Domestic Violence and Abuse

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/cristian-fernandez-13-year-old-fla-boy-faces-life-in-prison-for-allegedly-murdering-his-2-year-old-half-brother/

 

 

http://youtu.be/WuLjt-VYUSU

 

 

Even though there are some differences between researchers on the exact issues that mold a child to become a juvenile delinquent, surely they all agree on one thing—there is a broken relationship somewhere. That relationship could be with the mother, father, or any other family member. Somewhere in the family unit that child is broken (Mack et al., 2006 p 51). One underlying concern that researchers have is how to define single-parent homes. When you really look at it you can be a single-parent by choice (no marriage), you can be a single-parent because of divorce, or you can be a single-parent due to death. What defines a single-parent? They all could.

            Of course, single-parenting presents challenges of its own, but that does not mean that every single-parent household is going to raise a juvenile delinquent. According to Mack et al, 2006, one of the most important theoretical perspectives is the bond that exists between the parent and the child. In other words, no matter whether there are one or two parents, if they are connecting the chances of the child turning into a juvenile delinquent are slim. There has to be an emotional attachment in order for that connection to be strong. Even though parenting in a single-parent household is more difficult to keep track of everything that is going on in the child’s life and there are different kinds of bonds between the child and each of their parents, it does not mean that they will become criminals especially if there is a bond between the parent and child.

            Parenting is a rewarding but difficult job. It is rewarding because you get to enjoy all the seasons of their lives, ups and downs. It is becomes more difficult when crisis hits the home. Crisis like divorce, death, economic sustainability or any kind of disruption can throw the child into an endless spiral of anxiety or emotional distress. When you add domestic violence, drugs and any kind of abuse then that creates “acting out” in children or anti-social behaviors that can lead to delinquent activities.

            Just like the story of Cristian Fernandez, a 13 year old that killed his 2 year old half sibling and sexually assaulted his 5 year old other half brother. His story was that of abuse from the moment he was conceived. Please take the time to read the article on the top of this blog and watch the video. This young boy did not have a chance to even begin to flourish. At this age did Cristian Fernandez even know the gravity of his actions?

References:

Mack, K. Y., Leiber, M. J., Featherstone, R. A., & Monserud, M. A. (2007). Reassessing the Family-Delinquency Association: Do Family Type, Family Processes, and   Economic Factors Make a Difference?. Journal Of Criminal Justice, 35(1), 51-67.     doi:10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2006.11.015

Family Environment

Young offenders are those who break the law, between the minimum age of 10 years old and under 18 years old. They have become part of the juvenile justice system in most countries. There are many who blame family environment for the cause of a child becoming a juvenile delinquent, others blame the family background and yet others conclude that it is a genetic factor.

           According to Mack, Leiber, Featherstone and Monserud (2006) the type of family structure was not an important predictor of juvenile delinquency. The researchers found that maternal attachment was the most dominating factor in non-serious or serious delinquent behavior. The researchers also stated that these findings remain unresolved since there is no concrete one answer discovery among the studies that have been conducted ( Mack et al., 2006).

            An article published in Psychology Today stated that there are three types of people who commit parricide (murdering the parents). One is the abused child who just cannot take it and breaks down. The other is the severe mentally ill child. And the third is the dangerously antisocial child better known as psychopath (Heidi, 1992).

            Because there are many predictors that are debatable that can lead a child to commit murder, researchers are continuously conducting different studies to find out more. According to Cassidy (2011) youth offending and psychological distress are both influenced by a number of factors in the family, but may be unrelated to each other. Cassidy (2011) found in his study that criminal activity in the family unit disrupts family relationships, reduces unity and increases conflict by providing a model of criminal behavior for children. Please watch this video.

            http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/video/flv/generic.html?s=frol02s4c8q7c&continuous=1

References:

            Cassidy, T. (2011). Family background and environment, psychological distress, and juvenile delinquency. Psychology, 2(9), 941-947. doi: 10.4236/psych.2011.2914

           Heide, Kathleen M. (1992, September 1). Why kids kill parents. Tragedy in the family: when kids murder their parents. Psychology Today. Retrieved from http://www.psychologytoday.com/em/20709

 

            Mack, K.Y., Leiber, M. J., Featherstone, R. A.., & Monserud, M. A. (2007). Reassessing the family-delinquency association: Do family type, family processes, and economic factors make a difference? Journal Of Criminal Justice, 35 (1), 51-67. doi:10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2006.11.015

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

         

  

 

Introduction

Where do children come up with such heinous crimes like stabbing their baby sibling or killing their parents? Is it because they live in a violent environment?  Have they been a victim themselves of some type of abuse (sexually, physically or mentally)? Is it nurture vs. nature?

