1: Cadwallader and Cairns state that among inner-city African American youth "precocious familiarity with gang activity is a marker for early exposure to deviant subculture" and that "fourth grade students who named more than four gangs identified themselves as being highly aggressive." What should families, schools and neighborhoods do to protect pre-teens from the influence of gangs and dissuade them from joining? Explain your answer in detail.
2: No one program works effectively to rehabilitate all juvenile offenders. What factors do Kim, Merlo and Benekos contend are relevant to determining the effectiveness of a juvenile corrections program? Why does a significant segment of the public continue to believe that harsh or punitive programming is effective in juvenile rehabilitation?
3: Tapia states "Gang membership, racial minority status, and their interaction each increase the risk of arrest, controlling for other demographic and legal items. Results suggest that bias against these groups is most pronounced with less serious crimes." Given that research shows gang membership is largely composed of minority youth, how is law enforcement to suppress gang membership and activity through arrests while at the same time reduce disproportionate minority contact? Explain your answer in detail.
4: Grisso indicates that more youth than ever are entering the juvenile justice system with mental illness. At the same time, Doulas and Lorigio indicate that CIT-Youth programs are expanding so that law enforcement is better able to identify mentally ill youth and divert them from the juvenile justice system. Explain in detail how more mentally ill youth are both being diverted from and entering into the juvenile justice system.