interventions. The undertaking of security issues in the urban setting needs a holistic approach that includes the social, spatial and institutional dimensions as insecurity cannot be treated in a narrow perspective. A citywide approach might be a basic pedestal for the provision of satisfactory context for effective involvements. Crime prevention consists of dealing with not only the signs but also, the cause of violence and urban crime from an interconnected institutional, social and spatial perspective. Within a democratic context, tackling crime is based on the principles of law enforcement, crime prevention and solidarity.
Crime prevention approaches, in particular, require to be incorporated into inclusive city planning practices to ensure an impact in terms of crime reduction and prevention, informal surveillance, more effective policing, and the protection of properties and lives. More significant than these positive effects of the physical upgrading elements of urban strategies, nevertheless are then influences of their participatory governance and social components, mainly if urban security becomes an explicit issue around which policymaking is focused.
Crime Prevention through Environmental Design
Physical strategy is important to crime prevention and occurrence because the physical environment is linked with the incidence of crime, and it forms the space in which the law enforcement agency operates. Change in the physical environment can be an absolute means of reducing crime. The process involves conducting a strategic analysis of a particular urban environment to be able to recognize opportunities for illegal behaviour, and groups exposed to threats. Prevention of Crime through environmental design involves the strategy of space inside and outside of structures, the positioning of structures in relation to one another, the entrances and exits, street lighting and landscaping. According to Sampson (2011), the strategy is the management, manipulation or design of the immediate environment in which crimes happen in a permanent and systematic way.
Prevention of crime through environmental design involves a set of procedures and practices, which address the policy of public spaces in means that reduce the chance for crime. Urban designers are in a position to recommend urban plan criteria integrated into park design guides and city landscape that reduce criminal opportunities. Standards and Building codes should also integrate security problems. Environmental design applications are also essential for construction and design of banks, businesses, private housing facilities, industry and other private buildings. Urban designers working with the private institutions(such as insurance companies and private security companies) and police can advise and provide design guides for physical security devices that may reduce crime without essentially giving increase to a siege mentality (Zimmerman, &Messner, 2010).
The adoption of ‘safety conscious' planning approaches and the execution of safer urban plan through citywide partnerships that involve the police, the local government, the private and the public sector investor. Therefore, the focus of all concerned in United States should be on the management of public urban space and quality of the activities, taking place in it, street markets and trading, parking and public transport, streetlights and recreational areas and parks can be rehabilitated and revitalised to contribute to urban safety.
Conclusion
The issue of juvenile delinquency is becoming complicated in U.S, and crime prevention programs are either unequipped to deal with the current realism or do not exist. Various states in U.S have done nothing or little to deal with these problems, and international programs are evidently insufficient. Urban safety is a complex and multidimensional issue, with major influence on poverty reduction and development.
A secure urban environment consists of direct combat against crime as well as aspects of urban design, social and community building, good governance, infrastructure development, partnership management, knowledge management, education, and economic development. Making towns secure depends on how one deal with the intimidation facing them, which in turn depends on the capacity of the design, planning and policy models engaged to cope with the forces that are shaping the towns and causing the threats. Nevertheless, there is a need to create a value of prevention and safe environment for all urban residents by helping the criminal justice system, local authorities, the civil society and private sector partners to address urban security and reduce insecurity. Public security is the main urban management and planning objective, as well as a crucial aspect of the quality of life and social and economic development strategy.
Therefore, it must be considered as a public good for social well-being to be supported by all institutions and the community at large. United States involvement in activities aims at juvenile crime prevention; however, the general effect of these programs is rather weak since the mechanisms in place are frequently inadequate to address the current situation. Overall, existing efforts to combat juvenile delinquency are characterized by the absence of systematic action and the lack of task-oriented and effective social work with both victims and offenders, whether potential and real.
References
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Mazerolle, L., Wickes, R., & McBroom, J. (2010).Community variations in violence: The role of social ties and collective efficacy in a comparative context. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 47(1), 3-30.
Sampson, R. J. (2011). The community, Crime and public policy, 210-236.
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Wortley, R., &Mazerolle, L. (Eds.).(2013). Environmental criminology and crime analysis. Willan.
Zimmerman, G. M, &Messner, S. (2010).Neighborhood context and the gender gap in adolescent violent crime. American sociological review, 75(6), 958-980.
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