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How children and young people are constructed as problematic in relation…
How children and young people are constructed as problematic in relation to deviancy and crime?
MEDIA
Negative portrayal connected with criminality and deviance has frequently distinguished the mass media's representation of youth (Cannon, M 2011).
Constant coverage from the media about how children and young people are ‘out of control’ and ‘evil’ has overall created a moral panic (Cannon, M 2011).
MORAL PANIC
Stanley Cohen created the term moral panic in 1972 and explained that it is “condition, episode, person or group of persons emerges to become defined as a threat to societal values and interests” (Cohen, S, 2011).
Research that was conducted in 2002 revealed that 75% of the British population truly believed that youth crime was increasing, even though statistics and data proved that it was significantly decreasing (Cannon, M 2011).
This shows that by the media displaying everything negative that some young people are doing, it overshadows and shines a bad light on all young people and stereotypes them, initiating that the public should be afraid (Cannon, M 2011).
By the media producing stigmatised character who society can dislike, condemn and easily recognise they are creating a negative stereotype of youth that make the public scared and angry (Cannon, M 2011).
The media have fabricated the stereotypical depiction of youth and from this Cohen (2004) argued that young people have been stereotyped and labeled in a way that they are now observed as an ambiguous subculture in society (Cannon, M 2011).
FAMILY
When a child or young person goes through certain events at an early age it can have a lifelong impact on their life as they grow up (Wright, K and Karen, Wright 2017).
Young people who experience events such as being rejected by their parents grow up in an environment where they are not adequately supervised and live in homes with substantial conflict are at greater risk of committing a crime (Wright, K and Karen, Wright 2017).
Not having a loving and supportive home growing up can make the child feel as though they are not enough and send them down the wrong route in life (Wright, K and Karen, Wright 2017).
TRAUMA
A life threatening or dangerous experience may become a traumatic event for a child or young person. The individual may see this event as a serious threat to their safety and will commonly experience a high level of helplessness and fear.
Trauma at such a young age can have long lasting negative effects on a person as they grow up. The personal effects may be behavioural, social and psychological
These developments are often connected with everlasting consequences, including risk of further deception, delinquency and youth crime, poor school performance, substance abuse and chronic diseases (Wyrick, P and Atkinson, K 2021).
ACEs
Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are commonly known as a set of 10 traumatic experiences or circumstances that occur before the age of 18, for example these events can include physical and emotional abuse, neglect, domestic violence and caregiver mental illness (Local Government Association 2018).
If a child or young person experiences ACEs, it has been known that they can have a permanent impact on their behaviour and health
Research has found that when a young person has 3 or more ACEs have an increased likelihood of engaging in crime or violence starting from 51% to 166% compared to children who have not experienced any ACEs at all (Local Government Association 2018).
NATURE vs NURTURE
SOCIAL FACTORS
Burgess and Akers social learning theory suggests that both deviant and compliant behaviour are developed through a person's own learning processes (Hegger, J 2015).
An individual's upbringing and environment can contribute to their specific criminogenic needs.
A child's experiences when they are young can shape the way that they see the world as they grow up. This relates to the ACEs and an individual going through a traumatic experience when they are young.
BIOLOGICAL FACTORS
Genes in the body can affect the way in which the brain functions that can either increase or reduce the possibility of individuals learning different behaviour patterns (Hegger, J 2015)
Eysenck used his own extensive research on genetics and used twin data where he found a high similarity between identical twins (77%) compared to fraternal twins (12%). After concluding this research and finding other data to support this, he concluded that there is now no to little doubt that genetics plays a role in antisocial behaviour (Hegger, J 2015).
Genes in the body can affect the way in which the brain functions that can either increase or reduce the possibility of individuals learning different behaviour patterns (Hegger, J 2015)
RACE
When it comes to youth crime it can be seen that there can be inequalities between different races (House of Commons Home Affairs Committee 2007).
Even though 84% of offences in 2004 including young offenders were committed by white individuals, however data and research has shown that young black people have been overrepresented at all sections of the criminal justice system (House of Commons Home Affairs Committee 2007).
“Black people constitute 2.7% of the population aged 10–17, but represent 8.5% of those of that age group arrested in England and Wales.” (House of Commons Home Affairs Committee 2007).
As a group, they are more indubitably to be stopped and searched by the police, more likely to be remanded and less likely to be given definite bail than young white offenders (House of Commons Home Affairs Committee 2007).
This shows that they are victimised, wrongly stereotyped and represented (House of Commons Home Affairs Committee 2007).