Change.org .Make a difference!

Communication plays an important role in changing the world. One of the most common methods of inspiring and informative communication to people, are speeches. There are different types of speeches, however, the ones that can make a difference in the world, are the speeches of inspiration. Dobkin & Pace (2006) state the “inspirational shares much with the persuasive speech because it aims to motivate listeners and arouse their passions” (Dobkin & Pace, 2006). Inspirational communicators inform and invite people to be aware of issues such as human rights or human trafficking, by sending out the message and hoping people supports their good cause. But how does the message gets sent? Thanks to technology, we can be informed of things happening on the other side of the world. Speakers use technology to deliver their messages and to involve people in participating. 

Change.org is a website designed to empower people “to start, join, and win campaigns for social change” (Change.org, 2011).  This website offers people with online tools such as social networks, o spread the word faster.

A case that I found interesting is a petition made to the President of Haiti, regarding the “Son of God” Orphanage in Carrefour, and starting an investigation in to the social services agency, IBESR.

International rights organizations found evidence linked to human and organ trafficking; children at this orphanage, face abuse, neglect, starvation and trafficking.

This petition was created by Tom Davis and everybody can sign this letter that is posted on Facebook and his blog.  In fact, if the people signing the petition letter have a blog on their own, they can add a blog widget to theirs. This widget appears on the main page of your blog showing your followers the causes you care about.  3,000 signatures have been reached so far for the Haiti orphanage thanks to technology!

Role Model Communicator

I have always admired people who are a great communicator role model for the communities and their countries. These people understand the meaning of ethics, “the principles that guide our decisions about what is good or bad, right or wrong” (Dobkin & Pace, 2006). Therefore, the reason for this essay is to explain and understand why I admire several people as communicators, as well as the importance of ethics and academic integrity.

My communicator role model is my former college professor from my Sociology class. Logan Reid was the first college professor I ever had and I admired him ever since he gave his first talk. Professor Reid was a sociologist working for the State of Utah and wrote many articles about drug prevention among youth. He has degrees in Criminal Justice, Sociology, and Social Research Methods Theory.

One of the most important reasons for his class to be successful is the fact he lived in foreign countries before he became a professor. Consequently, Reid understood “communication must be civil, it must be value diversity, and it must be ethical” (Dobkin & Pace, 2006). Several of his students were form different countries and backgrounds; he valued diversity and included as well as acknowledged everybody who was different from the rest of the class.

Moreover, appropriateness, perspective-talking, and self-monitoring, are part of ethical communication. Professor Reid applied these three concepts in each class.

 Appropriateness means addressing the expectations of others. The first day of class Reid asked the students what were their expectations of the class and him as a professor. In addition, he shared his expectations with the class, reinforcing the appropriate language and behavior for this class. Students and professor had to be respectful and use appropriate language when debating.

Perspective talking is the capacity to understand someone else’s point of view and their reaction to different subjects. Professor Reid understood well the concept of perspective talking when he told his story about his stay in a South American country. He explained the concept of wealthy was considerably different than the one in North America. For this reason, he found it rather easy to relate to me when I explained lifestyle and social classes in other countries I lived in.

Finally, self-monitoring is “the ability to see, think about, and act based on the consequences of your behavior” (Dobkin & Pace, 2006). Reid was great on perceiving nonverbal cues from students in his class. For instance, he would stop his lecture when he felt the students were not following what he was trying to say.

 Furthermore, Professor Reid seemed to be following certain ethical communication guidelines stated by the NCA:

·         We advocate truthfulness, accuracy, honesty, and reason as essential to the integrity of communication.

·         We endorse freedom of expression, diversity of perspective, and tolerance of dissent to achieve the informed and responsible decision making fundamental to a civil society.

·         We strive to understand and respect other communicators before evaluating and responding to their messages.

·         We promote access to communication resources and opportunities as necessary to fulfill human potential and contribute to the well-being of families, communities, and society.

·         We promote communication climates of caring and mutual understanding that respect the unique needs and characteristics of individual communicators.

