Types of delinquent behaviour
Traditionally, delinquency meant offences such as truancy, assault, theft, arson, or vandalism. In recent decades more violent crimes by teens became more common, especially for those who traffic in drugs or are addicted and commit crimes to support their habits. Bigotry could be seen in teens of all races; one example is the rise of white-supremacist gangs called skinheads.
Gangs and group crime
The cliché that "birds of a feather flock together" has special relevance for the social situation of delinquents. Alienated from society, they tend to form groups. Although non-delinquent teenagers also form gangs, delinquents are far likelier to do so. They are impelled by the need to belong and are drawn by the sense of security that a gang offers its members. In belonging to a gang there is a solidarity that an individual fails to find as a loner in society. Gang subculture has its own standards, obligations and rights. It may also have its own dress code.
Not all teens involved in a crime together are acting as a gang, however. In a well-publicized incident in 1989 a group of youths ages 14 to 16 raped and nearly murdered a young woman jogging in New York City's Central Park; they said they were "wilding," roaming the park with no purpose but to create havoc and hurt people. Many schools are no safer than the streets; by 1990 it was estimated that more than three million incidents of attempted street crime (assault, rape, robbery, or theft) occur in schools or on school property each year. As more students carry weapons, more schools have instituted tough security measures.
Society's response
Society tries to deal with youthful offenders in a variety of ways. The most common unofficial means are through school counselling and sessions with psychologists and psychiatrists. Social workers who deal with family problems also attempt to sort out the differences of young potential delinquents.
Serious offences are dealt with officially by the police and the courts. Because of the nature of some of the offences committed by juveniles, there has been a tendency to try them in court as adults for certain crimes, especially for murder. The juvenile courts attempt to steer young people away from a life of crime, though the most serious offences normally result in periods of confinement in juvenile halls or prisons for younger criminals. If possible, however, the courts try more lenient methods of probation, juvenile aftercare, or foster care.
Probation means that the court suspends sentence and releases the offender on the condition of good behaviour, subject to certain rules and under the supervision of the court. Probation is frequently granted to first-time offenders.
Sometimes in order to avoid bringing a case before the court, informal probation under the supervision of a probation officer is prescribed. Probation has proved to be the most successful way of dealing with very young offenders.
Juvenile aftercare is the equivalent of parole for an older criminal; it takes place after the young person has been released from an institution and is supervised by a youth counsellor. The purpose of aftercare is to promote readjustment to society.
In foster care the juvenile is placed in a stable family situation with the hope that he will adjust to the positive values of society. It is often part of an effort to prevent institutionalisation.
III. Answer the questions:
1. Name the reasons of juvenile delinquency in the USA, Japan and Europe in the early 1980-s.
2. What do parents and educators blame on in the juvenile delinquency?
3. Are the reasons of delinquency among tens from the poor society or from the middle-class families the same? What are they?
4. What is meant by delinquency?
5. Why do teenagers join gangs?
6. How does the society try to deal with young offenders?
7. What methods does the court use to steer teenagers away from a life of crime? Name them.
IV. Agree or disagree with the following statements:
1. In the USA, Europe and Japan most delinquents are girls.
2. Many parents, educators and others don’t blame for the juvenile delinquency anybody or anything.
3. Traditionally, delinquency meant offences such as truancy, assault, theft, arson, or vandalism.
4. Non-delinquent teenagers don’t form gangs.
5. Gang subculture doesn’t have their own standards, obligations and rights.
Many schools are not safer than the streets
TEENS' TIPS FOR PARENTS
Sixty Атеrican teens have put together an honest list of what, as they think, their parents should or shouldn't do. Here are just a few of their tips.
• Let us have our privacy unless we give you the right to invade it.
• Respect our feelings. Of course, sometimes we will disagree with each other, so show us your point of view and let us show you ours. If our opinion is absolutely wrong in your eyes, tell us why in a polite way. If you respect us, we will respect you.
• Give us freedom to make some mistakes. Of course, you don't want us to make the same stupid mistakes that you made, but sometimes we need to. We learn well from our mistakes, believe us.
• We love to please you, and your opinion is important to us. When you see us doing some-thing good, please praise us,
• Don't take out bad moods on us. We all have bad days, but try not to take yours out on us. When you have a bad day, tell us, and we will leave you alone but we can't read your mind!
• Don't bribe us. We really hate to tell you this secret, but bribing us doesn't work. We love getting money and other things from you, but this portrays you as a softy.
