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Why kids kill other kids and what goes through there head... Do they think about how they are gonna kill someone. How can we avoid this how does it makes you feel? How can we stop this from happening?

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Why kids kill other kids and what goes through there head... Do they think about how they are gonna kill someone. How can we avoid this how does it makes you feel? How can we stop this from happening?

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Morgan Leppert. She is 15.
Leppert and her 22 year old boyfriend at the time Toby Lee Lowry were convicted of the brutal murder of James Stewart, 62, in his own Florida home.

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It’s not only just boys who commit crimes it can be girls to but yes more times than others its boys. Any age person can be a criminal.  

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It’s not only just boys who commit crimes it can be girls to but yes more times than others its boys. Any age person can be a criminal.  

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This Jon Venables and Robert Thompson. They are both 10.
Jon Venables and Robert Thompson became the youngest convicted murderers in England after killing 2-year-old James Bulger in 1993. Do kids really work together to commit crimes and kill people?

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Trying to figure out why kids commit crimes

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Reasons for Juvenile Crime, Free Study Guides and book notes including comprehensive chapter analysis, complete summary analysis, author biography information, character profiles, theme analysis, metaphor analysis, and top ten quotes on classic literature.

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Kids who suffer from depression can lead to commit a crime

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Published:

Disclaimer: This essay has been submitted by a student. This is not an example of the work written by our professional essay writers. You can view samples of our professional work here.

Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of UK Essays.

Depression is a wide-reaching condition that affects millions of Americans who experience it in a few different archetypes, but each can be crippling. Bipolar disorder, a severe type of depression, has been connected to criminal behavior when one considers prison-population statistics and the percentage of manic depressives who commit crimes. Factors such as substance abuse, environment, and gender unpack the criminal side of depression and lead to the ultimate question of whether depression lends itself to crime or vice versa.

Depression and Criminal Behavior

What is depression? Depression is described as an illness that affects every aspect of a human being. The way a person eats, sleeps, and feels about life is typical of depression. One can also characterize depression by what it is not. For example, depression is not simply a blue feeling that comes and goes. We all experience sadness from time to time, but depression is a very deep feeling of sadness that does not go away by wish or will. One does not "get over" or "shake off" depression. It is also not a sign of weak or flawed character. How does one characterize this deep feeling of sadness? A more correct term used when describing depression is illness. The term illness insinuates that, without treatment, symptoms can last for a significant length of time. The longevity of symptoms differentiates occasional sadness from clinical depression. Strock, (1994). Depression (NIH publication no. 00-3561). This point is addressed by the VA,

For many, a depressed mood is a normal reaction to the death of someone they love or the loss of the ability to perform routine activities. But, when a depressed mood persists for a long period of time with no signs of lifting, a person will benefit most from talking to their primary care provider to determine if clinical depression is the cause. (Department of Veterans Affairs, 2002)

There is, however, treatment available that can help individuals regardless of the degree of symptoms.

Types of Depression

The three main types of depression are major depression, dysthymia, and bipolar disorder. There are many other types of depression besides the three listed, however, the variances are more of degree than nature. For all practical purposes, the three main types of depression encompass the entire spectrum. The first type, major depression, virtually disables a person in every aspect of his or her life. Menial tasks such as eating or sleeping are just as affected by major depression as harder tasks, such as social interaction and cognitive functioning. In addition, people suffering from major depression do not enjoy activities that were once pleasurable. This disabling of function in every aspect of life typifies major depression. Strock, (1994). Depression (NIH publication no. 00-3561).

The second main type of depression is dysthymia. This type of depression is less severe than major depression in that it does not disable. The hallmark of dysthymia is that it keeps a person from having a feeling of wholeness or "good." People who have dysthymia, however, are not completely safe from the effects of major depression, as it is common to suffer from major depression at some point in one's life. Strock, (1994). Depression (NIH publication no. 00-3561).