·         We condemn communication that degrades individuals and humanity through distortion, intimidation, coercion, and violence, and through the expression of intolerance and hatred.

·         We are committed to the courageous expression of personal convictions in pursuit of fairness and justice.

·         We advocate sharing information, opinions, and feelings when facing significant choices while also respecting privacy and confidentiality.

·         We accept responsibility for the short- and long-term consequences for our own communication and expect the same of others (NCA, n.d)

A code of conduct similar to the Walden University code of conduct was expected from students and the professor himself. The Walden University Code of Conduct “addresses the university’s expectations of students in four area: nondiscrimination, no harassment, professional conduct, and academic integrity” (Walden University: Code of Conduct, 2010).

Nondiscrimination code does not tolerate discrimination against students or members of the community based on their race, color, gender, nationality, sexual orientation, age, religion, or marital status.

Nonharrassment code states Walden University does not tolerate an environment that is disrespectful and unwelcome communication or conduct. Sexual harassment can include sexual favors, inappropriate e-mails, harassing phone calls, or unwanted physical contact.

Professional Conduct code states all students conduct themselves in a professional manner with Walden staff, other students and when representing Walden University at events outside the institution.

Academic integrity is important for Professor Reid as Walden University. This code states all students and staff members agrees to respect and acknowledge the research and ideas of others in his or her work and to abide by those regulations governing work stipulated by the academic unit or academic program, and, in turn, the instructor”( Walden University: Code of Conduct, 2010).

Professor Reid checked all of his students’ papers for any evidence of plagiarism, using a database. Among academic violations, plagiarism is the use of another person’s intellectual material without acknowledge.

Another important way of plagiarized material is the student’s misuse of their own work.  Reid taught several other classes that were related in so to speak. He also submitted his student’s essays to make sure they did not copy and paste old essays to the new one.

In conclusion, I have written this essay to share my understanding of my role model’s communicator and the characteristics he or she needs to have in order to be an efficient communicator. The intent of this essay was to explain the importance of ethics in communication. In order to be an efficient communicator, communication has to be civil, must respect and value diversity and it must be ethical. In addition, the communicator must understand the importance of listening and welcoming other people’s perspectives about subjects.  Finally, a good ethical and effective communicator pays special attention to protect and acknowledge the intellectual work of others.

References

·         Walden University. (2010). Walden University: Code of Conducts. Retrieved from Walden University, COMM 1001 website.

·         NCA Credo for Ethical Communication. (n.d). Retrieved from http://www.natcom.org/Default.aspx?id=134&terms=credo%20for%20ethical%20communication

·         Dobkin, B. A., & Pace, R. C. (2006). Communication in a Changing World (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Mc Graw- Hill.

Model of Communication

Thinking only five years back, I remember the first cell phones with camera and text messages. I believe from that day on, the way our world communicated drastically changed. I found it easier to send a text instead of dial the number, wait for the person to answer, and talk. Text messages gave me the ability to communicate what I wanted, by finishing my idea without any interruptions from the receiver, or to say things I would not dare say face-to face. Because oral communication is transient, communicators often repeat words and phrases as they talk. By contrast, if readers do not understand a particular part of the written message, they can reread the passage or stop to contemplate the author's meaning ( Dobkin & pace, 2006).  However, the words and phrases within a message can be interpreted differently among people.One common form of internal noise is confusion over the meaning of words; two people may have different meanings for the same word or phrase ( Dobkin  & Pace, 2006). For instance, in Argentina a simple text message "what are you doing" can represent a way to say " hi". By contrast, a plain message saying" what are you doing", could sound impolite in other countries.  The online communication processes can be more effective if we remember everything we say or write is irreversible. Nowadays, events, thoughts and ideas are recorded and open to all public. For instance, writing something very personal about you on Facebook, may well be the wrong choice because of the great number of people being on this social media everyday. Finally, valuing diversity can help us understand and be tolerant of others ideas as well as be aware of different meanings of communication symbols. This makes the valuing of diversity a second key principle of effective communication (Dobkin & Pace, 2006)

Corrections and Treatment CJS 240

There is a wide variety of correctional treatment for juveniles, just like there is for adults. The juvenile criminal system has community-based programs, institutionalization, and aftercare programs. The goal of these three is to rehabilitate juvenile offenders and make them law abiding citizens.

