Posted: June 27th, 2015

The Unthinkable – Children who kill and what motivates them

Paper Outline

1. Overview of Juvenile delinquency – children who kill
2. Overview of clinical psychotherapy test outcomes of the characteristics of juvenile delinquents

• Maltreatment of children and the cycle of violence in children

1. Historical injustices and their link to children who kill
2. The dilemma that lies in prosecution of Juvenile delinquency cases
3. References

The Unthinkable – Children who kill and what motivates them – The crime Library

Overview of Juvenile delinquency

According to Elrod and Ryder (2011), juvenile delinquency has been on the increase in modern times. Unlike the ancient times when children could only involve themselves in petty mistakes, children are now involved in high profile crimes. This has raised concern to the criminal justice system. Children of today are even involved or direct participate in homicide or murder cases. This has attracted research into the area of juvenile crime. Researchers seek to establish the underlying motivations behind the rise in juvenile delinquency. The major interest is to look deep into the serious cases on juvenile delinquency. The assessment of developments in murder cases involving children can be helpful in understanding the motivation or pointers to children involvement in murder cases. Continued research is linking these cases to psychotherapy as the best way through which such incidences can be explained (Heckel and Shumaker, 2001). This paper looks into research on juvenile delinquency. The paper focuses on murder cases committed by children and the impact such cases are bringing to the criminal justice system.

Overview of clinical psychotherapy test outcomes of the characteristics of juvenile delinquents

Heckel and Shumaker (2001) argue that the delinquent tendencies in children can be best explained by psychotherapists. Notably, most children who commit major crimes such as murder have deep feelings of insecurity in them. Despite the presence of an insecure environment, delinquents rarely show that they are insecure. They do not show any signs of feeling insecure and make attempts to ignore such feelings. They make all attempts to match with the surrounding environment such as dressing and actively participating in group activities. They show conformity to groups. This is referred to as overt bravado. However, delinquents portray a certain character that differs from other children. The delinquents have high levels of anxiety to identify with notorious heroic figures in movies. They have a very high sense of life that is exhibited at early stages of life; between the ages of 10 and 12 years. At this age, they are well versed with different lifestyles like the various car models and their preferred models (Heckel and Shumaker, 2001).

Delinquents are aware of the different forms of aggression. They also like displaying courage and “manliness”. In addition, they are fond of taking part in risky or dangerous activities. They have mechanisms of holding emotions even when they are spotted committing aggression acts. They rarely admit or show anger in them. Delinquents show an indifference character in respect to other people. They do not show sympathy or empathy to other people, and if any, then it is to a very small extent. They try to exercise the aggressive acts committed on them to other children. The delinquents show recognition of boundaries in their environment and put strong barriers between the set boundaries. Even though they may have feelings of guilt, the delinquents do not admit to this. They are not apologetic. Delinquents seldom exercise self control. They are often restless and engage in many activities in whichever environment they find themselves. Delinquents are highly active and will often prefer to engage themselves in groups. In cases where they are not taking part in group activities, they will involve themselves in other activities like watching movies. From these and many other characteristics, it is evident that there are many psychological distinctions between normal children and delinquents (Villaveces and DeRoo, 2008).

A debate has been sparked in respect to the justice system handling cases of child delinquency. This results from the confusion on how to handle such cases as some claim that violent, delinquent characters in children emanate from their environment. On the other hand, there is an argument that juvenile delinquents are born and that such characters are not induced from the environment. However, it remains debatable on how the environment can favor or directly lead children to committing such heinous acts like killing. Here, the environment refers to the family and community. Individual character is seen by other researchers as the cause of such cases in children (Haugaard and Feerick, 2002).

