Strategies for control and prevention of delinquency - Essay Example

? Strategies for Control and Prevention of Delinquency College Strategies for Control and Prevention of Delinquency Introduction Participation in early sex, alcohol, delinquency, drug abuse, gangs and youth violence together with other problem behaviours in young people all over the globe are grave matters that require immediate, creative, inclusive and professional approach. In the U.S., recent research denotes an overall reduction in violent crime, but there were inconsistent increase in violent crime rates in the last three centuries commonly among the adolescents and young adults. In the mid 1990’s approximately more than 2.5 million juveniles were apprehended. However, the rate went on decreasing as the years went by. Owing to those worrying figures of juvenile delinquencies cases, that evidence is strong enough to find ways of addressing them in order to reduce them considerably if not to totally eradicate them. Actually, without unique techniques of preventing juvenile delinquency, more youths are most likely to involve themselves in criminal and risky activities making the figures to rise again tremendously. Importantly, there are multiple strategies which can be implemented that aim at solving those problems. In a point of fact, there are several factors that make young people to involve in delinquency which include various family circumstances. Thus, this paper elaborates how a legislator can implement strategies that can be used to control and prevent delinquency. Delinquency Control and Prevention Strategies Since the family is the organizational unit that has been mandated the crucial role of bringing up children, a legislator can use it to control and curb delinquency. In this scenario, a number of family interventions should be put in place. The first intervention is family knowledge training plan (Velleman, Templeton & Copello, 2005). In this regard, the government would first train a number of officers who would be given the duty of training parents and their children on delinquency. After offering trained officers with the required materials and equipment, all families countrywide would be informed of the training activity that is funded by the state to avoid some families from chasing the officers away. Then, specific time would be allocated for the trained officers to be visiting various homes. In order to ensure that all homes are visited, government leaders in various departments would be asked to work in conjunction with the training officers. Such education would also be conducted in various public places like churches, meetings, and rallies among others. In such places, the government would ensure that it sends one of the trained officers. The training would involve teaching both parents and their children on the various ways of controlling and preventing delinquency (Velleman, Templeton & Copello, 2005). The families where one or both parents are drug addicts would be helped as much as possible to avoid using drugs. Such parents would play a crucial role of reciprocating that knowledge to their children. The trainers would help both the children and parents to change their negative thinking and focus more on the positive ideas. In order to help children grow physically, sociologically and spiritually, parents would be obliged to allow their children to associate with the right peer groups (Loeber, Farrington & Petechuk, 2003). Therefore, the young people would be taught good peer groups that they can join. Parents would also be taught good supervision to their children in order not to be too strict neither lenient on their children’s behaviour (Velleman, Templeton, & Copello, 2005). Additionally, parents would learn how to influence their children to acceptable behaviour both at home and in the society. Parents influencing their children in the right way would be critical in curbing delinquency because frequently, majority of the youth normally follow their parents’ recommendations. On the other side, government officials and other stakeholders willing to assist in the operation would also be very much welcome. The other approach to be used for preventing and controlling delinquency would be premeditated family therapy (Velleman, Templeton & Copello, 2005). In this scenario, therapists would be used to offer guidance on the standard ways of living whatever the case might be. The therapists would also go from door to door but mostly, people would be offered more counselling and advice when they visit hospitals. In order for parents and their children to follow the therapists’ instructions, the therapists would be asked to use exceptional strategies, try to make the problems narrow so that their interventions would sound considerable and specific. Importantly, the therapists would be responsible for creating an interpersonal planet that people live instead of a crime characterised world (Velleman, Templeton & Copello, 2005). In order to make the therapists’ plan successfully, they would be required to tell the parents and children to comment on the advice and counselling that they would be offered. The therapists would teach the children how the mind of a person changes slowly when one begins involving in drugs and crimes. Parents would be required by the therapist to offer their children who behave well gifts and correct those who err. That would motivate them to be doing good