 The efforts of the community treatment are probation, treatment services, and restitution. Juvenile probation is a primary method of community treatment that the juvenile justice system uses to rehabilitate youths. The juvenile on probation stays in the community as long as he or she follows the given conditions of probation.

Community treatment rehabilitate youths that are not a danger to society and have a bigger chance of being rehabilitated. The positive ways of community treatment are the normal contact with other people; avoids imprisonment which helps to rehabilitate the offender, and saves money to taxpayers.

In most jurisdictions, probation allows the youth offender to stay in the community under court supervision. In other words, probation is a contract between the court and the juvenile offender.  Just like the adults, if the young offender violates the conditions of probation, the court can revoke the contract; if this occurs, the juvenile has a right to be legally represented.

Another community-based program is victim restitution. This can take several ways. For example, a juvenile has to reimburse the victim monetarily, to cover medical expenses, wage losses, or property damage. In other instances, the juvenile offender might provide services directly to the victim, or contribution to a community organization.

According to Siegel and Welsh (2005) “Most juvenile offenders are retained in public institutions, administrated by state agencies such as child and youth services, health and social services, corrections, or child welfare”. (pg. 350). In some states these institutions compromise adults and juveniles institutions, all in one place.

Most private institutions consist on small facilities, which hold less than thirty youths. Numerous private institutions focus on a specific issue. Almost all of these private institutions are safe, but only 20 percent.

Institutionalized juveniles are affected by several issues. Most juveniles are incarcerated because of drug offenses, property, or victimizing other people. Although all juveniles go to these facilities for the same reasons, there seems to be a disparity on how often offenders from different ethnic backgrounds, are incarcerated. According Siegel and Walsh ( 2005), “  Research has found that this overrepresentation is not a result of differentials in arrest rates, but often stems from disparity at early stages of case processing.57 Of equal importance, minorities are more likely to be confined in secure public facilities rather than in open, private facilities that might provide more costly and effective treatment,58 and among minority groups African-American youths are more likely to receive more punitive treatment—throughout the juvenile justice system—compared with others.”. (pg.353).

A further issue is the way the make offenders can manipulate staff members and take advantage of minority group offenders. The institution facilities for girls lack recreation and vocational programs, as well as fewer services. The juvenile system should pay attention to these behavioral patterns in boys, and a lack of services for girls. The institutions are supposed to rehabilitate and teach young offenders that damaging others is wrong, but once they are in these facilities they learn that mistreatment toward weaker juveniles is acceptable. Because girls arrive the institution facilities with low self-esteem and lack of vocational characteristics, the absence of programs to help change this issues, does not in fact rehabilitate the young female offenders; they return to society without knowing what they would like to do once they became adults.

Aftercare programs are the equivalent to parole in the adult criminal justice. Juvenile offenders are placed in aftercare programs to help them with the transition to community. Aftercare is a crucial phase in the juvenile justice system because not very many turn eighteen being in custody.

The IAP (Intensive Aftercare Program) focus on five standards:

·         Prepare the youth to responsibility and freedom

·         Helping youth to interact with the community

·         Working with the juvenile offender and the victims

·         Increasing new resources for support

·         Supervising juveniles interacting within their community.

Although the different community-based treatments have a positive and a negative side, many jurisdictions are reporting success when focusing on rehabilitation of juvenile offenders

References

·         (2005). Juvenile Delinquency: The Core (2nd ed.). : Wadsworth, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc.

Inside the NYC Corrections Academy

Look at this video on NYC Police Department. Exelent!

https://portal.phoenix.edu/medialibrary/videodetails.html#05V110608001505137

How are the roles and responsibilities of past policing eras different from today? How effective would policing methods of the past be today? Would our society accept these past methods? Explain your answer.