Maltreatment of children and the cycle of violence in children

Crooks, Scott, Ellis, and Wolfe (2011) observed that research has made efforts to ascertain the factors or reasons that push children to commit murder. This has been done by studying the cycle of violence in juvenile delinquency cases. There is evidence from research showing that children who are maltreated are at a higher risk of becoming delinquent. Children who come from violent families get exposed to violence in their early stages of life. Therefore, they are likely to adopt violence. This is replicated in the delinquent acts that are done by these children. While this is true, it is hard to establish the level at which these children will engage in crime and commit crimes of a big magnitude. A certain level of delinquency is expected for children who are victims of violence in their families. Research shows that violent behavior among children is caused by post-traumatic disorders resulting from maltreatment of children. Nonetheless, many cases of maltreatment of children are left without being addressed (McLeigh and Sianko, 2010). This raises questions about the effectiveness of the juvenile, criminal systems.

The number of cases of maltreatment in children has been on the rise in spite of many other cases going unreported. However, research has revealed that most children who are maltreated often become or show signs of violence. This emanates from the comparison of the delinquent behavioral tendencies in maltreated and non-maltreated children. A direct relationship prevails between child delinquency and maltreatment. Post-traumatic stress disorders and depression accumulate in children as they continue to be exposed to violence and harsh treatment. This has to be released at certain stages in their lives. When such pressures are accumulated, the child is likely to portray a delinquent behavior. Violent acts are indicators of maltreatment. Through such actions, the children find a channel to vent out their frustrations experienced during the mistreatment (Bender, Postlewait, Thompson and Springer, 2011).

The juvenile, justice system has to strengthen the child welfare system in order to reduce the violent criminal acts from children. This is an intervening role that will help in identifying the cases of maltreatment and offering a better environment for such children. Psychological support should further be extended to such children to help them in easing their minds. This level of intervention could be helpful in preventing the number of juvenile violent crimes across the globe. The backlog of juvenile, criminal cases will be greatly reduced by enhancing such measurers (Haugaard and Feerick, 2002). Nonetheless, the juvenile, criminal system is not proactive as they spend a lot of time trying to prosecute high profile cases of violence committed by children. The procedure of prosecution of children is different from the normal criminal procedures in murder cases. Children are overly protected by the international justice system. This makes it quite hard to establish strong cases of child crime (Henning, 2010).

Apart from the maltreatment of children, the visual media have also been blamed for causing juvenile crimes. The children access to media has been widened. As children get exposed to media violence, they are more likely to be corrupted by this violence. Nowadays, it is normal to find young children watching movies or television programs that contain clips on direct violence like murder. As has been established by psychologists, children adapts so fast to their immediate environment. Continuous exposure to media violence often culminates into violent characters. Children may start emulating violent figurers in horror and other violent programs and movies. These cases have been linked to various juvenile delinquency cases in different parts of the world. As television violence is not controlled, children continue to be exposed to it leading to the corrupting of their minds (Henning, 2010).

Research reveals that children who are exposed to media violence are more violent than those who are not exposed to media violence. These children innocently exhibit the violent character of murders in their social interactions. Perhaps, this could be one of the areas that require attention from the stakeholders in the juvenile crime system. Children need to be restricted to non-violent and educative programs that will aid them in social and psychological growth. This is a negation of the prevailing social system where parents continue to evade the responsibility of making choices to their children. The subject matter remains to establish how the criminal system can assert its force on the social system and help to shape the system in reference to preventing crime. One way of preventing the exposure of media violence to children could be through the formation of laws that criminalize the act of exposing media violence to children. The juvenile justice system has to be a central player (Strom and Strom, 2009).

Historical injustices and their link to children who kill

There is another viewpoint on child murder acts. The increasing cases of civil wars in different countries have been the facilitating factor for children to commit murder. The children are captured and forced to participate in violent acts as child soldiers. As child soldiers, these children are made to take some oaths that give them courage to kill or commit heinous acts. Once they are used to this, they become accosted to crime. When they are finally rescued from the rebel camps, these children are incorporated back into society. However, the complete procedures of pacifying the corrupted mindset of these children are rarely followed; and if so, they are not implemented to the later stages. The juvenile, criminal system has to be actively involved in designing programs to normalize the behavior of the ex-child soldiers (Nakaya, 2005).

