Factors Influencing Juvenile Crime

Research question: Do after school programs reduce juvenile crimes?

After-school programs cover all the programs that invite young people to participate in these ventures outside the traditional schooling day. Some projects of this type are organized by the schools, while others are prepared by both profit and non-profit organizations. The study will analyze the programs and how they affect juveniles in order to determine whether such projects can reduce juvenile involvement in criminal activities.

Stakeholders

This research project will consider numerous stakeholders due to their relation to juvenile lives or in the scope of after-school programs. Beyond the participants, the project will analyze how different stakeholders will either benefit or be harmed by the research. The first stakeholder is the parents of the young people in the community. They are affected since they shape the lives of adolescents through upbringing and providing their life examples (Hirsch, 2011). These individuals are also responsible for giving permission to their children to attend the after-school programs or deny them this opportunity. Moreover, some of the programs may require students to pay; hence, such a factor makes the latter rely on parents to make the payments. On the other hand, when the study ensures the positive outcomes, parents will benefit since their children will be prevented from crimes. The second stakeholder is the teaching staff, including both teachers in schools and coaches in after-school programs. At times, teachers fail to support the programs making the students fail to recognize their importance. On the other side, the coaches who help students in after-school programs are also notable stakeholders because their expertise and professionalism determines the level of interest of their students. The third stakeholder is the government. has Authorities have a responsibility to ensure that helpful after-school programs are available for the juvenile. A failure by the government leads to a fail in the society (Parks, 2013).

Social, Political, and Personal Factors

The research can be influenced by different factors. The first factor is social. The research will consider how the relevant stakeholders provide/ are provided with after-school programs in the area of study. The local society determines how young people accept what surrounds them. In some areas, individuals do not support after-school programs since they believe that these programs are meant for children from the rich families only. Whether the locals support the presence of the programs in their residence is an important factor to consider because it determines the effectiveness of the program to the target audience in the region. Policies are another important factor to consider. Politicians and their activities always affect the direction of the study since most of the youth in the community end up falling to support the initiatives that are proposed by the sides that they do not support. Personal factor is also significant in the research. This is due to that an investigator has to clarify how individuals understand the after-school programs. Some of society members do not support the programs on the grounds of misbelief that these projects can prevent students from having a good time in school (Van & Wu, 2010). In contrast, proponents of these programs assert that they are likely to help students to refresh their brains, hence adore them.

Groups of Interest

In order to ensure that the study will achieve its goal, I will consult young people between the age of 12 through 19. This age group will be in a position to offer the detailed information about what they feel and how they are affected by the factors linked to after-school programs and juvenile crime.

Furthermore, parents should be involved in the study as a way of understanding the support or discouragement that the juveniles receive from their ‘sponsors’ and role models. Political leaders also serve as an important group for the research (Honore, 2009). Consulting them will provide the study with an informed idea on how political interests may influence the after-school programs to the juveniles. The study will also interview a number of teachers because they spend most of their time with the young people, thus, are capable to explain different aspects of their behavior and other relevant characteristics (Taheri & Welsh, 2015).

Possible Policy Implications

What is more, an after-school program is an idea that has not spread to all areas of the country. This is due to  such issues as poverty, lack of interest and knowledge, to list a few. Since after school programs are important to the young people, the first possible policy in the scope of the research is for the government to facilitate the construction of institutions that offers after-school programs for the youths. The second possible policy that can derive from the research context is governmental funding or sponsoring the organizations that offer after-school programs for juveniles. However, to eliminate all the doubts, it is important for the policy-makers to make a law offering the guidelines on the specific timing to ensure that the after-school programs do not interfere with the traditional school program (Taheri & Welsh, 2015).

Conclusion

To sum up, the young people are important in the society. The rate of juvenile crimes is increasing in the world today. Many organizations recommend after-school programs as a way of reducing juvenile crimes. Therefore, it is important to conduct a study that will determine whether such an option is capable to reduce juvenile crime. The research should consult all the aforementioned parties, ranging from parents, teenagers, politicians, and society leaders. In addition, since the matter concerns an important group in the society, changes ought to be done to different policies in order to ensure that the study is beneficial to the society as a whole.

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