Who Created The Juvenile 'Superpredators'?
Summary
TLDRIn the 1990s, a wave of juvenile violent crime led to the term 'super predator' being used to describe remorseless young criminals. Criminologists like John DiIulio predicted a surge in youth violence, prompting lawmakers to enact harsher penalties for juvenile offenders. However, these predictions were incorrect, as crime rates began to decline. The 'super predator' narrative, once influential in shaping policy, was debunked, leading to a reevaluation of the criminal justice system's approach to youth offenders.
Takeaways
- 🔍 The 1990s were marked by a widespread fear of escalating youth violence, with the term 'super predator' being used to describe a new breed of remorseless juvenile criminals.
- 📈 Criminologists like John DiIulio predicted a significant rise in juvenile crime rates, leading to a moral panic and influencing lawmakers to enact tougher laws on juvenile offenders.
- 🔫 High-profile cases, such as the murder of 11-year-old Robert 'Yummy' Sandifer in Chicago, fueled public anxiety and media coverage, amplifying the perception of a youth crime wave.
- 🌐 The concept of 'super predators' was not limited to one region and became a national concern, affecting policy and public opinion across the United States.
- 📉 Contrary to predictions, juvenile crime rates did not increase as feared; instead, they began to decline, challenging the accuracy of earlier forecasts.
- 🏛️ The fear of 'super predators' led to policy changes, with almost 45 states enacting laws to crack down on juvenile offenders and treat them as adults in criminal courts.
- 📚 The term 'super predator' was popularized by academics and the media, but its origins can be traced back to an offhand comment by an inmate.
- 🔍 The role of race was highlighted in discussions about 'super predators,' with some suggesting that a significant proportion of these criminals would be young black males, which further complicated the issue.
- 🛑 The realization that the predictions about 'super predators' were incorrect led to a reevaluation of the policies and a call for more nuanced approaches to juvenile crime.
- 🏆 Some of the key figures who had warned about 'super predators,' like John DiIulio, later changed their views and advocated for changes in juvenile sentencing laws, contributing to a shift in the legal approach to youth crime.
Q & A
What was the term used to describe a new type of juvenile criminal that was believed to be on the rise in the 1990s?
-The term used was 'super predator,' which referred to young juvenile criminals who were seen as impulsive and remorseless, capable of committing violent crimes without a second thought.
What was the prediction made by some social scientists and criminologists regarding juvenile crime in the 1990s?
-They predicted a tidal wave of juvenile violent crime, with the worst yet to come, and the emergence of 'super predators' who would ravage the country.
What was the real-life incident that contributed to the fear of 'super predators'?
-The murder of an 11-year-old gang member nicknamed 'Yummy' in Chicago by two members of his own gang, Craig and Derek Hardaway, contributed significantly to the fear of 'super predators.'
Who were the two brothers involved in the murder of Robert Sandifer, also known as 'Yummy'?
-Craig Hardaway, who was 16 at the time, and his younger brother Derek Hardaway, who was 14, were involved in the murder.
What was the role of Derek Hardaway in the murder of Robert Sandifer?
-Derek Hardaway waited in the car while his brother Craig pulled the trigger, making him an accomplice in the murder.
What was the reaction of lawmakers to the perceived rise in juvenile crime and the 'super predator' phenomenon?
-Lawmakers cracked down on juvenile offenders, leading to the enactment of laws that made it easier to prosecute youth in adult criminal courts and increased penalties.
What was the term 'super predator' originally coined by?
-The term 'super predator' was originally coined by an inmate and later popularized by academics like John DiIulio, who used it to describe a new breed of violent juvenile offenders.
What was the actual trend in juvenile crime rates during the period when 'super predators' were believed to be on the rise?
-Contrary to the predictions, juvenile crime rates were already starting to decline, and by the late 1990s, they had significantly decreased.
What was the impact of the 'super predator' myth on the legal system and policies?
-The myth led to the overhaul of the legal system, with many states enacting laws that cracked down on juvenile offenders and increased penalties, which are still being re-evaluated and adjusted today.
How did John DiIulio's views evolve after the 'super predator' predictions turned out to be incorrect?
-John DiIulio lost faith in social science prediction and began to focus on religion and public affairs as a means to affect change, eventually working with White House administrations to implement faith-based initiatives.
What was the outcome of the Supreme Court case that John DiIulio and James Fox supported, which addressed the sentencing of juveniles?
-The Supreme Court ruled that mandatory life sentences for juveniles convicted of murder amounted to cruel and unusual punishment, effectively banning such sentences.
Outlines
🔍 The Rise of 'Super Predators' Theory
The first paragraph discusses the 1990s' perception of escalating youth violence, with incidents like a jogger's murder in New York Central Park and a child's death in Los Angeles. This led to a societal fear, termed 'super predators,' referring to remorseless juvenile criminals. Criminologists like John DiIulio warned of an impending surge in such crimes, influencing lawmakers to impose harsher penalties on juvenile offenders. However, these predictions were later debunked as flawed.
