Introduction
Several efforts are made to reduce and prevent juvenile delinquency in Hampton, VA. The most important of them are Hampton United and Youth Violence Program Manager. The mentioned programs can be regarded as community-oriented and striving to provide timely and effective interventions. Let us consider each of them in detail.
Analysis
Analyzing and interpreting the current statistics, Hampton United focuses on summer youth employment and grassroots prevention mini-grants. At the same time, this program integrates information from schools, police, public health, and other institutions, thus developing the community-specific plan of action (“Youth Violence Prevention,” 2017). Considering Hampton United in the context of sociological theories, it is possible to note that the anomie theory composes its basis. In particular, the above theory implies that juvenile delinquency occurs as a result of the lack of moral guidelines that are provided to society (Bates & Swan, 2014). Another potential cause may be associated with the fact that youths’ goals and expectations do not go in line with the legal regulations. For example, a juvenile wants to buy a phone yet he or she has an insufficient amount of money. Being unhappy and lacking moral guidelines, he or she steals or commits some other crimes. In order to prevent and reduce juvenile violence, the City of Hampton develops and implements various activities that were mentioned above, promoting the importance of moral standards.
The Youth Violence Program Manager is another means that was introduced to decrease the level of juvenile delinquency. It is a full-time coordinator who may be contacted by phone (757-727-2730) or email ([email protected]) (“Youth Violence Prevention,” 2017). This coordinator applies the individual and specialized approach to each juvenile delinquency case. Besides, the Youth Violence Program Manager promotes the establishment of positive attitudes towards police representatives. For instance, the fee-free 2016 VA Rules Camp was initiated to create the opportunity of making police and juveniles closer. The coordination of non-profit organizations, faith organizations, and other interested parties is also performed by the mentioned coordinator. The research shows that the Youth Violence Program Manager can be attributed to the control theory in the framework of structural functionalism. According to this theory, “conceptualized attachment is an affective bond through which children internalize conventional norms of society” (Hoeve et al., 2012, p. 772). Thus, the coordinating manager aims at the establishment of the strong attachment of young people to their families, schools, police, and society in general. Focusing on involvement, the Youth Violence Program Manager stimulates a sense of the value of such attachments.
Conclusion
In view of the above observations, it is possible to suggest that the City of Hampton may also benefit from the implementation of a range of other programs. In particular, the study initiated by Adirim and Supplee (2013) indicates that Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) is an essential means for the prevention and reduction of juvenile delinquency. This federal program may be implemented either in the existing form or with some community-specific improvements that, in their turn, are likely to lead to the decreased number of juvenile offenders. Home visits are quite significant as they present the opportunity to directly contact the families and provide them with the necessary information, explaining how to interact with their children to prevent juvenile delinquency. The fact that this intervention is successfully used in such communities as Chicago, IL, and Portland, OK proves the effectiveness of MIECHV program.
References
Adirim, T., & Supplee, L. (2013). Overview of the Federal Home Visiting Program. Pediatrics, 132(1), 59-64.
Bates, K. A., & Swan, R. S. (2014). Juvenile delinquency in a diverse society. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
Hoeve, M., Stams, G. J., Put, C. E., Dubas, J. S., Laan, P. H., & Gerris, J. R. (2012). A meta-analysis of attachment to parents and delinquency. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 40(5), 771-785.
Youth Violence Prevention. (2017). Web.