Gender Differences? (Due 5/31 at 7PM)

John states that he is knowledgeable about many things, including juvenile justice. He can't understand, however, the difference in delinquency rates between males and females.
John states that the delinquency rates should actually be the same because boys and girls are basically similar, other than physical differences, and also are raised the same way.

He also states that there are no gender differences in the way boys and girls are treated in in the juvenile justice system.

After reading chapter 6, what would you say to John about his views?

In your own words, describe Hirschi's General Theory of Crime.

Give an example of a young person 'at risk' for delinquency based on this theory (give this young person a name). Don't forget, your description of this child and what's going on with them should be based on this theory

Developmental and Latent Trait theories (Remote session assignment-due Tuesday 5/30).

What is the main difference between developmental and latent trait theories?

Give a brief description of a young person who is exhibiting problematic behavior based on the concept of latent traits.

Theories of Crime (Due by 5/22/06 at 7:00 PM)

This blog is about the theories presented in Chapter 4. It is intended as a tool for you to become familiar with the theories as well as a tool for your classmates to help them in understanding the theories.

There will be three different theories discussed in this blog. The one you are assigned depends on the first letter of your last name. The first part of the assignment is about the theory itself, the second part is applying the theory to a hypothetical (made up) juvenile.

A-C (first letter of last name ) Social Disorganization
D-K Cultural Deviance
L-Z Control Theory (Hirschi)

1. Explain the theory to your classmates in your own words. Explain what causes delinquency according to that theory.
2. Give an example of a juvenile who gets into trouble because of the reasons given in this theory. Give this juvenile a name and tell us why he/she is in trouble with the juvenile court (be sure the reasons you give are reasons mentioned in your assigned theory).

Shatiek Johnson Case

Read the section about Shatiek Johnson on page 59 in the text and answer the questions that follow in our book.

What is OJJDP?

Go to http://ojjdp.ncjrs.org/ojstatbb/offenders/overview.html

Locate a statistic at that site that is of interest to you.

Write a paragraph below explaining the statistic and what surprised you by that statistic.

Correlates of Delinquency.

After data is collected in several ways, one of the things it tells us is that gender, social class, race and age appear to be related to delinquency. Pick two of these correlates and explain their apparent relationship to delinquency.

Measuring Delinquency

After reading the section in the text in chapter 2 about the two basic methods of measuring delinquency, explain in your own words what these two measures are and how they work.

Grades

Since this is your first blog, we will keep it simple.

Write a sentence that explains how your instructor will determine your grades.