I believe that the modern era of policing is working better than the political era and the reform era. Political era was about serving the politicians and doing favors for them more than protectin the citizens.In addition,in the 17th century,the sheriff not only was in charge of crime, but also to collect taxes, legal process, and supervise elections. The reform era was better, but the lack of communication between police and community made it fail. Our era is better than the two first ones, because there is actually involvement with the community, making it easier for police officers to understand people and why they commit crimes, along with new technology that helps solve crimes and capture criminals faster and easier. Although police has been performing a better job through the years, i still think there is always room for improvement, and corruption will always be there.I do not think policing methods of the past would work today as our society has changed greatly throughout time Population has grown, and with that new kind of job positions within the law enforcement.

Law Enforcement Agencies CJS 210

I highly recommed this book about the FBI. All you want to know, you wil find it in Kessler's book!

Law Enforcement Agencies

Agustina Barton

CJS 210

October 12, 2010

University of Phoenix

       The term local police refer to the vast majority of all law enforcement employees. The local enforcement agencies are: metropolitan law enforcement, county law enforcement, and rural and

small town enforcement.

·         Metropolitan Law Enforcement:  is in charge of arresting law violators, issuing special licenses and permits, enforcing traffic laws providing, and crowd and traffic control at public events, and. Metropolitan police also performs routine patrol, and investigating crimes. About 65 percent of local officers perform patrol duties and 16 percent of these officers, perform criminal investigations.

·         County Law Enforcement: Many counties in United States have a sheriff’s department, managed by an elected sheriff. The duties of the sheriff vary according to the size of the designated county. The sheriff’s office may perform the duties of coroners, tax assessors and collectors, court attendants, keepers of county jails, and executors of criminal and civil processes, as well as law enforcement.

·         Rural and Small Town Law Enforcement: Law enforcement officers in charge of small and rural towns face the distance problem. Rural and small town law enforcement agencies participate in mutual assistance programs with neighboring agencies and help one another when needed.

        The major differences between the local and state law enforcement is that local officers play an immediate role within the community by arresting law offenders, investigating crimes; they do traffic laws, and have duties at court and jails, and are responsible to respond to citizen calls for service. The state law enforcement mainly focuses on highway patrol by preventing criminals and contraband of any type (drugs, for example) that could cross from state to state.

         Federal Law Enforcement Agencies are grouped at the same time, according to the federal department or bureau to which they report. The mentioned groups are the following:

·         Department of Justice: Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Marshals Service, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and Drug Enforcement Administration.

·         Department of Justice: Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Marshals Service, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and Drug Enforcement Administration.

        Every department plays an important role in the Criminal Justice System, but probably the three most important agencies are: the State Police and Highway patrol, FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation), and the IRA (Internal Revenue Services).

     The State and Highway Patrol was created for four main reasons:

1.      To assist local police departments who did not have had enough training and resources to solve crimes and perform their law enforcement tasks.

2.      To investigate and catch criminals that would cross jurisdictional boundaries.

3.      To provide law enforcement in areas were local police was not available.

4.      To control labor movements.

Today in the United States, there are twenty-six highway patrols and have limited authority either by their jurisdiction or the type of offenses the patrols can control.

          The FBI is charge of investigating violation of the federal law and has jurisdiction over nearly two hundred federal crimes such as kidnapping, bank robbery, murders, among others. In addition to this, FBI agents investigate terrorism and drug trafficking, and they offer training to local law enforcements

         The IRA is responsible for the government finances. It pays the federal government’s bills, collects tax, and prints currency. The bureau has three divisions, and only one is involved with the investigation of crime. The IRS is also involved in the investigation of criminal activities such as selling drugs for the simple reason that drug dealers will never report any illegal activities.

         These three agencies are equally important and work together to fight crime in the country.

