English TEXTS FOR READING

52February 2013 Juvenile Delinquency

Look at the diagram which shows the number of juvenile delinquency cases in the United States and comment on it. Use the words and word combinations below.

Source: www.ojjdp.ncjrs.gov

Words and combinations: the number of delinquency cases; to remain virtually unchanged from ... through...; to be static; to climb steadily; to rise sharply; to drop; to show an overall decline; to level off; to show increasing trends.

A. Read the text ‘Juvenile Delinquency’ and say if this phenomenon is widespread in your country.

Nowadays the problem of juvenile delinquency is becoming more complicated and universal. Juvenile delinquency encompasses all violations of legal and social norms committed by young people between the ages of 12 and 20. In many countries rates of youth crime rose in the 1990s. This situation is widespread not only in developed countries but in developing countries as well. For example, in Africa the main reasons for delinquency are hunger, poverty, malnutrition and unemployment as well as the great number of street and orphaned children.

There are a lot of reasons why more and more young men and women are involved in violent or criminal behaviour. These reasons include poverty, unemployment, low incomes among the young, ineffective educational systems, breakdown of the family, the death of parents, etc. Many of the crimes committed by young people are related to excessive alcohol use and drug abuse. Alcohol and drugs become a kind of psychological or emotional escape for young people. So instead of solving their problems they try to forget about them. Many young people do not have enough money to maintain a lifestyle they want. There are those who try to achieve their goals by illegal means. Young people’s life and behaviour are greatly influenced by many factors: their home, family, friends, neighbourhood, adults and peers as well as by the social, economic, political and cultural conditions prevailing in a country.

Youth is a very complicated period when young people are undergoing the painful transition from childhood to independence. They are facing psychological problems that may cause aggression and lead to the rejection of adult values and experience and rebellion. Wishing to prove their maturity and independence some young people com-

mit various offences, run away from home and use violence against their peers. Sometimes young people’s antisocial behaviour disappears with the transition to adulthood. But some of them create criminal groups and start to engage in the activities of adult criminal groups.

Delinquency is usually a group phenomenon. Adolescents often join a juvenile delinquent group to improve their status and raise their self-esteem. Membership in a gang often gives a young man or woman a sense of safety and protection. Some juvenile gang members consider their group a family. There are various groups and subcultures in which deviant behaviour and violence play an important role and increase a youth’s status.

The principal offences committed by young people include street extortion, theft, robbery, smuggling, prostitution, vandalism, drug trafficking and rape. Some criminal activities are connected with intolerance of members of other cultures or religious, racial or ethnic groups.

Family well-being is important for every person. Unfortunately there are more and more one-parent families and non-marital unions in many countries. Many children and adolescents are neglected by their parents and some of them are even suffering humiliation, abuse and violence at home. The number of mothers and fathers deprived of their parental rights is increasing every year. Children who do not receive adequate parental supervision are more likely to engage in criminal activities. When parents do not know where their children are, what they do, or who their friends are, adolescents are more likely to truant from school and have delinquent friends.

Television and movies have quite an impact on the shaping of juveniles character. Studies have shown that young people who watch violence tend to behave more aggressively.

The prevention of juvenile delinquency is very important. It is essential to keep adolescents from breaking the law, to discourage delinquent and criminal behaviour and to develop effective prevention programmes. Some countries choose punitive prevention. Some try to prevent youth involvement in delinquent activities supplying adolescents with professional training, education and new workplaces. Prevention services include family counseling, youth mentoring, parenting education, educational support, vocational training and youth sheltering. More attention should be paid to leisure and youth development activities that prevent young people from committing crimes. The media should play a key role in teaching children and young people to be tolerant.

1. Complete each sentence (A–H) with one of the endings

(1–8):

A.Juvenile delinquency encompasses...

B.Many of the crimes committed by young people are related to...

C.Wishing to prove their maturity and independence some young people...

D.Sometimes young people’s antisocial behaviour...

E.There are various groups and subcultures in which deviant behaviour and violence...

F.The principal offences committed by young people include...

G.Studies have shown that young people who watch violence...

H.Prevention services include...

1.tend to behave more aggressively.

2.all violations of legal and social norms committed by young people between the ages of 12 and 20.

3.commit various offences, run away from home and use violence against their peers.

