Many people stereotype criminals as having to have been a certain gender (usually male), a certain race (usually black), a certain social class (usually lower class) and a certain age (usually under 30). But, the truth of the matter is anyone is capable of going out and committing a crime regardless of their gender, race, social class, and age. To prove my point I am going to touch basics on the topic of delinquency since we all know that juveniles are the ones who are usually stereotyped the most when it comes to delinquent behavior.
Basics of Delinquency
It has been shown that children make up the majority of the population in not only the United States but other countries as well. It is also said that the way a child is nurtured by their parents places a huge part in the type of person that they will become when they are adults. Parents are the ones who basically show and teach their children what is right and wrong. If parents are not setting the correct examples for their children to follow it can cause a child to become a juvenile delinquent. Delinquency is when someone is committing an act that is illegal. In the case of juvenile delinquency it means that a juvenile is committing an act that is legal for adults but illegal for children, such as smoking, drinking alcohol, or cutting school.
Delinquency vs. Gender, Race, Social Class, and Age
As we all gender, race, social class, and age plays a huge role in all of our lives. These cornerstones determine the social opportunities we will have and they are also said to play a big role when it comes to delinquency as well. Although young females account for one in four juvenile arrests in the United States each year, the stereotypical offender is a violent, young male” (Barnickol, n.d.).” As a result, delinquency theories developed based upon male behavior” (Barnickol, n.d.). Furthermore, the juvenile justice system often and neglects the young female offender” (Barnickol, n.d.). “Race, class, gender and age are alternatively seen as direct contributors to deviant behavior, as stigmatized statuses that are targets for deviant labeling, and as sources of power to exert that very same social control” (Heitzeg, n.d.). Think about when you cut on the news. Usually, the highlighted story in the juvenile niche involves a young, black, male who is part of the lower class. They may have robbed a store or been committing other criminal activity. However, if there was a news station that discussed delinquent acts you can best believe the same type of juvenile would be highlighted in the featured story. This is because the lower class are going to be targeted then when you add in other factors such as race and gender it just makes it more believable that young, black, males are the ones committing the most delinquent acts. The upper class, white, males also commit delinquent crimes, however, since these juveniles parents are model citizens in the community their acts are not going to be publicized because they have the money to keep it quiet.
How Does This Affect Delinquency?
It is safe to say that the system targets minority juveniles and there has been a case study to back this. Back in July 2004 the Oklahoma Office of Juvenile Affairs has a case study prepared for them by Courtney Charish, Sebastian Davis, and Kelly Damphousse that showed that race, gender, and social class played a significant role in the punishment outcome of a juvenile delinquency crime even among first offenders. They were able to come to this conclusion by analyzing the Juvenile On -Line Tracking System (JOLTS).
In conclusion race, class, gender, and age affect the juvenile justice system negatively. However, this is something that has been going on for many years so it is not going to change overnight. But, every time someone brings attention to this issue it is counting towards something.
References
Barnickol, L. (n.d.) The disparate treatment of males and females within the juvenile justice system. Retrieved from: http://law.wustl.edu/journal/2/p429barnickol.pdf
Charish, C; Davis, S; Damphousse, K (2004). Race/ethnicity and gender effects on juvenile justice system processing. Retrieved from: http://www.oja.state.ok.us/final%20oja%20report%207-8-04.pdf
Heitzeg, N (n.d.) Differentials in deviance: race, class, gender, and age. Retrieved from: http://minerva.stkate.edu/people.nsf/files/mina-82vm3a/$file/differnetialsindeviancel.pdf