     

Ethnic Group and Discrimination

Agustina Barton

ETH 125

August 19, 2010

University of Phoenix

Italian Americans are the fourth largest European ethnic group in the United States, which makes them the fifth largest ethnic group, with Argentina and Brazil having the second largest Italian population in the world. From 1890 to 1900, more than 600,000 Italian immigrants arrived in the United States looking for freedom and a chance to be successful. Many of these European immigrants hoped to earn enough money to return home and buy their own piece of land.  Most Italians arrived with little cash and almost no education since they were farmers back in Italy. For this reason, Italians brought with them an agrarian culture, along with Catholic, food, and family-based culture. The most important institution in Italian society was the family.

        Social life increased in Italian-American neighborhoods; the language they spoke was not the official Italian, but regional dialects instead. Few could write and read English and Italian. Italian neighborhoods were usually areas with poor sanitation. Furthermore, these immigrants were segregated in what they called Italian neighborhoods which were stereotyped as violent and controlled by the mafia.  By the 1920’s the “Little Italies” grew richer as Italian Americans opened restaurants, groceries, and other small businesses. “Italian immigrants soon became an important element of American urban life. In 1870, New York already had the largest group of Italian residents (2,800), but both New Orleans and San Francisco claimed over 1,500 Italian residents each. By 1910, more than two-thirds of the 500,000 Italians in America’s largest cities lived in New York, while Philadelphia, Chicago, and Boston had all surpassed New Orleans and San Francisco as centers of Italian work and residence.” Encyclopedia of Urban America: The Cities and Suburbs. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 1998. Credo Reference.

           Americans viewed Italian immigrants as a despised minority because they were perceived

to be: 

•   Working class
• Seemingly resistant to assimilation
• Clannish
• Poor
• Illiterate
• Had high rates of disease

·         Criminals                                                                                               

Like many other immigrant minority groups, Italian immigrants encountered hostility and conflict in their new homes. Italian-Americans faced systematic discrimination and at times violent force from the dominant groups in America. “The dominant group in America viewed Italian immigrants as racially inferior.” Italian American: The Racializing of an Ethnic Identity (Richards, 1999:158).  This indeed seems to be true considering the way Italian-Americans were treated upon their arrival.  Italian-Americans were discriminated against in the workplace, receiving lower wages than white dominant group members for the same jobs, they were seen as a negative addition to America, and most whites preferred they not have come, and in some instances there was even violence against Italians such as in the case of the eleven Italian-Americans lynched in 1891 (Meyers, 2007:298-299). 

The social boundaries that Italian-Americans encountered were perpetuated by conflict between the dominant group and Italian immigrants.  Being generally poor, Italian immigrants settled into Italian immigrant neighborhoods, and due to pluralism as a result of overall discrimination, they generally married within their own ethnicity.  Assimilation of Italian immigrants was indeed not welcomed thought among the dominant group, and conflict theorists would agree that the power held by the dominant group, as far as money, holdings, held public positions, and length of residence in America placed a barrier around Italian immigrants making assimilation a difficult process. Moreover, after the First World War Italians developed a reputation for becoming criminals. This was mainly due to high-profile criminals such as Al Capone, Slavadore Marazano, Vito Genovese, and Frank Costello. However, the US Department of Justice estimates that less than .0025 percent of Italian Americans have anything to do with organized crime.

These stereotypes are true since I come from an Italian family. When people ask me what is my maiden last name,(Bacigalupo) they automatically relate me to the “Mafia”. I can honestly say I fell a 104% identified with the Italian culture because that is what I am familiar with: the family, the pasta, and being loud when talking at each other. I also identify with the American culture because I have been living here for eight years now, and my husband and children are North American.  The United States mainstream culture is all around the world, and for that reason great part of the world will feel identify with our culture.

 

Greek and Roman Architecture art 101

Greek and Roman Architecture

Greek architecture was based  on building beautiful buildings to worship the Greek gods, and the majority of these buildings where ,in fact,   temples. Although the Roman architecture worshiped the Roman gods, the most stunning buildings were those for social gathering.

Up until the 7th century, Greek architecture was built from wood and mud. The buildings very well-known know today were made largely of limestone. The Greeks extracted the limestone and cut it in large blocks so it would be easier for the builders to work with the material. Moreover, the periods shown in these buildings are Classical, Hellenistic, and Roman.