4.street extortion, theft, robbery, smuggling, prostitution, vandalism, drug trafficking and rape.

5.family counseling, youth mentoring, parenting education, educational support, vocational training and youth sheltering.

6.excessive alcohol use and drug abuse.

7.play an important role and increase a youth’s status.

8.disappears with the transition to adulthood.

2. Give the definitions of the following words.

• delinquency	• theft		• violation	• robbery
• crime	• smuggling		• malnutrition	• vandalism
• street extortion		• drug trafficking		• gratification

3.Agree or disagree with the following statements. Explain your point of view.

• Youth is a very complicated period.

• Crime is an inevitable social evil.

• The stricter the punishment, the lower the crime rate.

• Informal procedure and correction is much more effective than punishment.

• Television and movies have quite an impact on juvenile character.

4.Answer the questions.

1.Why are more and more young men and women involved in violent or criminal behaviour?

2.What influences young people’s life and behaviour?

3.What problems do young people usually face? What should adults do to help them solve their problems?

4.Why do adolescents often join gangs?

5.Why do young people often lack tolerance?

6.What must be done to teach adolescents to be kind, just and tolerant?

7.What role does the family play in preventing juvenile delinquency?

8.What crimes are committed by adolescents in your country?

9.What crimes committed by young people do you consider the most serious? Why?

10.Why is the prevention of juvenile delinquency very important? What must be done to discourage delinquent and criminal behaviour?

TEXTS FOR READING English

53

February 2013

5. Fill in the table.

OFFENCES	POSSIBLE	PREVENTION &
	REASONS	PUNISHMENT
A. street	unemployment, low	juvenile	correctional
extortion	income, alcohol use	institutions,		educa-
	or drug abuse, the	tional	programmes,
	inability to postpone	professional		training,
	immediate gratifica-	organized	group ac-
	tion	tivities, social and psy-
		chological support
B. pick
pocketing
C. theft
D. robbery
E. shoplifting
F. smuggling
G.
prostitution
H. vandalism
I. drug
trafficking
J. rape
K. murder

6. Read the quotations below. Choose any quotation and comment on it.

•‘There’s a simple way to solve the crime problem: obey the law; punish those who do not.’ (Rush Limbaugh)

•‘Crime is a product of social excess.’ (Vladimir Lenin)

•‘Punishment is the last and the least effective instrument in the hands of the legislator for the prevention of crime.’

(John Ruskin)

•‘It is the failing of youth not to be able to restrain its own violence.’ (Lucius Annaeus Seneca)

•‘Every single person in jail for a violent crime has had a nightmare childhood.’ (Rob Reiner)

•‘Violence among young people is an aspect of their desire to create. They don’t know how to use their energy creatively so they do the opposite and destroy.’ (Anthony Burgess)

•‘There is a subconscious way of taking violence as a way of expression, as a normality, and it has a lot of effect in the youth in the way they absorb education and what they hope to get out of life.’ (Salma Hayek)

Светлана Юнёва, Губернский профессиональный колледж

See more on CD.

English		TEXTS FOR READING
54
		continued from No. 1
February 2013		NUMBATS AND WANDOO TREES

Caution!

This episode contains violent scenes towards animals.

Jay’s diet was bad. She ate only meat, and jam and bread and couldn’t be persuaded to try vegetables, although she would work unsupervised in the bio-dynamic garden. She would crush eggshells to put in the manure pit and didn’t mind spreading muck. Usually she was first out of bed to check seedlings in the morning.

She kept well away from the cow, but every time she crossed the paddock, the round-bellied cow followed her, nudging her back. When she heard it mooing one evening, she told Dennis that the ****ing cow needs help.

She stood beside Indira while the vet worked to deliver a bull calf. The newborn animal fell floppily to the ground. In minutes he rose on wobbly legs. The cow looked at Jay with big eyes.

An elderly man was asked to set up hives. Only Jay showed any interest. She formed a sort of nodding intimacy with Samuel who told her to knock back on the language as the bees don’t like it. She didn’t speak to him but he talked as they worked together. “If you can’t bee good, bee careful.” Samuel told her that in Eastern Europe, beekeepers were called Sun Keepers. She very carefully put on the right hat net and tucked her sleeves into her gloves. One night she wrote on the kitchen white board: ‘Man is evil. We take the honey away and feed the bees sugar in winter. They are our exploited slaves.’ She then wouldn’t eat honey. Her diet was really lacking enough to build up her wounded body.

