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Introduction
Many Surveys and research provide information about the prevalence of substance use in the Victoria community. Examples of these sources include the national drug strategy household surveys, which report the use of cannabis and other illegal drugs (Livingston et al., 2020). Drug offenses are contained in the Drug act of 1981, which stipulates substances that individuals cannot possess under any situation and dependence on drugs (Susan & Georgina, 2018). The legislation provides various penalties for quantities of drugs involved while it is also an offense to engage in drug-related crimes in Victoria. This essay argues that strain theory can explain youth drug problems such as poor backgrounds; the paper focuses on evaluating the criminological model and supporting its limitations with retreatism and labeling models for in-depth insights.
The Problem and Background
Young people are persistently substance users and often experience an array of crime-related issues. The problem of drug use by youth is a significate issue in the Victoria community, as shall be discussed in this paragraph drawing support from media reports, statistics, and case studies. Getting into a conflict with illegal drugs under the age limit is why young people face legal conflicts in Victoria. Offenses involved include public intoxication, and purchasing or selling drugs which is against the law. Reports show that the proportion of young offenders with a high number of incidents has risen, and about 17% of victims are under 25 (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2019; Sallybanks, 2021). The cause and effects of young person offending and the state of Victoria’s youth justice system have become a subject of broad debate after a series of violent cases in justice centers.
The nature of youth offenders and offending places pressure on society, especially in the justice system. Victoria has long been considered a leader in youth justice, with minimal cases of young people crimes or serving custodial sentences than Australian jurisdiction (Antolak-Saper, 2020). Evidence points that few youths have offending every year. However, a small but increasing cohort of young people engages in drug-related behaviors such as violence despite the positive developments (Antolak-Saper, 2020). Youth justice is deemed a complex issue that entails crucial areas of public policy, including the community safety and human rights of young individuals (Hettiarachchi et al., 2018). Typically, youth justice is different from mainstream or criminal justice due to exceptional circumstances and offending content. The cause and effect of youth offenses in Victoria have become a subject of debate widespread after a violent incident witnessed in the justice center.
Although diversion is crucial in lowering re-offending by youths, access to diversion is limited somehow in the community, especially for young adults in rural regions of Victoria. The unprecedented number of youths in remand creates significant challenges in managing centers and making the rehabilitation process complicated for young ones. Studies by the Victorian Ombudsman and the Commissioner for Children and Young people have revealed concerns about youth justice systems and treatments of young persons held therein (Phelan, 2019). Investigation shows that youths have been subjected to conditions that breach rights as provided by the charter of human rights and responsibility 2006 (Antolak-Saper, 2020). Further analysis of issues facing young people in Victoria shows that the problems are not unique. For example, the overrepresentation of indigenous people in the youth justice system reflects a multilayer of disadvantages and marginalization of some groups (Antolak-Saper, 2020). Some theories such as strain and labeling can point to this issue as a leading factor of drug use due to discrimination, prejudice, neglect, and lack of supportive resources for minority groups.
Evaluation of Strain Theory
The strain theory is a sociological and criminology model that can help understand why youth drug offense such as drug dealing occurs. The model asserts that some pressures or stressors induce the likelihood of committing a crime, and they can lead to negative emotions such as anger or frustrations. Consequently, emotions create pressure for some actions, and committing a crime is a potential response. For example, Youths in Victoria engage in drug dealing due to social factors such as lack of income and education or poor backgrounds. Studies from Melbourne’s services point out that about 43% of homeless populations show drug-related problems, including alcoholism (Antolak-Saper, 2020). Applying strain theory, such a problem with parents can lead young people to suffer negative consequences by observing parents’ drug problems.
The core of strain theory is that negative emotions or relationships with people and experiences produce pressure that must be managed. Instead of one general strain in a person, the model reveals that there could be several major sources of tension that lead someone into unhealthy actions (Phelan, 2019). For example, failure to meet valued goals and disjunction between actual outcomes and expectations can be frustrating. The removal of positively valued stimuli that a person possesses, such as the death of a loved one, could escalate stress build-up (Phelan, 2019). Another inferred source of strain is a presentation with negatively valued stimuli such as abuse. The most perceived behavioral solutions are retaliatory and escapist, such as involvement in drugs to alleviate displeasure from bad negative feelings.
Furthermore, people’s behaviors can significantly be influenced by the upbringing process. According to Pedalono and Frailing (2018), human development is shaped by what individuals encounter or experience in the environment, and perhaps the most crucial lessons are learned from families. Examples of other systems that shape people include childcare, legal, and education. Such factors are contributing to shaping behaviors from the influence they cause through their presence in the community. In Melbourne, youths who do not have better access to education systems are vulnerable to drug problems such as dealing, using, or trafficking (Rickwood et al., 2019). The strain model explains why such behaviors are occurring, resulting in criminal offenses.
Hidden social factors from the upbringings process guide people’s actions and decision-making. Social psychology explains how people use social movements as sources of details, cues, and direction on how to behave. In this perspective, studies point out that behaviors are products of situations and personalities. In situationism, people’s actions are governed by the immediate environment or surroundings, unlike the notion of disposition which asserts that internal factors determine behaviors (Phelan,2019). As directed by strain theory, external forces include social support, which lacks in the Victoria community to support young people indulging in offense and unhealthy practices. Moreover, the social situation model provides an overview of how to consider how economic disadvantage affects family functioning and children’s development.