Bipolar Disorder, also labeled manic depression, is the third type of depression that is the least common and most severe form of the illness. Bipolar disorder is characterized by cycling mood changes: severe highs (mania) and lows (depression). The shift between these two moods is often gradual, but can also happen abruptly with no notice. The depressed aspect of Bipolar Disorder is virtually the same as major depression. The person loses interest in activities, whether routine or pleasurable and feels a deep sense of sadness. The mania aspect of this illness is what differentiates it from the other forms of depression. When a manic depressed person has fits of mania, he or she has a heightened energy level that is well above normal. The person may talk more than usual or react in a way that is inappropriate to the situation. While in a state of mania, a manic depressed person may do things that are a cause for shame or embarrassment later, but in the moment, they may seem perfectly "right". If left untreated, manic depression may lead to a psychotic state. Strock, (1994). Depression (NIH publication no. 00-3561). This is the type of depression that can lead to criminal behavior.

Link to Criminal Behavior

Of the three types of depression, bipolar disorder is most commonly linked to criminal behavior, especially violence. In a study that considered a cross section of 261 patients diagnosed with bipolar disorder, it was found that when compared to criminal records, manic-depressives were more often convicted of crimes (Englander, 2003). However, those who were unipolar (only depressive, not manic) were found not to be more prone to criminal behavior. This leads one to focus on the manic aspect of depression in connecting the dots to an increased propensity to commit crimes. A study of 50 juvenile boys corroborated this notion by noting that manic depression not only increased criminal behavior, but also was linked to antisocial tendencies. Though a high level of aggression was identified, only 14% were ever incarcerated for aggressive acts (Englander, 2003).

Prevalence of Mania in Prisons

A look at criminal behavior within the construct of mania leads to an obvious question of whether individuals within the prison system are more likely or less likely to exhibit manic tendencies. A study completed in the mid-1980s evaluated over 1,000 prisoners in the HMP Brixton in London, England and found that prisoners were seven times more likely to suffer from manic depression when compared to the general population (Blumenthal and Lavendar, 2000). Other mental illnesses were found less frequently. Schizophrenia was discovered to exist only three times higher in the prison sample than in the general populace.

Alcohol and Drug Abuse Risk Factors

Alcohol and drug abuse are key indicators in determining whether someone is prone to criminal acts. It is helpful, once again, to compare bipolar disorder to schizophrenia, this time in terms of sufferer usage. There is a high rate of substance abuse among mentally ill persons across the spectrum of mental illness. In fact, mental illness doubles the risk of substance abuse. Schizophrenics abuse drugs and alcohol at a rate of 47%, while manic depressives abuse at a much higher rate of 61% (Blumenthal and Lavendar, 2000). General substance abuse frequency among manics coupled with the notion that a majority of violent crimes such as rape, assault, and murder are committed after high drug or alcohol use shows that those who suffer from bipolar disorder are more likely to commit violent crime (Blumenthal and Lavendar, 2000). Thus, substance abuse is a predictor of violence and manic depressives are prone to substance abuse.

Gender Considerations

It is interesting to look at gender differences as it relates to bipolar disorder. Women generally suffer from depression more often than men, and this is also true in the bipolar aspect of depression. Along with frequency, women suffer from more intense forms of depression than men, meaning mania could be potentially more severe and lead to violence or other forms of criminal behavior. This, however, is outweighed by the significantly higher prevalence of male arrests within the context of a manic state. In the U.S., men commit more crimes per capita, up to six times more than women. Even though women are less likely to commit crimes than men, those who suffer from bipolar disorder offend at a higher rate than women who are not diagnosed with mental illness (Friedman, 2005).

Causal Relationship Question

Though there is a relationship found between depression and crime, some argument exists as to the extent of the connection. Two possibilities must be considered, whether the crime was committed because the individual was depressed or did the person become depressed as a result of committing a crime. One of the more closely linked facets of depression and violent crime are found when a depressed person becomes so hopeless that, before committing suicide, they kill friends or loved ones. In a study of 78 murder cases, a link was made between depression and violent crime only when environmental factors, such as a negative life event, spurred on the criminal behavior (Hollin, 2002).