Additionally, some buildings were made of marble but the cost of this rock was too high. For this reason, marble was more popular to build sculptures rather than buildings.

The main styles of Greek architecture are Ionic and Doric. The Doric style was predominant in Greece and Italy. The Ionic style differed with the Doric style because   the Doric style is more formal whereas the Ionic style is more decorative. The Pantheon in Greece is an example of the Doric style.

Roman architecture is considered to use more advanced designs as well as more complex engineering, and it uses three types of columns.

The most common type of columns is made in the Doric style; these columns are plain with the only purpose to support heavy structures. Moreover, the Ionic style was used to decorate the ends of the columns. The Corinthian style is considered superior than the other columns because it has more meticoulous details.

Roman architecture employed the use of arches quite often, resulting in a stunning architectural work. The use of arches led to the elaboration of the dome, for example, the Coliseum in Rome, Italy.

Greek and Roman architecture showed an advanced engineering and architectural techniques of the era, which also represented their religious beliefs.

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DELINQUENCY DETERRENCE CJS 240

Delinquency Deterrence

M. Agustina Barton

CJS 240

March 10, 2011

University of Phoenix

Why juveniles commit crime? There are many reasons why they engage in illegal activities. Each person is different and is affected by different factors such as economic differences. These juveniles can also make a rational choice, and because of this, delinquency prevention teaches youths that they will be punished for their illegal actions.

The first prevention strategy is called general deterrence. This concept holds that the more sever the punishment, the greater deterrence effect on offenders. General deterrence tries to convince criminal youths that the benefit of the crime is not greater than the punishment.

The second deterrence strategy is specific deterrence. This strategy believes that youths will stop committing crime because of the severe punishment they have to go through. Although this strategy seems logical, some studies report that punishment deters juveniles from committing crime; other studies show punishment does not have a great influence on deterring crime.

The third deterrence strategy is situational crime prevention. When juveniles are about to commit a crime, they measure the benefits of the act, versus the potential losses. This strategy believes that if youth is aware the punishment outweighs the benefits of the crime, they will chose not to commit crime. The situational crime prevention purpose is to reduce opportunities to reduce crime.

The three deterrence strategies have positive sides. However, general deterrence assumes that juvenile delinquents can make rational choices. I do not believe all teenagers are ready to make such choices; most of the time they follow a peer group and do whatever the other teenagers do. With specific deterrence strategy, there is no strong evidence to believe that youths will not choose to be involved in criminal acts again. I think the situational crime prevention seems to be the most effective in deterring crime, because it increases the efforts to commit crime, increases shame to commit illegal acts, and increases the danger of criminal activity.

INDIVIDUAL THEORIES CJS 240

Juvenile delinquency is still one of the biggest issues of our society. The immediate assumption to this issue is that individuals lacking a good lifestyle and low social class are more likely to commit any type of crime. But then there are those individuals with the same life situation who are law-abiding citizen, and sometimes end up obtaining a college degree. The question is why some juveniles commit crime and others are never in trouble?

Many experts believe the answer to juvenile misbehavior is on the individual itself, and not the social or economic level. Considering this, there are two different theories about juvenile crime. The choice theory says that teenagers make a rational decision when getting involved in crime, and they also weight the consequences and benefits of their illegal actions. The trait theory suggests that juveniles, rather than making a rational choice, act due to uncontrollable behaviors. Crimes such as substance abuse and violence could be inspired by abnormal physical and psychological behavior.

