Memphis Youth Violence Case Study

The city of Memphis has been plagued with violent crimes committed by minors for the past 10 years. Although criminal activity has been on the decline, criminal activity involving Memphis youth has steadily climbed since 2006. The national attention received by Memphis has increased due to popularity of social media sites such as Media Takeout, Facebook, and Bossip. The negative perception has affected Memphis’s ability to attract young professionals, families, tourist, and businesses. Of course, youth violence is directly associated with less educated, at-risk residents of lower income neighborhoods. Neighborhoods similar to South Memphis, TN where a small charter school’s athletic program has developed an avenue for young males to redirect

According to Freeman (1996), crime is an activity of individuals with low legitimate earnings prospects. Although associated with those at or below the national poverty rate, crime is an expensive act that is costly to both the individual and society. In the United States, more than 23 million criminal offenses were committed in 2007, resulting in approximately $15 billion in economic losses to the victims and $179 billion in government expenditures on police protection, judicial and legal activities, and corrections (U.S. Department of Justice, 2004a, 2007a, 2008). The cost of crime are normally divided into four components: victim cost, criminal justice system cost, crime career cost, and intangible cost. Seldom discussed or often forgotten is the alarming cost of crime indirectly affect the families of many offenders. For example, children with incarcerated fathers have a higher chance of growing up in poverty, are more likely to grow up without a father, and are often stigmatized, all of which can limit their future labor market opportunities in the legal sector and increase the likelihood that they, like their fathers before them, will engage in criminal activity (Wildeman 2009). Thus, creating a never-ending, vicious

The focus of the study included the academic and behavior reports, standardized test scores, and college acceptance rate of 10 upperclassmen on the Rugby team. The academic and behavior reports were provided by TeacherEase and Kickboard. Both sites are utilized school wide and record all data inserted by the instructors. I also constructed a short survey that provided the student-athlete an opportunity to communicate the qualitative benefits in regards to their personal behavior modification Rugby had provided them throughout there high school career. Due to the popularity of main stream athletics, the positive culture provided by them has been declining in the last decade. The increasing number of crimes committed by professional athletes, scandals committed by universities, and the falsified grades or standardized test scores of national ranked recruits have tarnished the image of traditional American sports such as baseball, basketball, and football. The inclusion of non-traditional sports in neighborhoods or schools with members of low socioeconomic status will counter the negative culture being created by reinforcing discipline, education, and citizenship as well as provide more opportunities for extra-curricular