major factors in why our children today are turning to criminal activity. Without these two components, parental control as well as the value system of the family begins to deteriorate. In a military environment the concept of discipline and fear of authority is a key component to dealing with teens or even adults who willing join the military. However, the scared straight method of dealing with troubled teens may not be the best way. This method would only serve to deter the delinquency for the time being and not serve as an appropriate punishment, which at this point brings me to my final topic in pro's and con's in juvenile justice. My perceived delinquency as a teenager, what was the driving force behind my antagonistic behavior, and why society viewed it as such. What led me to this and ultimately what I learned from my own observation of social and societal norms. Calhoun, and others state, "Sociologists define deviance as any behavior that members of a social group define as violating their norms. This concept applies both to criminal acts of deviance and non-criminal acts that members of a group view as unethical, immoral, peculiar, sick, or otherwise outside the bounds of respectability." (Calhoun, 168)

Recently I have been thinking about my childhood, how I was raised, what my family structure was and what impact it may have had on who and what I am today. For continuity I will start at the beginning. I was born in La Jolla, California, on July 23, 1970 to a middle class working family. My father, though an honest and decent man, was considered to be from the wrong side of the tracks. He came from an alcoholic home and a horribly abusive mother (verbally and emotionally). My mother on the other hand was from an upscale, wealthy family who never wanted for anything, except perhaps love and attention. She also came from an alcoholic family as well as an emotionally abusive one. However, hers is what I call the classic 1950's martini time. Though they held respect for their families, there was no real love or compassion. So this brings me to my story. (Let me add my parents have been married for 34 years) My mother once wrote me a letter when I was about 15 in which she stated that she and my father never knew what true love was until the day I was born. At that time they knew raising me would not fall into the life they each had endured growing up. I was not going to have an absentee father or an abusive mother. I did, and still have the most supportive and loving family anyone could ask for. Of course I didn't realize it as a teenager. At around age 14 I began my trek into what I would call my own personal hell. It started with wanting something different. I lived in a very secluded mountain community, population 250, went to a school with a total of 22 kids, kindergarten through 8th grade. I had been wondering around the mountain as a tomboy for 5 years and felt that at 14 I needed to break away from the stale lifestyle. I had a good friend who was from 'the city' who was into dressing what we termed as punk in the mid 80's. At first I dyed my hair purple and began wearing what was considered outrageous then, but rather modest by today's standards. I got to get a new "Punk" hair do and my parents were "ok" with this. It wasn't until I began turning away from my friends and started hanging out with the wrong kids. Contrary to what some parents may say the "punks" were not the ones who I got into trouble with. It was a whole new crowd. In fact they tried to help me and I was too wrapped up in what I wanted to do to take heed. Initially I began smoking cigarettes, and then began drinking occasionally. Once I started high school things started to go from bad to worse. My school was an hour and a half bus ride one way. It wasn't a city but rather a rural area with a very large drug problem. At first I began skipping classes, then whole days of school and it ended up with me getting kicked o

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 3089
Approximate Pages = 12 (250 words per page double spaced)