Conclusion

In conclusion, depression is a vast subject of which much is known. Types of depression have ranges of degree from relatively mild to very severe forms of the disorder. In terms of criminal behavior, bipolar disorder is most closely linked, particularly the manic aspect of the mental illness. A relationship is seen when one considers the higher prevalence of bipolar criminals in the prison system compared to the general populace and the propensity for manic depressives to abuse alcohol and drugs, a key indicator of criminal behavior. Though the causation of criminal behavior is akin to the chicken and egg argument, questioning which one causes the other, it is proven that depression is a factor in the context of criminal behavior.

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Published: Disclaimer: This essay has been submitted by a student. This is not an example of the work written by our professional essay writers. You can view samples of our professional work here. Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of UK Essays.

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Where and when youth commit police-reported crimes, 2008

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Juristat, Summer 2010. Where and when youth commit police-reported crimes, 2008.

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Reasons why kids kill

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When you think heinous crimes, you don't typically think of children as the accused. It's an odd thing when the innocence of a child meets the severity of something like murder. How do you punish someone who's brain isn't fully developed? Is it possible to redeem a child capable of a horrific crime when they can't fully comprehend the severity of their actions? Read on to learn about the serious crimes committed by these children.

1. A 15-year-old boy murders his two adopted brothers

In May 2013, a 15-year-old Utah boy was babysitting his siblings while his mother was out (his father was active duty military and had been deployed in another state for several years at the time). When the mother returned, she found her adopted 4-year-old and 10-year-old boys stabbed to death in their home. Her 15-year-old boy was missing. Police later found him running about 5 miles away. They declined to comment on his mental state.

The boy ended up pleading guilty and is currently receiving counseling while in the juvenile system until he turns 21, at which point he'll be transferred to prison and serve 15 years to life.

2. A 12-year-old boy shoots his mom over chores

A 12-year-old Arizona boy shot his mother to death over a chores dispute in 2009. The boy shot her eight times with a .22-calibur pistol. He knew how to use the gun because the mother's boyfriend taught him "for emergencies and self defense."

According to Digital Journal, Judge James Conlogue found the boy guilty, as a juvenile, for premeditated murder in the Cochise County Superior Court in the southern Arizona town of Bisbee.

3. Mary Bell, the 11-year-old serial killer

In 1968, Mary Bell killed two children with her bare hands (and a pair of scissors to mutilate one of the bodies). During the course of the investigation, police found Bell's behavior to be "evasive" and suspicious early on. Bell was a troubled child with a horrible past who was often described as violent and dishonest.

When Bell's friend and accomplice, Nora, told police that Bell was responsible for the murders, Mary was convicted of manslaughter due to diminished responsibility, in part due to the psychological assessment presented at the trial. Bell was considered psychopathic by various assessments.

You can read her full story in the book, Cries Unheard: Why Children Kill.

4. The 'Medicine Hat Girl'

The "Medicine Hat Girl," (named after where the murders took place) 12 at the time, killed her family with the help of her 23-year-old boyfriend. The girl testified that her boyfriend broke into her home, and ordered her to stab her family members before he finished them off. They then stole her mother's purse and returned to the boyfriend's trailer.

Because the two had had previous conversations about killing the girl's family, they were both found guilty.

5. A 14-year-old boy shoots his mom while sleeping

A Detroit mother told her 14-year-old son that he couldn't hang out with his friends anymore. Several hours later, in the middle of the night, the boy shot his mother to death with her fiancé's gun.

The mother was on the living room couch while her fiancé slept with their 5-year-old daughter in the next room over.

In response, the Detroit mayor, Dave Bing, "asked Detroiters not to stand idly by while children become victims of crime. But at the same time, he demanded parents take more responsibility for their children's actions."

6. A 6-year-old boy shoots his classmate the day after she refused to kiss him

School shootings aren't rare, but school shootings at the hand of a 6-year-old are. A young boy brought a gun and a knife to school one morning, and shot his classmate in the arm. The boy had a history of picking on the girl and the day prior had tried to give her a kiss only to be turned down. The bullet hit an artery and killed her.

7. A 15-year-old girl shoots her dad with a hunting bow because he took away her cellphone

When a 35-year-old single dad told his daughter that she was being grounded and having her cellphone privileges revoked, she responded by shooting him in the chest with a hunting bow.

The Tahyua, Wash. father was able to crawl out of a window, crawl into his car, and drive to the neighbor's house to call for help.

