Case Study on Misguided Youth
Case Study on Misguided Youth
The following case study taken from Eftimiades et al. evidences the effect of a child left unsupervised by parents during his formative years to become a violent adult. Jeremy Strohmeyer was an average 18-year-old teenager who grew increasingly defiant as time progressed. He was once a successful student and a volleyball player. He lived a middle class life; his mother was a successful marketing executive and his father was a real estate investor. Jeremy’s community was shocked to see or hear of the murder he committed. Jeremy, his friend David and David’s father traveled to Nevada to celebrate the Memorial Day holiday. At a casino in Nevada Jeremy began to play hide and seek with 7-year-old Sherrice Iverson. Sherrice left to go to the restroom and Jeremy followed. He then raped and strangled the child and left to continue celebrating the holiday with David and David’s father. A surveillance tape recorded the entire event and was aired on national television. Jeremy’s classmates recognized him, and he was arrested. Many people blame Jeremy’s parents for the incident even though the tape stunned them too. His parents were also unaware of the fact that he owned a collection of pornographic photos including those of young children. Jeremy’s mother was always at work and did not take time to participate in his life (Eftimiades et al. 65).
Violence among children is increasing dramatically. The number of murders committed by adolescents has notably risen from 1,000 to almost 4,000 over the last decade (Eftimiades et al. 63). The increase of violent children is proportional to the increase of single parent families. According to the Chancellor of the New York City school system, 12,000 of the 60,000 kindergartners are being raised by mothers in their teenage years, and forty percent of the children are being raised in single-parent homes (Fagan 61). Although the cause of each violent child is unique to the individual, there are several acknowledged risk factors that contribute to the increase of violence among children. The lack of parental presence, an unstable family unit, government intervention, and the absence of a father are contributing factors that trigger violence among children.
Children tend to become violent and behave improperly when they experience a lack of presence, communication and...