things always and develop the culture from early childhood. The other approach of preventing and controlling delinquency would be family services (Wasserman, miller & Cothern, 2000). In this case, exceptional measures for offering guidance and counselling to the family early would be put in place. Thus, this would target early infancy and prenatal interventions. Lactating and pregnant mothers would be given a lot of education concerning crime and drug abuse by professionals when they visit hospitals. They would be taught the advantages of reducing alcohol, tobacco and other drugs and that could add the benefits of curbing their later children and themselves in abusing those drugs (Wasserman, Miller & Cothern, 2000). Some of the professionals in this field would also be required to pay visits to various homes and offer their advice. In addition, some of the professionals would be sent to different schools for the young (Loeber, Farrington & Petechuk, 2003). The other approach of preventing and controlling delinquency that a legislator can use is encouraging advancement in academic skills (Wassermann, Miller & Cothern, 2000). In this scenario, teachers would be encouraged to add more skills to their career so that they can teach children more on how to grow up as responsible and law abiding citizens. Thus, more emphasis would require to be put on the children’s social competence training (Wasserman, Miller & Cothern, 2000). In such studies, children would learn how to concentrate on social cues, how to solve problems amicably and how to be merciful to their colleagues. They would also learn the impacts of coercion or physical aggression. An instance of aptitude training program would be when children would be taught to obtain and admit feedback, resist peer influence, negotiate effectively and solve problems. Children would also be required to aim high, attend school always and cooperate with teachers all the times. The students would also be taught the role that law plays in the society (Loeber, Farrington & Petechuk, 2003). Importantly, teachers would be required to offer encouragement and support to all the students during both hard and easy times. The children, who would have done well, would be congratulated while those who would have gone wrong in one area would be corrected and asked to improve next time. The children would also be taught how to learn through their partners. In this case, they would be allowed to form groups for solving some of their issues (Wassermann, Miller & Cothern, 2000). In cases where children would be unable to thrash out a problem, a teacher would intervene and offer the required assistance. Schools would also be required to implement conflict resolution plans. Through such plans children would learn improvement of self control, problem solving skills, and the results and causes of violence. Thus, the children would learn how to react to different situations in the friendliest manner (Loeber, Farrington & Petechuk, 2003). In addition, they would learn how to reconcile opposing sides taught listening and communication skills. Such skills would be necessary for evaluation of incidents before taking any action. The last strategy to be used in controlling and preventing delinquency would be medication (Wasserman, Miller & Cothern, 2000). One of the ways to be used for treating conduct disorder would be psycho stimulant medication which would be used to decrease signs of impulsiveness, motor over-activity and inattentiveness. Such medications would enhance bad peer interactions while improving short-term academic operation for the youth (Wasserman, Miller & Cothern, 2000). In this regard, children who would be seen like they would become addicts like their parents would be given enough counselling not to engage in such activities. Conclusion Delinquency is a serious world matter that needs careful approaches to tackle. It calls for the participation of all people in the society in order to eradicate it. The family should play a critical role in curbing and preventing delinquency. The government should also train some officers on various ways of fighting delinquency and send them to the family units to educate them. Such a strategy would be meaningful to both the parents and their children. Once the family unit gains enough knowledge on delinquency, it would be a great investment to the government due the huge amounts of funds it uses to rehabilitate and treat drug users and arrest various criminals. Family interventions and improving competency skills in schools can also be used to control and curb delinquency. In such cases, the teachers, parents and children would play a critical role for the strategies to be successful. References Loeber, R., Farrington, D. P & Petechuk, D. (2003). Child Delinquency: Early Intervention and Prevention. Retrieved 6th November 2013 from https://www.co.ramsey.mn.us/NR/rdonlyres/82A097AE-978C-4F63-9C68-30B6829A7A2F/1745/ACE_Child.pdf. Velleman, R. B. D., Templeton, L. J. & Copello, A. G. (2005). The role of the family in preventing and intervening with substance use and misuse: A comprehensive review of family interventions, with a focus on young people. Drug and Alcohol Review, 24, 93-109. Wasserman, G. A., Miller, L. S & Cothern, L. (2000). Prevention of Serious and Violent Juvenile Offending. Retrieved 6th November 2013 from https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/ojjdp/178898.pdf. Read More