The dilemma that lies in prosecution of Juvenile delinquency cases

Villaveces and DeRoo (2008) note that juvenile crime cases are complicated by article twelve of the United Nations Convention on the Right of the child. This law recognized the essence of the voice of children in judicial proceedings in criminal cases involving children. Criminal proceedings for juvenile delinquency cases involving children must first establish the effect that the proceedings will have on a child. The liberty of the child has to be discussed extensively due to issues of age. Also, the rehabilitative prospects have to be discussed in respect to rights that are accorded to children by the constitution. Juvenile court functions are thus stretched by the mushrooming cases of violent and tragic crimes committed by children. With the increase in the number of criminal cases by the juveniles, therapeutic processes should be enhanced to enable therapeutic outcomes that can help in prosecuting children (Villaveces and DeRoo, 2008).

The process of educating children about ongoing cases in courts by their lawyers consumes quite a lot of time. All in all, the children may end up not understanding the criminal procedure. They are given time to express their stories, but they might not be able to articulate the course of events effectively. Children are argued to be incapable of making rational statements basing on normative judgment of happenings. Also, different nations have different age restrictions for the definition of children and adults. Therefore, a person who may appear to be a child according to one nation may be considered an adult in another country (Henning, 2010). The juvenile courts have been historically linked to rehabilitation efforts for children convicted of crimes. However, it is overwhelming for the courts to handle cases of children committing murder offences (Hess, Orthmann and Drowns, 2010). Violence reduction programs in schools can be helpful in lowering cases of child delinquency. However, schools view some cases of violence by children as being too big to be handled at the school level. Such cases end up even shocking the schools (Crooks, Scott, Ellis and Wolfe, 2011).

References

Bender, K., Postlewait, A.W., Thompson, S. J. and Springer, D. W. (2011). Internalizing Symptoms Linking Youths’ Maltreatment and Delinquent Behavior. Child Welfare, 90(3), 69-89.

Crooks, C.V., Scott, K., Ellis, W., and Wolfe, D.A. (2011). Impact of a universal school-based violence prevention program on violent delinquency: Distinctive benefits for youth with maltreatment histories. Child Abuse & Neglect, 35(6), 393-400.

Elrod, P., and Ryder, R.S. (2011). Juvenile justice: A social, historical, and legal perspective. Sudbury, Mass: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.

Haugaard, J.J., and Feerick, M. (2002). Interventions for Maltreated Children to Reduce Their Likelihood of Engaging in Juvenile Delinquency. Children’s Services: Social Policy, Research & Practice, 5(4), 285-297.

Heckel, R.V., and Shumaker, D.M. (2001). Children who murder: A psychological perspective. Westport, Conn. [u.a.: Praeger.

Henning, K. (2010). Denial of the Child’s Right to Counsel, Voice, and Participation in Juvenile Delinquency Proceedings. Child Welfare, 89(5), 121-138.

Hess, K.M., Orthmann, C.M.H., and Drowns, R.W. (2010). Juvenile justice. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

McLeigh, J.D., and Sianko, N. (2010). Where Have All the Children Gone? The Effects of the Justice System on America’s Children and Youth. American Journal Of Orthopsychiatry, 80(3), 334-341.

Nakaya, A.C. (2005). Juvenile crime: Opposing viewpoints. Farmington Hills, Mich: Greenhaven Press.

Strom, R.D., and Strom, P.C. (2009). Parenting young children: Exploring the internet, television, play, and reading. Charlotte, N.C: Information Age Pub., Inc.

Villaveces, A., and DeRoo, L.A. (2008). Child delinquency and the prophylaxis of crime in early 20th-century Latin America. Revista Panamericana De Salud Pública, 24(6), 449-454.