• We hate it when you tell our secrets to other people. When we tell you a secret and then hear you repeating it to your best friend, we lose our trust in you. If tell you something for your ears only, then keep it there!
• Don't compare us to our brothers and sisters. You make us feel stupid and - which is more important - you make us feel left out,
• Never, but never give us the silent treatment!
• Have fun with us. Don't be afraid to take us places and have good times with us We will all remember our childhood days forever, so help us make them unforgettable.
• Most of all, remember that we love you and want to be your friend.
tip совет
privacy [΄privәsi] личная, частная жизнь
to invide [in ΄veid] вмешательство
to respect [ri ΄spect] уважать
point of view [vju:] точка зрения
in a polite way вежливо
opinion [ә ΄pinjen] мнение
to praise [preiz] хвалить
to take out bad moods on вымещать свое плохое настроение
to leave alone оставить в покое
to bribe [braib] давать взятку, подкупать
softy [ ΄sәfti] слабый, бесхарактерный, человек-тряпка
trust [trast] доверие
to feel left out чувствовать себя изолированным, никому не нужным
never, but never никогда-никогда
to give the silent treatmen [tri:tmәnt] не разговаривать с кем-либо
I. Answer the questions:
1. Do you agree with all these tips?
2. Does bribing exist in your family?
3. Do you want to have freedom to make your own mistakes?
4. Are you in friendly terms with your parents?
5. Do your parents always listen to you?
6. Do you take out your bad mood on your brothers or sisters?
7. What other tips for parents would you like to add?
8. Do you have any differences with American teens according to this problem matter?
II. Make a little speech starting with:
— teens of all countries have got problems with their parents…
— they want their parents …
ORAL SPEECH
Read the dialogue and do the assignments following it:
Clean Up Your Room
(After Art Buchwald)
(You don't really feel the generation gap in this country until a son or daughter comes home from college for Christmas. This dialogue is probably taking place all over America this week.)
— Nancy, you've been home from college for three days now. Why don't you clean up your room?
— We don't have to clean up our room at college Mother.
— That's very nice and I'm happy you're going to such a freewilling institution.. But while you are in the house I would like you to clean up your room.
— What difference does it make? It's my room.
— I know, dear. And it really doesn't mean so much to me. But your father is much afraid of the plague. He said this morning if it's going to start anywhere in this country, it's going to start in your room.
— Mother, you people aren't interested in anything really important. Do you realize how big corporations are polluting our environment?
— Your father and I are very much worried about it. But now we are more concerned with the pollution in your bed room. You haven't made your bed since you came home.
— I never make it at the college.
— Of course you don't and I'm sure the time you save goes toward your education. But we still have that old- fashioned ideas about making beds in the morning and we can't give them up. And since you are at home for such a short time, why don't you do it to please us?
— Oh, Mother, I'm quite grown-up! Why do you have to" treat me like a child?
— We are not treating you like a child. But it's difficult for us to realize you're an adult when you throw all your clothes on the floor.
— I haven't thrown all my clothes on the floor. Only those I wore yesterday.
— I'm sorry I exaggerated. Well, how about the dirty dishes on your desk? Are you collecting them for a science project?
— Mother, you don't understand us. You people were brought up to have clean rooms. But our generation doesn't care about things like that.
— No one respects education more than you; father and I do, particularly at the prices they are charging. But we can't see how living in dirt can improve you mind.
— All right, all right. I'll clean up my room if it means that much to you. But I want you to know you've ruined my vacation.
— It was a risk I had to take. Oh, by the way, I know it's terrible thing to ask you, but would you mind helping me to wash the dinner dishes?
— Wash dishes? Nobody washes dishes at college.
— Your father and I were afraid of that.
a free-willing institution — заведение, где можно делать все, что хочется.
plague — чума
to pollute the environment — загрязнять окружающую среду.
exaggerate — npeyвеличивать
* * *
a) Say in what way the girl thinks her generation differs from that of her parents. Is she right?
b) Say how you understand the phrase "generation gap". Use the following words and expressions if necessary:
lack of mutual understanding; common interests; disrespect of children for their parents; modern; old-fashioned; to feel superior (superiority); estrangement (отчуждение) between the younger and older generations; misunderstanding and tension in the family; to feel embarrassed; to be out of question; to spoil relationships.
Read the joke and say what it adds to the "generation gap" problem:
A Talk in the Tram
— Who's that long-haired young man?
— It's not a young man. It's my daughter.
— Indeed? You’re such a young father?
— I’m not the father. I’m the mother.
MORALITY: WHAT IS IT?