🌐 The Societal Impact and Policy Changes
The second paragraph delves into the societal and legal repercussions of the 'super predator' narrative. It highlights how the term, initially used by an inmate, was adopted by academics and the media, leading to a moral panic. This panic resulted in legislative changes across 45 states, targeting juvenile offenders more severely. Despite these measures, juvenile crime rates began to decline, contradicting the predictions. The narrative also had racial undertones, often focusing on minority youth, which further complicated the issue.
🔄 Reevaluation and Policy Reversal
The final paragraph reflects on the reevaluation of the 'super predator' theory and its impact on policy. It discusses how experts like John DiIulio, who initially propagated the theory, later acknowledged its inaccuracies and shifted their focus towards faith-based initiatives for community improvement. The paragraph also touches on the legal changes that followed, including a Supreme Court case that ruled mandatory life sentences for juveniles as unconstitutional. The narrative concludes with a cautionary note on the limitations of demographic and criminological predictions in shaping public policy.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Juvenile Violent Crime
💡Super Predators
💡Moral Panic
💡Criminologist
💡Youth Offenders
💡Robert Sandifer (Yummy)
💡Craig and Derek Hardaway
💡False Predictions
💡Legal System Overhaul
💡Mandatory Life Sentences
Highlights
The 1990s were marked by a perceived rise in youth violence, leading to the term 'super predators' being used to describe remorseless juvenile criminals.
The fear of super predators led to a moral panic and influenced lawmakers to enact stricter laws on juvenile offenders.
The prediction of a surge in youth violence was based on data that suggested a significant increase in teenage homicide rates.
The term 'super predator' was coined by political scientist John DiIulio, who later admitted that the predictions were incorrect.
The murder of 11-year-old Robert 'Yummy' Sandifer in Chicago became a symbol of the perceived juvenile crime wave.
Criminologist James Fox used strong language to warn of a potential 'bloodbath' of teenage violence, contributing to the public's fear.
The concept of super predators was criticized for its racial implications and for demonizing certain groups of youth.
Despite predictions, juvenile crime rates began to decline in the late 1990s, contradicting the super predator theory.
The decline in juvenile crime has been attributed to factors such as a stronger economy and better policing.
John DiIulio's research and predictions were off by a significant margin, leading him to reevaluate his approach to social science.
The super predator myth led to the implementation of laws and policies that are still being reassessed today.
DiIulio and other academics later supported legal changes to reduce the severity of sentences for juvenile offenders.
The case of Derrick Hardaway, who was sentenced for his role in Sandifer's murder, exemplifies the impact of the laws influenced by the super predator myth.
John DiIulio shifted his focus to faith-based initiatives as a means to affect positive change in communities.
The super predator episode serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of relying on flawed social science predictions in public policy.
Transcripts
a jogger murdered in New York Central
Park a little girl gunned down on her
family's car in Los Angeles a judge has
sentenced two boys for killing another
child who refused to steal candy for
them there's a tidal wave of juvenile
violent crime right over the horizon and
some who study it say the worst is yet
to come life in the 1990s was dominated
by a sense that youth violence was out
of control the future looked bleak to
explain why one word said it all super
predators some social scientists and
criminologists looked at the data and
saw doom they stepped out of their ivory
towers and into the public arena to
sound the alarm about a coming wave of
kids who are going to ravage the country
a super predator is a young juvenile
criminal who is so impulsive so
remorseless that he can kill rape Maine
without a giving a second thought
the prediction was terrifying and
lawmakers cracked down on juvenile
offenders this country went into a moral
panic over super predators but there was
one problem the calculations were wrong
they made it up
[Music]
along this stretch of grassy road one
night in early September 1994 when most
grade schoolers were getting ready for a
new school year a grisly murder took
place in Chicago the body of an 11 year
old gang member nicknamed yummy is found
beneath an underpass
police say Robert was murdered by two
members of his own gang 16 year old
Craig Hardaway and his younger brother
Derek Hardaway was 14 when he and his
brother drove to the underpass to kill
Robert Sandifer or yummy Sandefur
himself had shot and killed a teenage
girl before he was murdered
Derick waited in the car while Craig
pulled the trigger
I remember the night with these took
place he got a page from a guy named
Kenny I'm not actually sure what he said
to my brother but it was to kill Robert
Derek and his brother belonged to
Chicago's black disciples gang I've
always told to do certain things even if
I didn't want to do it it was either do
when I'm being told I'll have it done at
me
even in an era of violent teen killers
Roberts and AFER's murder was big news
the story scared people says
criminologist Barry Chris Berg this was
no longer a Chicago story this was a
story that no matter where you lived you
turned on the evening news and you would
hear about this case by now nearly all
of us know the story of Robert Sandefur
there was a sense that the country writ
large was going to hell in a handbasket
no one had a clear idea of what to do
political scientist John Dee Leo taught
at Princeton University and had done
extensive research in prisons studying
the criminal justice system from 1984 to
