At Risk Youth

Violent crimes continued to be committed by teenagers — and at least one official is calling for harsher penalties for those who use guns in the commission of these offenses.

We’re seeing serious robberies committed by kids who really aren’t fully mature in the way they think but they’re carrying guns which makes them very dangerous …

[King County, WA Prosecutor Dan] Satterberg is focusing on research that shows juvenile brains are not yet fully developed. He cites studies that show adolescents must rely heavily on emotional centers of the brain when making decisions.[Source: KCPQ-TV (Seattle)]

Satterberg suggests that penalties for teens who use guns to commit violent crimes should be harsher, in the hopes that stiffer penalties would make kids think twice. Satterberg has lobbied for such changes to Washington state laws, but been told the change would cost too much money.

A study out of Ohio State University has found that women who have been abused by their boyfriends experience more health problems than women who were not abused.

“Compared to women not abused by their partners, victims had a six-fold increase in clinically identified substance abuse, more than a three-fold increase in receiving a depression diagnosis, and a more than three-fold increase in sexually transmitted diseases.” (Source: Archives of Internal Medicine)

Abdominal pain, chest pain, headaches, acid reflux, urinary tract infections and menstrual disorders were also significantly more common. Previous studies have linked abuse to increased health issues, but this was the first to use information from actual patient records, accessed with the patients’ permission.

Though many people mistakenly believe that domestic violence and other forms of relationship abuse are “adult problems,” research has indicated that many teenagers are abused and assaulted by  boyfriends, girlfriends and dating partners.

In the aftermath of a Florida mother’s murder — a death that police say came at the hands of the woman’s troubled teenage son — experts are emphasizing that parents should get treatment for children whose behavior is marked by aggression and violence. A June 15 article by Brian Liberatore of the Fort Myers News-Press included the following advice:

“The more aggressive, dangerous problems tend to be more observable,” said Julia Graber, associate professor of psychology at the University of Florida in Gainesville. “I think that notion that people just snap, that tends to just not be true.”

Signs of anti-social behavior can start at a very a young age, according to Omar Rieche, a Fort Myers child psychologist.

“A child will have aggressive tendencies including cruelty to animals, fire-setting, violating others’ rights and never having really a good development of a conscious or remorse,” Rieche said. “At some point the outcome can be tragic, as it is in this case.”

Though treatment for troubled teens is often necessary, getting their teens into treatment may be difficult for some parents, the News-Press article noted.

“Access to mental health is not easy,” Rieche told Liberatore. “It’s very hard to get [violent or aggressive teens] into treatment. The parent has to make that decision, and sometimes that may be difficult. They may be under a state of terror by the violence, aggression and intimidation of the teen.”