Police found the daughter in a forest near her home; they said she "gave up willingly."

8. 9-year-old girl stabs 11-year-old to death

In 2005, a 9-year-old girl fatally stabbed an 11-year-old girl in the chest with a kitchen knife, because of an argument over a ball. Unfortunately, the victim, Queen Washington, was pronounced dead at a hospital.

"I don't understand how this could happen," Joyce Porter, Queen's grandmother, told The New York Times. She said Queen's mother had called her earlier that afternoon. "She told me, 'Queen is dead,"' Porter said, adding, "It was over a ball."

9. 4-year-old shot his father

In Saudi Arabia, a 4-year-old shot his father on purpose. After requesting his father pick up a PlayStation when he went to the store, the 4-year-old grew angry when his father did not buy him the gaming console. He then went and grabbed his father's gun and shot him to death.

10. Two young boys beat up and abused by two other young boys

The victims, ages 9 and 11, were robbed, sexually assaulted, and burned with cigarettes in Edlington, South Yorkshire. Two brothers in foster care, aged 12 and 10, lured two other boys to a semi-wild parkland on the edge of Edlington, a former pit village near Doncaster, South Yorkshire.

The two brothers attacked them with bricks, sticks, and a noose. The victims also suffered cigarette burns and were forced to perform a series of sexual acts on each other. The two victims managed to survive.

11. 11-year-old kills future stepmother

In 2009, Jordan Brown shot his soon-to-be stepmother dead while she was sleeping. She was also pregnant at the time and the baby died, too. He then boarded his school bus like it was any other normal day. The stepmother's daughter found her body.

Prosecutors said Brown was jealous of the unborn baby since it was going to be named Chris, after Brown's father. Brown was found guilty and charged as a juvenile. He was released in 2016 at the age of 18.

12. 14-year-old kills mother with a hammer

On Easter in 2011, Daniel Bartlam killed his own mother with a hammer while she was sleeping, and then set the house on fire.

"Initially, he claimed that a theiving burglar had hurt his mother and burnt the house," explains Real Life Villains Wiki. "However, as investigators searched through his computer, they found evidence that he was searching things like 'how to get away with murder' and other related topics. He was immediately arrested and tried. Daniel Bartlam was sentenced to 16 years in a juvenile detention facility."

13. Two 10-year-olds abduct and kill a 2-year-old

In 1993, Robert Thompson and Jon Venables abducted a 2-year-old from the local mall, James Bulger. The two boys took Bulger to a railroad track where they dropped him on his head and beat him with an iron bar and left him to die on the tracks.

At the time, Thompson and Venables became the youngest convicted murders in modern England. Both boys were released from prison in 2011, when they turned 18.
Additional reporting by Eric McWhinnie.

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You'll Be Shocked by These Horrific Crimes Committed by Children

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When you think heinous crimes, you don't typically think of children as the accused. It's an odd thing when the innocence of a child meets the severity of something like murder. How do you punish someone who's brain isn't fully developed?

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Games kids playing video games can potentially cause kids to commit crimes

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The question of whether violent video games have a harmful effect on children is a hotly disputed one.

And not just between the entertainment industry and medical experts.

It's also a contentious point among professionals who deal with children's health issues.

The topic is prominent enough that it prompted the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) to issue a recommendation last month about children watching violent movies and playing violent video games.

The report's authors stated they are frustrated by resistance to accept studies that link violence to the video games as well as the lack of action on the issue.

"Although there is broad scientific consensus that virtual violence increases aggressive thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, there has been little public action to help mitigate children's exposure to it," the authors wrote.
Read more: Children with autism more likely to develop video game addiction "
Aggression but not crime

A task force report released in August 2015 by the American Psychological Association (APA) concluded there's a definite link to increased aggression in children who play violent video games.

However, the task force members said it's uncertain whether that aggression correlates with criminal violence or juvenile delinquency.

The research was the first in this field to examine the breadth of previous studies, and to undertake multiple approaches to reviewing the literature.

The data demonstrated a consistent relationship between violent video game use and increases in aggressive behavior, cognition, and effect, according to the APA Task Force on Violent Media report.

