Public Attitudes to Youth Crime Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Public Attitudes to Youth Crime - Case Study Example The report involved applying a qualitative approach to research in which 125 participants were engaged; of which 68 were female while 57 were male. All the participants were between 18 and 76 years of age. A focus group methodology was then applied to analyzing the diversity and range of community attitudes towards youth perpetrated crime, and the reasons underlying the presented views. The article identified youth delinquency and antisocial behavior as a major source of concern and contributor to local crime statistics. Youth groups that often hang around neighborhoods and public spaces are described as intimidating presences that start out being moderately petty annoyances and disruptive in behavior, before moving on to behavior that could be intentionally intimidating and offensive, before graduating to committing outright violence. Antisocial behavior was also presented when the youth engaged in vandalism, damaged cars, smashed windows and place graffiti on public spaces. The art icle further argues that the local community had failed on curtailing youth delinquency and antisocial behavior, by failing to discipline the youth they condoned the behavior and allowed the youth to graduate into worse forms of delinquency. The local community and parents were not the only groups’ assigned blame for youth delinquency and antisocial behavior, the weak and ineffectual criminal justice system was also assigned blame. Poor parenting and the diminished sense of community were specifically identified as the major factors that allowed the youth to grow up without the understanding that their actions had consequences or respect for authority.