|
Abstract
|
Juvenile homicide has increased markedly in recent years. This study focuses on thirty-one juveniles charged with homicide or attempted homicide over an eighteen-month period in Alameda County, California, and the circumstances of their offenses. About one-third of the homicides occurred during the commission of a robbery. In about one-fourth of the homicides, the assailant was intoxi cated. About two-thirds of the assailants were carrying the weapon used, suggesting that predisposition to kill or injure may be present without necessary premeditation. Almost all the assailants were males, and half were sixteen or younger. Two-thirds had prior correctional involvement; the others had never demonstrated antisocial behavior. Some youngsters were anxious or depressed, some were social isolates and overly controlled, and some were hostile and explosive; others seemed quite healthy and well adjusted. In general, this group of juveniles would not be seen as more disturbed than any other delinquent sample. The families of the assailants were characterized as violent and chaotic, and many of the parents had histories of crime, alcohol abuse, and violence. Only one-third of the youngsters had apparently adequate maternal and paternal figures in the home at the time of the homicide. These youngsters seem to have been deprived of models for controlling impulses, and their family experience had not generated compelling hopes and goals. In the absence of internal restraints and goals, juvenilfs can be profoundly influenced by popular media, which teach that life must be exciting to be worthwhile. Violence is a cheap form of excitement, and excitement is a cheap form of gratification. For these youngsters, the adults in their families and the adults in popular entertainment usually chose violence over long-term gratification. So did they.
VioLit summary:
OBJECTIVE:
The aim of this study by Sorrells was to examine a number of juveniles who had committed homicide in order to ascertain the circumstances surrounding their offenses. The conclusions of the study were based in the theory of behavioral modeling.
METHODOLOGY:
The author employed a non-experimental exploratory design with secondary analysis of records on juveniles who had been charged with homicide or attempted homicide over an eighteen month period, from January, 1973 to June, 1974, in Alameda County, California. Of the 37 who were charged during this period, 31 were prosecuted in Alameda county and were thus included in this study. The 31 juveniles were charged with a total of 26 incidents, with 30 victims. The researcher examined all records that were available for each case - data from the Probation Department, from the juvenile authorities, form police records and from any mental health records that might have been available. He examined the victims and the circumstances of the offenses, as well as characteristics of the juveniles themselves and of their families.
FINDINGS/DISCUSSION:
The author began with an examination of the victims and the circumstances of the offenses. Fifteen adults and fifteen juveniles were victims in the twenty-six incidents, with nine being killed during the commission of some type of robbery, and eight following a quarrel or argument. Eight were killed for no apparent reason. Twenty-one of the assailants were carrying the weapon they used, indicating a predisposition, or readiness, to injure another person if necessary. Eight of the juveniles were under the influence of drugs at the time of the offense, with seven of these having consumed excess amounts of alcohol. Of the thirty-one juveniles studied, twenty-nine were males, with nine of the total being fifteen years of age or younger, nine were sixteen, twelve were seventeen and one was eighteen. Two-thirds lived in urban Oakland, and just over half were black. All the juveniles had other siblings in their families. The homicide was the first offense for six of the juveniles, with six having had committed one or two previous offenses and nineteen having committed from three to twenty-six previous crimes. Thirteen had already served time in a juvenile correctional facility. In general, this group of juveniles was neither psychiatrically disturbed nor legally insane. Examining the families of these youth, the author found that only eight were living with both biological parents at the time of the offense, and that seven were illegitimate. The location of fathers of six of the group was unknown at the time when the crime was committed, and nine youth lived in a home with no adult male presence. Five had at some time lived with members of the extended family, and two of the mothers and four of the fathers had died. Four of the fathers and two of the mothers had criminal records, with five fathers and three mothers being described as violent. Five of the mothers and five of the fathers were alcoholics, and the author inferred that nine of the fathers were emotionally unstable and ten of the mothers were likely to be disturbed. In total, the author found that fourteen of the fathers and twenty-one of the mothers were inadequate parental figures for their children. In fact, ten of the juveniles had siblings who had spent time in a correctional facility. The author suggested that the most important aspect of learning comes from modeling, and that these juveniles modeled their behavior after parents who could not control their impulses, who were often drunk and assaultive, and who generally did not operate in a purposeful and thoughtful manner. The juveniles learned to act out and to be out of control, not only from their parents, but also from television, which teaches that violence is an appropriate method of conflict resolution, and which distorts what violence is like in reality. Television portrays a life that must be exciting - it deems that excitement is necessary, and that violence is excitement.
AUTHOR'S RECOMMENDATIONS:
The author suggested firstly that drug education efforts include alcohol education, and not just center upon issues surrounding the use of illegal drugs. He also stressed the need for the family to counterbalance the influence of the media in shaping children's lives, by providing strong models of integrity and nonviolence to allow children to learn acceptable and appropriate methods of behavior.
EVALUATION:
The author presents an interesting and informative examination of the circumstances surrounding juvenile homicide. However, the very small sample size and the seemingly inconsistent and subjective method of collecting data and measuring key concepts, suggests that the findings of this study be regarded with much caution. A much more thorough discussion of the sources of data would have been useful, as would have a discussion about the definitions and operationalizations of the key concepts. The use of inference must also be approached with much caution, as any findings that have merely been subjectively inferred from incomplete data cannot be relied upon to be accurate and true. Despite the shortcomings of this paper, the implications of the findings and the role of modeling theory were both well discussed, although somewhat briefly so. It is from these discussions that further research can draw its impetus and can continue the examination of the background and the circumstances surrounding the juvenile murderer. (CSPV Abstract - Copyright © 1992-2007 by the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, Institute of Behavioral Science, Regents of the University of Colorado)
KW - California
KW - 1970s
KW - Juvenile Violence
KW - Juvenile Offender
KW - Homicide Causes
KW - Homicide Offender
KW - Violence Causes
KW - Behavior Modeling
KW - Theory
KW - Offense Characteristics
KW - Offender Characteristics
Language: en |