Video game violence also leads to decreases in pro-social behavior, empathy, and sensitivity to aggression, the task force added.

Scientists have looked into the use of violent video games for more than 20 years, but task force chairman Mark Appelbaum, Ph.D., said, "There is very limited research addressing whether violent video games cause people to commit acts of criminal violence."

"However, the link between violence in video games and increased aggression in players is one of the most studied and best established in the field," Appelbaum, a psychology professor at the University of California at San Diego, said in a press release.

The APA report went on to say that no single risk factor consistently leads a person to act aggressively or violently, but rather it is an accumulation of risk factors that leads to the aggressive or violent behavior.

Violent video game use is one such risk factor.

Dr. Vic Strasburger, distinguished professor of pediatrics emeritus at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine, said it goes deeper than violent video games.

"I've treated several school shooters and my best guess is that these kids have four factors that apply," Strasburger told Healthline. "One: They've been abused or bullied. Two: They have mental illness. Three: They are socially isolated. And four: They play violent video games."

"All four factors taken together produce a perfect storm," he added.
Read more: Does 'Pokémon Go' count as exercise? "
Other theories arise

The APA report was contradicted seven months later by another study that focused on children in Europe.

Researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health published their findings in the journal Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology.

The team of 13 researchers looked at the video game playing habits of more than 3,000 children across Europe in 2010.

They concluded children who played at least five hours of games a week had fewer psychological problems than students who didn't play the games.

The students' teachers also rated the video game players as better students.

"I think what we're seeing here is the evolution of gaming in modern society. Video games are now a part of a normal childhood," said Katherine Keyes, one of the 13 authors, and a professor of epidemiology at Columbia, in a U.S. News and World Report article. "It's no longer that kids who play a lot video games are the isolated, techy, brainy kids. What we're seeing here is that kids who play a lot of video games are socially integrated, they're pro-social, they have good school functioning, and we don't see any association with adverse mental health outcomes."

Keyes added there are down sides to playing a lot of video games.

"I want to be sure that we're not suggesting in this study that parents should let kids play unlimited video games because it's good for their mental health," she told U.S. News and World Report.

Another study that was published in October 2015 concluded that parents were an important factor in determining how much time children spend playing violent video games.

Researchers at Iowa State University used an online survey of both parents and children aged 8 to 12 for their conclusions.

They said children of "restrictive" parents who set firm rules spent less time playing violent video games.

In addition, children of "warm" parents who show approval through affection also played fewer video games.

However, the children of "anxious/emotional" parents who are often overprotective spent more time playing video games.
Read more: Most 2-year-olds use mobile devices "
Association urges changes in industry

There are calls for the video game industry to clean up its act.

After its study, the APA urged the video game industry to design games that include increased parental control over the amount of violence the games contain.

They also want developers to design games that are appropriate to users' age and psychological development.

In addition, they are encouraging the Entertainment Software Rating Board to refine its video game rating system. The hope of the APA is that the games' ratings "reflect the levels and characteristics of violence in games."

Entertainment Software Association (ESA) officials vehemently disagreed with the findings of the research in the latest APA report.

"Considering the APA's long-standing bias against, and attacks on video games, this slanted report is not surprising. Numerous medical professionals, researchers, and courts all debunk the fundamental thesis of their argument," they said in a statement to the video game news site Polygon.

When boiled down, Strasburger said that it's easy to pin aggressive behavior on violent video games but not necessarily crime.

"Many people would like to link first-person shooter video games and mass murders or even single murders, but that's virtually impossible to do from a scientific research point of view," he said. "Murder is rare. Video games are extraordinarily common."

Strasburger has come up with a simple hypothesis based on the research.

"The best we can say is that first-person shooter video games are probably not healthy for children and teens," he concluded.
Editor's Note: This story was originally published on August 14, 2015, and was updated by David Mills on August 18, 2016.

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do video games cause children to commit crimes

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Violent Video Games Create Aggression, But Do They Cause Kids to Commit Crimes?

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The question of whether violent video games have a harmful effect on children is a hotly disputed one. And not just between the entertainment industry and medical experts. It's also a contentious point among professionals who deal with children's health issues.