The calf was taken from the cow and fed milk from a bucket. Both animals, though only separated from each other by a fence, mooed all night. Jay slammed doors and kicked a hole in the kitchen wall. “This is a good sign,” said Dennis, but Samuel told her off and asked if she realised how tired people were and this repair was just another thing to fix. Her reaction was to tell him to **** off. He turned up the next day and they worked together. The difference was that he too worked silently now.

She had a bond with the cow. Indira came when she called her, and followed her to the shed. Only she took on the hand milking twice a day. She now was part of the rhythm of the place and slept soundly. She wouldn’t ask for TV. But she wouldn’t speak.

On her 18th birthday she got up early as usual and milked Indira, cleaned up and went back to bed for an hour. She was wakened by the community singing at her door. She wouldn’t wear the birthday flowers in the wreath the house mother had woven for her and said, “**** off the lot of you.” But when the house father played the fiddle at breakfast and she was given crispy bacon (her favourite), bought specially, her next “**** off” was a bit softer. She was given what she’d asked for, a collar and rego tag for Brute. She took the wreath out to the paddock and put it on the horns of Indira who was sitting down chewing her cud. She half lay against the cow listening to the breathing and wonderful gurglings, while caressing Brute.

In the afternoon a courier brought her a package to be signed for. A legal letter with another envelope inside. The enclosed was to be handed to her on her 18th birthday. She opened the second letter and could smell her mother’s perfume. She read:

Darling Jeannine,

Today is your birthday. You are a woman. I will not be with you to see the beautiful young woman you have become. I have cancer in my womb and other growths have spread to my bones. The medicine has made me so very depressed, dear. I cannot tell your father, or break your heart. My depression is not something I want you to see. I want you to think of me as a good memory, and not as some skinny invalid. So I will go quickly before the pain gets worse, while I can. I love you. You are so clever. Already you use words and express thoughts that excite me. And you are beautiful. Live the life I won’t have. I want you to look after Dad. He does not know how to handle feelings, so be patient with him. And today on your 18th birthday, surrounded by people who love you, (and perhaps with a boyfriend to frighten Dad), you’ll raise a champagne glass and think of your mum who loves you always. I love you, dear,

Mum.

Jay took Brute into her room and did not come out until milking time. She was very pale. Dennis told the others to give her space. She finished the routine and carefully locked the chooks’ gate. And came inside and did her duties.

The vicar of the church visited. He said they were Christian pagans but their singing was lovely. They should take part in the kangaroo cull next Saturday. It would integrate them into the community. The kids could be beaters. It’d be fun.

It wasn’t.

The participants may not have been clear about what was involved. The vicar seemed enthusiastic and the kids got caught up in it. About forty people gathered for the picnic. The picnic made the kids feel involved. Everybody wanted to try their homebaked sour dough bread that had been buttered and toasted then spread with grilled red capsicums. The mutton soup warmed against the wind. There was pride when their yoghourt and stewed plums was poured into cups and topped up. People wanted more. And the participants were treated as equals in the briefing. They were to sing loudly and others would spread out in a line and beat old pots and pans in rhythm. The idea was to move the animals down to the valley. A whistle would be blown before the actual cull began and people would safely wait behind a hill.

From the highground there seemed good reason to thin out the roos. A big red kangaroo stood quite fearlessly near to the people. Dozens of kangaroos grazed on the pastures. The kids pointed to the females. Tough tattooed youths suddenly became boys when they saw little heads and paws sticking out of pouches. Although each roo appeared to be eating independently, there may have been some underlying social structure. They acknowledged each other with passing touches.

When the shooters had driven down to the end of the creek and set up their rifles, a whistle was blown. The singing began. For a moment the animals straightened and listened, but when the line of people started to move forward and the banging commenced, they were startled. They turned away. The balance of their bodies changed. They leaned forward and their tails were raised and massive back legs thumped and thumped. Such long leaps. Those watching on were amazed at the speed of the jumping animals. Was it just chance that a big one led the retreat, and another large roo jumped more slowly at the rear, and periodically turned back to look. In seconds they all vanished beyond the turn in the creek. The guns sounded out from behind the hill. Although it was all over in minutes, to the line of singers it seemed to last for an age. Whistles were blown and everyone turned the corner at much the same time to a waking nightmare. The scene was terrible. The dead animals looked like they had been dropped from a helicopter. Legs were pointing in disparate directions. Some seemed completely squashed. Animals were on their backs and sides, and some were face down on their fronts with little fore legs splayed. Others stood and toppled and stood and swayed.

