Thesis on "Urban Sociology"

Thesis 6 pages (1726 words) Sources: 5 Style: APA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Juvenile Crime

The Effects of the Urban Community and Urbanization on Juvenile Crime in South Carolina

In this paper, an examination of juvenile crime types and rates in South Carolina and their relationship to urbanization and urban proximity as presented in various previous state-, federal-, and academically-sponsored studies is conducted. The basic findings of the study are twofold: first, urbanization, when other factors are controlled for, does not appear to have a substantive effect on the rate of crimes committed by juvenile offenders; second, the type of crime -- specifically violent crimes involving the use of firearms (whether or not they are discharged during the commission of the crime) -- does appear to have a correlation with urbanization and urban proximity. Other factors that are more influential in both rates and types of juvenile crime commission are also briefly examined, especially insofar as they can be seen as related to statistics regarding urbanization.

Introduction

The problem of juvenile crime, and especially of violent crimes involving the use of firearms, has received increasing attention over the past two decades, even before the shooting at Columbine High School in Colorado set off a new era of public awareness of such concerns. As the number of juvenile offenders rises, governmental and law enforcement agencies have attempted to determine the best practices for combating the issue. The first step in accomplishing this is necessarily an understanding of the reasons behind this rise.

Efforts to establish the factors that influence and contribute to juvenile crime have come to varying conclusions, and are largely dependent on the perspective of those conducting such studies, and the methodologies and other specifics employed in reaching determinations regarding the rates and types of juvenile violence. Specifically, broader studies that examine the issue as a whole have found different correlations, and different strengths of similar correlations, than studies that have attempted to answer more narrow questions regarding certain demographics and trends (Osgood & Chambers 2003; McManus 1999; Wootton & Heck 1996). This does not necessarily mean that either set of conclusions is more or less accurate or objective than the other, but it does suggest that the issue is perhaps more complex than it appears on the surface, and a careful consideration of each study must be conducted when weighing its evidence and conclusions.

This is especially true when the issues of urbanization and urban proximity are considered. The general perception and belief that criminality rates are higher in urban populations, and can be seen to increase as urban sprawl brings formerly rural communities into close to proximity to urban areas and centers, finds a great deal of agreement with statistical analysis of criminality trends over the past century (Wootton & Heck 1996). Linking this directly to the perceived rise in juvenile crime, however, and especially of violent crimes (i.e. crimes committed with a firearm, whether or not the gun was fired) is premature at best. An examination of the evidence shows that, though a certain correlation exists, the precise causal relationship is highly complex and difficult to determine.

South Carolina has faced the issue of juvenile crime and an especially rampant growth in the rate of violent crime that was noted as early as the first half of the 1990s (Austin 1994). The state's effort to combat juvenile crime and juvenile violence have largely mirrored the efforts found in other states and the country at large, and indeed the issues can be studied in South Carolina in the same basic manner as they have been addressed in other states and across the country, especially regarding the issues of urbanization and urban proximity (Wootton & Heck 1996; Osgood & Chambers 2003). That being said, there is also an abundance of literature on the subject of juvenile crime, firearm possession, and violent crime that is specific to the state of South Carolina, and an examination of this literature leads to reasonably certain conclusions regarding these issues.

Locating Juvenile Crime in South Carolina

Much of South Carolina could still be considered rural by contemporary standards, but the spread of urban development has definitely been apparent in the state in the previous thirty years, and it is perhaps for this reason -- as well as the general trends of criminality seen in other states as well as in the nation as a whole -- that research regarding changing juvenile crime rates and types has focused on the issue of urbanization. The nation's large metropolitan area generally have higher crime rates than outlying and rural areas, even when controlled for population, so it is not at all presumptuous to assume that the increased urbanization in South Carolina is at least a partial cause of changing and increased juvenile crime.

Indeed, this assumption appears to be borne out by initial findings regarding the areas where crime is most prevalent -- and most likely to include the use of a firearm -- when committed by a juvenile. Richland County, which contains the state capital of Columbia and is generally more urbanized than much of the state, also had the second highest rate of violent crimes perpetrated by juveniles of all of the counties in the state in 1992 (Austin 1994). This statistic is consistent with findings taken over half-a-decade later, when it was determined that sixty-five percent of all juvenile offenders involved in crimes with firearms in which arrests were made resided in metropolitan counties prior to their arrests and confinement in a juvenile detention center, while only eight-percent came from "non-rural" counties and twenty-six percent came from the states rural counties (McManus 1999).

As consistent as these findings are on the surface, however, the relationship between urbanization and urban proximity is not nearly as clear-cut as it may seem. First of all, the later study's terms "metropolitan," "non-rural," and "rural" are poorly defined, but the declension with which they are presented leads to the assumption that the "non-rural" counties are generally more suburban, that is more densely populated, than rural counties, and thus more likely are those that lie on the outskirts of larger urban communities (McManus 1999). This suggests that while the problems are greater in urban communities, urban proximity has no apparent effect on the prevalence of violent juvenile crimes.

This study's assertion that the number of violent juvenile offenders from rural communities is more than three times that of those that come from non-rural communities also points to a possible problem with the study, and one that indeed could affect all similar studies. First of all, as the author acknowledges, the respondents in the study had all been arrested -- were, in fact, all currently either awaiting trial or serving sentences at juvenile detention centers (McManus 1999). This means that these offenders either pled guilty to or were convicted of a crime, or that their families could not effect their release while awaiting trial, either due to failed legal arguments or insufficient means for paying bail. The extremely low percentage of offenders present in this study that hailed from non-rural counties suggests that urbanization and urban proximity are not really directly causal in creating greater level of violent juvenile crime, but rather that the financial circumstances of the offenders' families are. Non-rural (which also means "non-urban" in this study) communities nationwide -- and in South Carolina specifically -- have higher average wages than do rural and metropolitan areas, meaning they can better afford private legal counsel and bail, meaning fewer offenders from these areas would have been present in the juvenile detention centers and thus unavailable for inclusion in this study.

Forces Behind Juvenile Crime

The economics of the situation cannot be ignored, though none of the studies included herein make explicit mention of this aspect of juvenile crime and firearm possession and use. Urban residents, especially in certain communities within larger metropolitan areas, are more likely to live at, near, or below the poverty line than their suburban counterparts, and even than those living in rural communities. It is not actually urbanization, then, that causes a rise in the levels of juvenile crime, but rather other problems that tend to be more prevalent in urban communities -- poverty being a key element. Residential instability, family disruption, and ethnic diversity were all more strongly linked and correlated with rates of violent juvenile crime than urbanization, and are generally more prevalent in families and communities with a lower standing on the socio-economic ladder (Osgood & Chambers 2003).

All of these issues tend to be more prevalent in urban areas, and this is likely the true reason behind the perception -- and the empirical (though not especially objective or skeptical) conclusion that juvenile crime can be linked to increased urbanization and urban proximity. A national study conducted by a non-partisan group and cited by Congressional leadership when proposing legislation to address concerns also found that familial deterioration was far more closely linked to juvenile offenses than any other specific indicator (Wootton & Heck 1996). It is an unfortunate fact that large urban areas tend to… READ MORE

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