Economic factors influence families and impose strains, such that lack of finance creates a burden to parents in raising children in the desired way. Some studies have pointed out that children whose families are lifted out of poverty show conduct problems. Research describes the primary models for visioning how economic factors influence families (Couch, 2017). For instance, the family stress and interactionist models are key frameworks to understand how behaviors are constructed. Due to financial pressure, adults can become depressed, sullen, and angry with one another, with increasing conflicts that often result in harsh inconsistent parenting or total withdrawal (Couch, 2017). For adolescents, such implies an increase in risky actions and fewer developments in competencies that can protect them from posed risks.
Therefore, strain theory is relevant in supporting that youths’ drug dealing is due to external forces that individuals encounter when growing up in environments such as the Victoria community. Criminal acts are engaged to lower or escape from strains and seek vengeance against pressure sources or other related targets. The overall aim of dealing drugs, according to strain theory, is to alleviate negative emotions (Peck et al., 2018; Teijón-Alcalá & Birkbeck, 2019). For instance, this model explains why teenagers who are raised by alcoholic or drug addict parents on the streets indulge in drug dealing to counter the emotional suffering of parent issues. Also, unemployment can make them engage in illegal activities to earn a living or consume drugs to feel better.
In the same case as other theories, the strain model draws significant criticism concerning its limitations in explaining a wide range of factors attributing to specific behaviors. Too much emphasis on this theory is placed on details of overrepresentations of minority groups (Pedalono & Frailing, 2018). Therefore, this asserts that individuals involved in drug offenses are those from lower classes or minority groups. On the contrary, that may not be the case since, according to other frameworks such as retreatism, young people’s behaviors can emanate from rebellion and conformity (Pedalono & Frailing, 2018). Typically, young people prefer to be recognized and accepted in social groups during the adolescent stage of development. In the process, they might engage in practices that other people do to acquire a similar identity or status.
Strain theory assumes that people will commit crimes because of strain and focuses on the external aspects of youth drug problems. On the other hand, the retreatism model tends to expand on the latter’s limitation by pointing out individual problems. A significant issue in the Melbourne community in Victoria is homelessness which determines youth drug offenses. From studies, more than 5000 young Victorians spend nights without the comfort of the safety of their own home, according to national census reports (Couch, 2017). Homelessness in Melbourne takes various forms such as primary, secondary or tertiary, and causes of this include abuse, family violence, unemployment, drug, and alcohol abuse (Phelan, 2019). The Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that the 2016 census data confirms many young people aged 12 to 25 without safe places (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2018). The youth homelessness crisis connects with the problem of drug offenses through self-imposed behaviors as comforts.
The Retreatism model entails giving up on goals and the means to acquire them. People often drop out of society and adapt to new cultural norms or values. Retreats can turn into deviant behaviors to pursue widely accepted social goals. For instance, in Victoria or Melbourne community, people who sell illegal drugs have rejected the culturally acceptable means of earning (Pedalono & Frailing, 2018). In the situation where young people are unable to complete education and reach aspired goals, they try other means for upkeep. While they could still be attending school and studying, they may have little hope of being academic achievers. Consequently, they define other means to make social changes and get into the protest scene.
Concerning the issue of homelessness, a person without a home is a definitive example of retreatism. For instance, when individuals lack the institutional means to live their goals and get jobs to sustain themselves, they become inclined to try other means to attain the desired dreams (MacNeill et al., 2020). For example, impulsivity in youth in Melbourne is a fundamental personality trait that is identified as a risk factor for substance use. Addicted teens assign a low value to delayed rewards than immediate ones. Consequently, excessive preference for quick rewards despite the associated impacts, such as conflicts with law enforcement, leads to addiction behavior. According to (Antolak-Saper, 2020), the vast majority of young offenders in the Victoria criminal justice system show a high record of drug abuse ushering in an addiction problem. Thus, retreatism explains how drug offense occurs due to individual imposed behaviors of addiction than external influences such as the environment.
The limitation of strain theory in explaining youths’ criminological issues in Victoria is the lack of focus on how community members perceive drug users. The labeling concept informs how individuals view criminals in society and can attribute behavior change through self-conception. Viewing youths in Melbourne as criminals and not people in need of help from drug problems subject them to substance reliance to counter prejudice, stigma, and rejection. In drug dealing, offenses such as using illegal substances and violent behaviors occur, causing a conflict with the law.
In the era of social control, labeling troubles young people in response to the stigma of criminalized identities. One consequence of the social process of stigma is diminished chances of self-development (Teijón-Alcalá & Birkbeck, 2019). Low self-esteem and limited growth opportunities are likely to be strain factors that turn youths into drugs and crime. The association between labels and stereotyping is documented, as impacts of labeling are noted on emotional reactions. Stigmatized people detect emotions of anger, sympathy, fear, and anxiety. The emotional responses can subsequently shape behaviors (Teijón-Alcalá & Birkbeck, 2019). Labeling theory is a popular model as it has reached several people and is widely recognized as an explanation for deviant and criminal practices. The model implies a policy of non-intervention in communities such as Victoria and Melbourne. Instead of perceiving youths as deviant and drug addicts, resources should be availed to support their development. Labeling calls into question activities or the existence of youth welfare, probation administration, and policing.