Others, wounded, ran straight at the teenagers but slumped nose first near them. Some seemed unhurt but hypnotised and hopped as if in a daze. Were any of them dead? So many started to twitch. From out of pouches baby kangaroo emerged. Others struggled to get out from below the dead weight of their mothers. Then the farmers and the vicar walked among the chaos hitting the little ones on the head with mattock handles. Dull thumps or sharp cracks. More blood, more twitching, more staggering. Jay sat on the hillside clutching her knees, rocking backwards and forwards. She didn’t speak. She stared dumbly at a convulsing roo a meter away. The eyes of the animal twitched. It couldn’t get up. A leg was broken. Again it tried. It looked around as if puzzled. Jay stood at last and walked down to the creek and found a branch. She came back to the animal. They looked into each other. Jay smashed its head again and again. She was splattered with blood and brains, but still she hit the dead animal. Dennis came to her and wrested the branch from her hand. Instantly she calmed. She looked blankly at him. Her arms were limp at her sides. She just slumped. She had fainted. Dennis, respecting her inability to be touched, told the men not to go near her. The

TEXTS FOR READING English

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February 2013

mini bus could be backed down on the part that sheep’s feet had eroded. The women lifted her floppily in.

Jay came to on the bus and stared into nothingness. All of the other participants reacted idiosyncratically. Some of the males boisterously laughed and said it was better than a war film. When could they go on a cull again? Could they join a gun club? Other boys asked Dennis to stop the bus and got out and vomited. Strangely the gungho ones didn’t mock them. And when they got back on, girls touched the boys’ arms as they went to their seats.

Back at the homestead, nobody wanted dinner. But without being told, a girl ran a bath for Jay, probably because her face was covered with blood splats and her back t-shirt was soaked. Josie helped her off with her clothes. For the first time she was not insulted as a leso bitch. Dennis knocked on the door. He’d been over to their cottage and got Josie’s bath salts and left them on the mat outside. Josie brought them in, and without looking at Jay’s nakedness, poured the crystals in the water. An hour later she knocked on the door and woke Jay. She’d left some pyjamas hanging on the door nob. The flannel fabric had been warmed in the hotwater cupboard.

Jay slept in and barely roused when the morning song was sung. Dennis had milked the cow. She slept to midday. She came out in a skirt and a blue top and put her bloodsplashed clothes in the non-compost rubbish bin. The girls kept their distance. They were now a bit frightened of her. They had seen what she was capable of. Jay looked a bit more scary in ‘normal’ coloured clothes.

Later Jay wrote on the board “****ing Christians touch you up and kill things.” Dennis wouldn’t let anyone rub it off even though he had a simple faith himself. “This writing shows what she can’t say. It is a real moral thing she’s written.” She didn’t eat for days. She washed her hands properly and made bread and cleaned up but went to her bedroom. When the others went to bed she opened her door for Brute and Cat.

Everyone seemed sickened by the kangaroo shoot. Jay took it very badly.

A week later she wrote on the kitchen wall, and not on the white board, “Whose country is it? The Wallabies don’t ****

the land like sheep do.” When I came I brought some patch-up paint. (Naturally sod’s law applied and it didn’t quite match, so the whole end of the room had to be repainted). Without being asked, she spread the drop sheet and washed the marker pen writing off with meths.

She was working hard when she fainted and fell on the cloth. She was taken to A&E. The male doctor couldn’t get near her. A woman doctor stated the obvious. She needed building up. Why not try beef tea? “**** you! I’ll never eat meat again.” When she was brought back she sipped a little beetroot soup, and had porridge in the morning. At lunch, Jay started to eat chips then roast parsnip. She began to like pickling and from then on prepared some vegetables. She was too weak to do real work, and couldn’t milk the cow so a neighbour did it night and morning until she was on her feet again.

Text and picture by David Wansbrough to be continued