Youth Crime, Violence, and Mental Health

Introduction

This paper contains a series of reflective questions and answers on the subject of youth crime, violence and deviant behavior, as taught in weeks 2 and 3. A short summary and analysis on the YouTube presentation on suicide narratives is provided towards the end of the assessment.

Reflection Questions from Week 2 and Week 3

Why Does Youth Crime and Violence Take Place?

Youth crimes are primarily committed by young people who are misguided, who lack a sense of direction in life, and who suffer from problems or conditions that cause them to take on a path of violence (Rowland et al., 2022). The majority of the youth crimes that are carried out in Australia are done so by individuals who hail from broken homes, who are part of a social and economic framework that is not supportive, and where they cannot rely on the support and guidance of parents and family members (Rowland et al., 2022). Youth crimes are often undertaken by people who come from low-income families, and the reality of living in a situation of poverty and deprived of quality life, in addition to factors such as having abusive parents or family members or family members who do not care for each other, create a mentality that causes a youthful person to take recourse to violent behavior, often of a criminal nature (Papalia et al., 2022). The causes behind the occurrence of youth crimes and violence is multifaceted, and it is usually those who experience trauma and abuse and who are forced to live in difficult conditions. It is necessary to engage in an in-depth analysis of such factors if youth crimes are to be prevented and controlled (Papalia et al., 2022).

What id the Impact of Youth Crime and Violence?

Youth crime and violence are detrimental to society, while also being harmful to the individuals who engage in youth crime. When a young person between 18 to 20 years of age, or even younger, gets arrested for taking part in criminal activities such as a burglary or break-in, this is a person who is incarcerated and subjected to the type of disciplinary action that prevents him leading a life of quality or hoping for a positive future (Payne & Roffy, 2020).  The impact of youth crime is largely detrimental which is why such crimes need to be prevented instead of taking disciplinary or criminal action against the youth who are seen to display signs of deviant behavior. Imprisonment or detention are two direct outcomes or impacts associated with the phenomenon of youth crime and violence (Papalia et al., 2022). Such outcomes dissuade those who are partaking in youth crimes from seeking out the help that they need. They are not inclined to change themselves and they are prevented trom growing, developing and evolving in a harmonious way unlike others in their society. The impacts of youth crime and violence cause much harm to the youth involved in these crimes, while society is known to suffer as well because of the aftermath of youth crimes (Payne & Roffy, 2020). It is necessary to find ways to prevent such crimes from taking place instead of imposing harsh penalties and punishments on those who commit these crimes (Lin et al., 2020).

How Can Youth Crime and Violence be Prevented?

There are extensive counseling sessions that need to be conducted with people who show signs of criminal behavior and who are in their youth. There is a need for civil society actors including case workers to understand and assess the reasons why people commit crimes in their youths. An attempt needs to be made to address the underlying cause behind youth crimes, and there is a need to get those who commit these crimes to accept that what they have done is ethically and morally wrong (based on the podcast). Approaches based on the notion of empathy have to be deployed when helping deviant young people. In Australia, the criminal system is known to be quite harsh on youthful offenders, and there is a definite for a more empathetic approach to be developed (McCarthy, 2021).

Suicide Narrative

In the YouTube video presentation on Suicide Narratives, the speaker, Matt, gave an extensive presentation on handling people with distress, especially those who are prone to committing suicide. He stated how important it was to understand the intentions behind helping people who feel suicidal and demotivated about their existence. According to Matt, it is necessary to connect to and understand the reasons behind a person’s desire to take his or her life, and the healing mechanisms made available to the person should be aimed at uplifting the entire community and not just the individual alone (Rowland et al., 2022). Institutional imperatives that are otherwise known to create a disconnection must be challenged, and people must be allowed to experience and understand what being helped feels like. It was made known in the presentation that the tendency to commit suicide is often perceived as a mental health issue, but this popular notion about why people commit suicide must be challenged, in the view of the presenter. There are many myths surrounding the concept of suicide which was spoken about in the presentation as well. The first myth is that discussing suicide is not a good idea, the second is that there are risk assessments to be used when helping suicidal people, and the third is that people become liable when they attempt to help a person suffering from suicidal thoughts and feelings, and the fourth myth is that forced hospitalization is an activity that helps people who are prone to suicidal thoughts and feelings. Various types of responses come into play when helping suicidal people. Immediate responses involve just listening to people contemplating suicide while an ongoing response means turning the art of listening into a conversation with the victim, to dissuade him or her from doing something drastic. 

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