Background and Contemporary Context for
Youth Criminalization
The process of youth criminalization is
guided by several contradictions in how youth are viewed and treated in contemporary
society. Youth are represented in the media as both “at risk” and increasingly
violent, despite evidence of a reduction in violent crime. These contradictions
are reflected in a bifurcated justice system for youth in western societies,
which emphasizes diversion for first time offenders and those who commit less
serious offenses, and an increasingly punitive approach that emphasizes
accountability for youth who commit more serious offenses and youth who
re-offend. Root causes are often absent from contemporary understanding of (and
related theory about) the process of youth criminalization. Further, age-based
prejudice and discrimination intersects with multiple other bases of inequality
in the construction of youth and their corresponding treatment in the juvenile
justice system.
Critical analyses of youth justice reveal
the ongoing influence of political, economic, and social forces in the
perpetuation of youth criminalization. Reforms to the juvenile justice system are
usually reactive and have unintended effects on youth, but overwhelmingly no
effect on youth crime, because they do not address the underlying social
inequalities. Youth criminalization increasingly takes place through everyday
practices at the local level that target youth “at risk” with attendant biases
that intersect with other social inequalities. This results in the
over-policing of racialized poor and working-class youth in ways that reinforce
gender biases in treatment. A related challenge is that much of the responsibility
for youth justice has been downloaded onto the community level and the
individual.
The Assignment
The objective of the essay is to explore youth
criminalization in the contemporary context through a specific topic in the
area of policing, the courts, custody, alternative measures, welfare, the
media, schooling, or another focus of your choice. Strive for as focused a
topic as possible.
Specifications: 5-7 pages (not including references page), double-spaced.This is a research essay, so students must use
peer review sources. A
minimum of 10 sources is required.