1994 when Sandefur was killed
teenage homicide rates had more than
doubled dealio looked at studies that
estimated that by 2000 there would be a
million more teens between the ages of
14 and 7
and he predicted crime rates would
snowball even more you'd have a doubling
or tripling in the rate of youth
violence in the in the time between the
mid 90s and up to through mid 2000s
perhaps most troubling to dealio was
what he saw as an indication that the
small percentage of kids who commit the
most violent crimes would be much more
destructive than the generation before
them studies found that essentially 6%
of every male youth cohort was
responsible for about 50% of all the
violent crimes committed by that cohort
that small fraction of people is going
to be able to wreak incredible havoc
delia wasn't the only one predicting a
surge in crime by the year 2005 we may
very well have a bloodbath of teenage
violence Northeastern University
criminologist James Fox says his choice
of words was deliberate
I did sound an alarm and I did use some
rather strong language in terms of what
might happen if we didn't react quickly
Fox and Elio felt compelled to call
attention to this perceived problem and
rhetoric proved the most powerful arrow
in their quiver dealio an Ivy League
academic from South Philadelphia wrote
this article for the Weekly Standard in
1995 the term super predator originated
from an inmate who said as almost a
throwaway line we said oh these kids
they're they're stone-cold predators and
like a match to a flame the word caught
on super predator predator predators
super predator linguist Ben Zimmer
studies language and culture when you
use a word like predator it is loaded
with certain assumptions about the way
that an animal hunts another animal it's
said to call someone a super predator
really amps that up even more we're
talking about a group of kids who are
growing up essentially fatherless
godless and jobless do you leo says that
he wasn't pointing to any particular
racial group as being the most
potentially violent but in 1996 he wrote
that as many as half of these juvenile
super predators could be
young black males race was the central
issue that as the number of minority
children principally african-american
but also Latino children that to the
extent that that number was increasing
in the society with them would come a
big crime increase what's required in
moral panic is the identification of a
particular group of people who are
demonized in some way when you describe
another group as godless you can do
anything to them lawmakers seize the
moment to spur on the overhaul of a
legal system they considered two lakhs
kids at once stole hubcaps now rape and
murder no fear of punishment experts
call them super predators there are no
violent offenses that are juvenile you
rape somebody you're an adult you shoot
somebody you're an adult virtually every
state almost 45 states enacted laws
cracking down on juvenile offenders
making it easier for prosecute youth in
adult criminal courts increased
penalties but at the same time the laws
were being enacted juvenile crime rates
were already starting to show a
surprising trend female crime rates have
been plummeting during this period of
time in the wake of this panic the drop
in juvenile crime has been attributed to
many things a stronger economy better
policing a decline in crack cocaine use
but dealios research had not foreseen
any of these trends we were at on the
precipice of being able to explain and
predict all kinds of things poverty
trends crime trends and so forth none of
that work
none of those predictions in any of
those fields have borne fruit by the
late 1990s after a steady decline in
juvenile crime do you Leo could see just
how mistaken he was this super predator
was a no-show the predictions were off
by a factor of four it had double that
was supposed to double again instead it
was halved
right and so that's about as far off as
you wanted to possibly get
the super-predator idea was wrong once
it was out there though it was out there
there was no real need in the experience
was a turning-point dealio increasingly
began to think about religion and public
affairs as the best way to affect change
I lost faith in social science
prediction at about the same time that I
gained faith of a traditional religious
con but Chris Berg says the problem
wasn't with social science but that
deullyeo not only misinterpreted the
data but what it meant there was a myth
and unfortunately it was a myth that
some academics jumped on to the fear
over the super-predator led to a
tremendous number of laws and policies
that were just now recovering from in a
public move dealio and Fox both signed a
friend of the court document in a 2012
Supreme Court case that would ban
mandatory life sentences for juveniles
convicted of murder
I signed the amicus brief I thought that
although the arguments were a bit
one-sided it came to the right
conclusion and so I signed it it's
because at the end of the day that's
what's going to matter most what did you
do and why did you do it and did it make
a positive difference do you Leo's side
prevailed automatic mandatory life
sentences the justices said amount to
cruel and unusual punishment Derick
Hardaway was sentenced to 45 years for
his role as an accomplice in the murder
of Robert Sandiford he will be up for
parole in 2016
I guess senses
being told you got to do more time in
prison than you actually live at that
time that's hard especially for a 16
year old herself
John do you Leo has worked with three
White House administrations to try to
implement faith-based initiatives in
needy communities but he says he's out
of the business of forecasting
demography is not fade and criminology
is not pure science in that lesson I
think this this episode from 20 years
ago and I think many many other things
in public policy mean that we should
carve that in stone and put it above
every every research institution and
every foundation
[Music]
you
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