Biosocial theory focuses on three areas which are biochemical factors, neurological dysfunction, and genetic influences. The biochemical factor theory is concerned with the biochemical make up and the antisocial behavior. Antisocial behavior prevails in the teenage years, making high levels of testosterone the responsible for excessive violence. Adolescents, especially teenage boys who “experience more intense moods, anxiety, and restlessness also have the highest crime rates. Research has shown that hormonal sensitivity may begin very early in life if the fetus is exposed to abnormally high levels of testosterone”. (Juvenile Delinquency: The Core, 2005). For example, the murder of 26-year-old Daniel Gene- Vincent Sorensen, who was murdered and decapitated by Jean-Pierre Orlewicz, 17, and Alexander James Letkemann, 18. A crime like this surprises us all," Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said at a press conference. "Any time anyone kills just because they want to — and that's what the evidence seems to suggest here — is bone-chilling. Why anybody would want to do that, especially being 17 years old, it makes us think and ask a lot of questions about our society." (Fox News, 2007).

          Another concentration of the biosocial theory is neurological dysfunction. Some experts suggest that children and teenagers who manifest behavioral disturbances may suffer from “minimal brain dysfunction” (MBD). This condition can be present at birth, brain injury during pregnancy, birth, genetic abnormalities, and even sexual and physical abuse.

         A much known brain dysfunction is Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD). Generally children with ADHD result with poor school performance, lack of response to discipline and mental disorder. Children with AHHD are more likely to use illegal drugs, tobacco, and alcohol. However, many of these children suffering ADHD do not necessary involve in criminal behavior, so this theory is very controversial.

Some experts consider the physiological theories of delinquency to explain deviant behavior. Poor family structure, negative relationship with friends and teachers, seems to show a disturbed personality. Certain types of mental disorders such as anxiety disorder, mood disorder, depression and bipolar disorder. An example of depression case: “ A doctor prescribed anti-depression medication for Daniel Gudino nearly two years before he was accused of killing his younger brother, his mother testified Tuesday. The medication seemed to help, but because of concerns over the drug, the parents of the Colorado Springs boy discontinued using it, Marina Gudino told jurors at her oldest son’s first-degree murder trial in juvenile court”.(The Gazette, 2011).
Many delinquency theories are in place today to explain why juveniles commit crime. Both the trait and the choice theory focus on the individual, but all individuals are different, with different life experiences, and reactions to everyday- conflicts. It would be unfair to say that one theory is applicable to all juveniles. It would be better to say that experts have several theories to choose from, to explain a certain individual’s reason to commit crime.

Individual Theories

References

·         Fox News. (2007). Head Found, Teens Arrested in 'Thrill Kill' Death of Decapitated Sex Offender. Retrieved from http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,310578,00.html

·         Ensslin, J. C. (2011). Mom: Teen accused of killing brother treated for depression. The Gazette. Retrieved from http://www.gazette.com/articles/killing-113354-accused-medication.html

·         n.d, . (2005). Juvenile Delinquency: The Core. Retrieved from Axia College of University of Phoenix.

CJS240 APENDIX B

Axia College Material

Appendix B

Statistics

UCR and Self-Report Data

Complete the matrix below. To complete this matrix, list two pros and two cons of Uniform Crime Report (UCR) data and two pros and two cons of self-report data.

Statistical Information	Pros	Cons
Official Information: Uniform Crime Report (UCR)	The trends and patterns are dependable. The numbers of youth who commit crimes are not very accurate, but because these trends are dependable, we can see the youth crime has declined significantly.	Less than half of the victims report crimes to the police. Police departments might make errors in recording crime data. Records are only of those who were caught, and the ones that didn’t, are not counted with the crime statistics
Unofficial Information: Self-Report Data	This information includes all sections of the population. These surveys include more about the individual such as personality characteristics, behavior, and about their homes.	Teenagers can lie about themselves in these surveys. Different races such as Hispanics are less likely to report their use of drugs. This results in inaccurate  crime reports.

Web Resources

Identify one Web resource of official information and one Web resource of unofficial information about the occurrence of delinquency in the United States. Copy and paste the URL addresses into the spaces provided.

Official Information

URL of Web site: http://publicsafety.utah.gov/bci/crimestatistics.html                                                                                                               

Name of Web site: Utah Department of Public Safety, Crime Statistics for the state of Utah.                                                                                                                

Unofficial Information

URL of Web site: https://nsduhweb.rti.org/                                                                                                      

Name of Web site: National Survey on Drug use and Health