            It is sad to think that children at very young ages are living with so much stress and anxiety. A stage where they should be discovering themselves, enjoying themselves and having feelings of security and protection; secured and protected  knowing that the family they were born into or the adults who are their guardians are going to provide for them, love them and guide them to become all that they can be and succeed.

            Reading and watching the news of incidents where children kill their own parents, siblings, grandparents or best friends has stirred up my  own curiosity to dig a little deeper to find out the reasons why children are driven to such horrendous acts of violence. Researching some of the articles on this topic it is clear that lots of research has already been done. There are many causes that can make a child act in such angry, violent ways. There are many causes that can make a child
 act in such angry, violent ways. It could be the family structure (Mack, Leiber, Featherstone &
Monserud, 2007), it could be their environment (Day, Hart, Wanklyn, McCay, Macpherson &
Burnier, 2013), or it could be abuse (Day et al., 2013). As the journey down this road begins, hopefully there will be a clearer picture on what experts have found in their research concerning children who go over the edge with violence. This journey will venture into some interesting stories about children who have committed acts of violence, the causes of their behavior and insight into any programs in place to help these children. Are there places or treatments for them that they can renew their way of thinking, heal emotionally and obtain new coping skills to deal with stressors of life? According to out our society, are these kids labeled forever, does our society want to see these kids restored or is there an attitude of rejection or exclusion? Let us begin our journey.

 References:

         Day, D. M., Hart, T. A., Wanklyn, S. G., McCay, E., Macpherson, A., & Burnier, N. (2013). Potential mediators between child abuse and both violence and victimization in juvenile offenders. Psychological Services, 10(1), 1-11. doi:10.1037/a0028057
         Mack, K. Y., Leiber, M. J., Featherstone, R. A., & Monserud, M. A. (2007). Reassessing the Family-Delinquency Association: Do Family Type, Family Processes, and Economic Factors Make a Difference?. Journal Of Criminal Justice, 35(1), 51-67. doi:10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2006.11.015

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Influences

“Society has used the juvenile courts to create a caste system where there are throw-away people.” (James Bell).

The United States has the largest number of prisoners of any developed country in the world and the most prison population in the nation. As of December of 2013, 1.57 inmates sat behind bars in federal, state and county prisons and jails. The prison population has not gone down instead it has risen since 2013 (Flatow, 2014). Is this epidemic trickling down to our children? Have children become the throw-away of our century? Is it easier to lock them up and throw away the keys than to really start dealing with the deeper issues that are oppressing our children? If we continue in that route, pretty soon we will be left without anyone to run this country. As of 2010 there are approximately 70,000 children and teenagers detained in the United States (Plumer, 2013). What makes the Judicial System think that putting a child under the age of 19 is going to rehabilitate them; it has not worked for the adults. Plumer states that putting a child in prison will reduce the chances of that child finishing school and most likely to commit more crimes.

            We have more educated people than ever in our nation, yet we still do not understand that the brain of a child does not stop developing until they are around 24 years old. Putting them in prison is only going to take away from their life, take away those years that they can really turn the mistakes committed into the dreams that every child and teenager has in their heart.

            There are children that unfortunately are born into a chaotic environment which seems to guide their destiny. Many people believe that a child’s environment has a lot to do with the way that child grows up as an adult. Many believe that it is the family structure and the dynamics of that family. There is no clear answer and those points can be debated forever. But what makes a child kill their sibling, parents, grandparents or best friends?

            Even though a child learns from those who are their caretakers, there is a possibility that if the environment at home is not healthy, they can consciously make a choice to break the cycle of bad choices. The same can be true about the place a child grows up in; their neighborhood, the school they attend, the kids they hang out with, etc. Peer pressure is very strong with our youth today.  Both influences can be negative or positive in a child’s life.

   Listen to this story:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/01/12/young-killer-catherine-jones-release-date-nears/21636259/

References:

            Flatow, Nicole. (2014, September 18). The united states has the largest prison population in the world—and it’s growing. ThinkProgress. Retrieved from http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2014/09/17/3568232/the-united-states-had-even-more-prisoners-in-2013/

            Plumer, Brad. (2013, June 15). Throwing children in prison turns out to be a really bad idea. Washington Post. Retrieved from

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/06/15/throwing-children-in-prison-turns-out-to-be-a-really-bad-idea/