The element of labeling is a social construct of deviance and crimes. According to Riveret et al. (2018), how individuals view themselves is socially constructed and can shape young people’s conduct in the wrong or upright way. Embarking on supportive approaches such as programs to support youths from drug dealing problems is an effective approach to counter labeling and criminal offenses. For example, Melbourne and rural Victoria provide drug outreach supports tailored to residential and home-based withdrawals (Shirley, 2017). Such intervention could help Victoria counter the rising issues of teenage offenders. Also, ex-offenders can be helped to secure living-wage employment. Securing well-paying work can aid prisoners released from jails to remain crime-free once they go back to their societies.
In response to youth drug offenses in Victoria, several measures have been considered counteractive approaches. Some proponents of specific actions claim that teens breaking the law by engaging in risky behaviors can be forced into mandatory residential drug treatments by children’s courts. Tough but compassionate plans need to be formulated, including sending young people to compulsory rehabilitation centers. Most young offenders in Victoria’s criminal justice system have a history of drug use, and most teens report to have been under the influence when engaging in unlawful practices (Susan & Georgina, 2018). Thus, there is a significant need to cut the cause of deviance, rebellion, and crimes by addressing the drug problem. The Australian first plan is based on the courts’ approach to issuing therapeutic orders to young people (Susan & Georgina, 2018). Parents need to be involved in the plan as support instruments and education are provided as part of the programs.
Preferably, the main focus should be addressing systems and components that lead young people to drug abuse and crimes. Theories can be adopted to direct potential factors that turn youths into illegal and unhealthy practices (Susan & Georgina, 2018). For example, employing strain and labeling theory will reinforce the notion of establishing supportive programs in the community to help victims and the general population of young persons at risk. The community focus in Victoria and Melbourne needs to target harm reduction and supply through seizing drugs, and arresting and prosecuting dealers (Susan & Georgina, 2018). The government must maintain a contemporary approach reflecting the complex nature of the drug issue in society. Traditional methods of drug policing have been grounded in enforcement activity, but research points to the emergence of new perspectives on the problem.
In conclusion, this paper has argued that strain theory helps understand Victoria’s criminological problem but has limitations in coverage since it focuses on environmental factors. The retreatism model explores the issue of youth drug offenses by positing that individuals are the reason they take drugs and subject themselves to law enforcement due to personality traits and stresses. Furthermore, the labeling concept expands knowledge of youth drug offenses by asserting that the community’s perception of drug users compels them to negative behaviors due to rejection, stigma, or prejudice.
References
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Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2018). Census of Population and Housing: Estimating Homelessness. Australian Bureau of Statistics. Web.
Couch, J. (2017). Neither here nor there’: refugee young people and homelessness in Australia.Children and Youth Services Review, 74(C), 1-7. Web.
Hettiarachchi, L. V., Kinner, S. A., Tibble, H., & Borschmann, R. (2018). Self-harm among young people detained in the youth justice system in Sri Lanka.International journal of environmental research and public health, 15(2), 209-219. Web.
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MacNeill, T., O’Connor, C., Frederick, T., & James-Charles, E. (2021). From strain theory to the capacity to aspire: A contribution to the cultural political economy of development.Community Development, 1-19. Web.
Peck, J. H., Childs, K. K., Jennings, W. G., & Brady, C. M. (2018). General strain theory, depression, and substance use: Results from a nationally representative, longitudinal sample of White, African-American, and Hispanic adolescents and young adults.Journal of Child & Adolescent Substance Abuse, 27(1), 11-28. Web.
Pedalono, J., & Frailing, K. (2018). General Strain Theory and Prescription Drug Misuse among Honors Students.Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council, 19(1), 85-103. Web.
Phelan, M. (2019). Crime & justice research 2019. Australian Institute of Criminology. Web.
Rickwood, D., Paraskakis, M., Quin, D., Hobbs, N., Ryall, V., Trethowan, J., & McGorry, P. (2019). Australia’s innovation in youth mental health care: the headspace Centre model.Early Intervention in Psychiatry, 13(1), 159-166. Web.
Riveret, R., Baroni, P., Gao, Y., Governatori, G., Rotolo, A., & Sartor, G. (2018). A labelling framework for probabilistic argumentation.Annals of mathematics and artificial intelligence, 83(1), 21-71. Web.
Sallybanks, J. (2021). What works in reducing young people’s involvement in crime? Australian Institute of Criminology. Web.
Shirley, K. (2017). The Cautious Approach: Police cautions and the impact on youth reoffending.Crime Statistics Agency, 9, 1-23. Web.
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Teijón-Alcalá, M., & Birkbeck, C. (2019). Victimization, crime propensity, and deviance: a multinational test of general strain theory.Journal of contemporary criminal justice, 35(4), 410-430. Web.
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