Juvenile Delinquency and Gangs

Paper Summary:

This paper explores the social problem of youth gangs in the United States. It looks at some of the historical roots of the problem, the increase in gang activity society is experiencing, and how the media tends to sensationalize and exaggerate the extent of the problem.

From the Paper:

"During the last decade, crime coverage by the media has increased dramatically, especially juvenile gang crime. The Center for Media and Public Affairs revealed in its study that from 1993 to1996 the U.S. homicide rate fell 20 percent, yet the "media coverage of murders increased an incredible 721 percent" (Perrone, Chesney-Lind 1997). Therefore, it is not surprising that between June 1993 and January 1994, "the number of Americans naming crime as the nation's "most important problem" increased six-fold?at a time when official crime statistics and victimization surveys showed little change" (Perrone, Chesney-Lind 1997). Critics charge the media with over-reporting and exaggeration of crime-related events and "producing outputs of crime-related articles that bear little resemblance to official crime trends" (Perrone, Chesney-Lind 1997). For example, official crime statistic stories will downplay, ignore, or focus on certain statistics, thus creating a misrepresentation of the actual figures (Perrone, Chesney-Lind 1997). Critics claim this misrepresentation amounts to public manipulation."

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