Adolescent Gang Members Delinquent Behavior

Three different explanations for adolescent gang members delinquent behavior: 1) Selection hypothesis – adolescents who commit more crimes join gangs. 2) Facilitation hypotheses – gang membership increases delinquent behavior. 3) Enhancement hypothesis – both the selection and facilitation work together to increase delinquency. The data suggest that for “person offences” and “Property offences” the selection and enhancement hypothesis are supported. The transient gang members support the facilitation model and stable gang members support the enhancement model. For “drug sales” and “drug use” the results were inconclusive since the highest drug sales and use occurred while in the gang but upon leaving the gang drug sales and use volume did not
decrease significantly. The study looked at whether gang membership or other risk social factors were the cause of the delinquent behavior. The result of this part of the study showed conclusively that gang membership was a major cause of delinquent behavior. The study shows that the longer a member is in the gang the more delinquent behaviors are exhibited. The study concludes by stating that it is important to not have youth join gangs. It is also important to stop the development of gangs.
I am not sure about the conclusions since for person and property offences all three models were supported. For the drug sales and use sections none of the models held up. So all told for those four categories (person offence, property offence, drug sales, and drug use) there is no model that holds up more than another. Per the “results” section transient gang members support the facilitation hypothesis and the enhancement hypothesis is supported by stable gang members, this was shown in the person and property offences section but not the drug sales and use section. The percentages of members in a gang that had delinquent behavior (person offence, property offence, drug use, and drug sales) were always higher than the numbers for those outside the gang. So the study showed that gang members had a higher rate of crime than other adolescents. The overall conclusion that stopping the formation of gangs and stopping adolescents from joining gangs are both good conclusions but they are already known.
I think that while the information about the percentages of people with eating disorders in the articles in the assignment is outdated it is probably as true today as it was when it was written.
The media hype in movies, television and magazines all show perfect looking men and women. There probably are more women than men with eating disorders. Women are expected to be perfect and do everything along with looking perfect. There is a long history of rumors about the fashion industry and how women have to be super thin to the extreme in order to be in demand and get jobs. I imagine for male models it is the same, they have to not only be thin but muscular as well. There is a lot of pressure to look like the stars look. The stars have nutritionists, personal trainers, fashion consultants and a host of others to support them in their endeavor to look perfect. They have the ability to spend hours in the gym and eat just the right amount of food of the right type in order to look the way they look. They have people who pick the clothes that they wear that will show off their assets. Real people do not have the time or money to do all of that and teenagers do not realize that. It makes you wonder if the perfect body is only reached through extremes then shouldn’t the normal body be shown more. On the talk shows sometimes you hear the stars complain about the regimen that they have to be on when they are in movies, Hugh Jackman has mentioned it on a few different occasions on The Tonight Show. This proves that eating disorders are a concern for both men and women. While there are a few stars with bodies that do not fit into the “perfect” category. The non “perfect” stars are starting to show up more, not only in movies but in television shows as well. Look at Leslie Jones from Saturday Night Live while she is not fat or skinny she had a hard time finding a dress to wear for her movie premier. Melissa McCarthy has been the star of several movies and has been a star on a
television show even though she is non “perfect”.
I do not know anyone with an eating disorder.
Strategies to help someone with an eating disorder would be: 1. Build up self-confidence, since most of the time the eating disorder is caused by a poor self-image. 2. Get assistance from a dietician for the person with the eating disorder so that they know which foods are healthy. 3. See a therapist to assist in improving the underlying psychological misconceptions associated with their eating disorder. 4. The therapist/psychologist may prescribe an anti-anxiety or anti-depressant medication. 5. Write up and sign a behavioral contract stating that they will no longer perform the harmful acts of the eating disorder. 6. Find substitute activities that they can perform instead of the harmful acts of the eating disorder.