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CHAPTER III
METHOD OF RESEARCH
3.1 Data
The source of the data of this thesis are from The Last Song novel. The writer reads some books which are relevant to the topic as guidance and references, which will
be discussed later. The writer also browses data from the internet to get much more information.
3.2 Collecting Data Technique
After reading the novel and the books that are relevant to the topic, the writer selects some data which describe the juvenile delinquency from the characters say and
do, then the data are interpreted and put in the form of quotations.
3.3 Analysis Data Method
In analyzing the topic, the writer uses descriptive qualitative method. According to Taylor and Bodgan 1989:3 say, “Research is a research process that
produces descriptive data in the form of words written or spoken from the people and observed behavior.” This method is used to outline and describe the symptoms found in
the research object. Based on the method that have been choosen, then the results of this study will be a qualitative descriptive, it means that the data only obtained in the words
form not as numbers. So that, this analysis uses descriptive method in qualitative technique with extrinsic approach.
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3.4 The Scheme of the Analysis
Finding supported theories:
Deciding the Problems of the Analysis
Data Source: The Last Song
Conclusion
Method: Qualitative
Data: Characters and Quotations
from the text of the novel
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CHAPTER VI
ANALYSIS AND FINDING
4.1.Drugs use.
Juvenile drugs use is considered a major problem by manyexperts.Alcohol and cigarettes remain popular drugs among youth. Drug use among youth is primarily a
social kindof behavior.According to Dembo 1998:33 “Young people use alcohol and drugs for a variety of reasons, including as a reaction to disturbed backgrounds and the
influence of peers and societal attitudes.”Most often, youth are influenced by their peers in decisions touse drugs and in the kinds of drugs used. Of course, other factors play a
rolein juvenile drug use, such as parental attitudes and behavior patterns, butpeer groups remain the single most important influence on juvenile drug use.
Drugs, alcohol, and smoking will give bad effects to the body and they can make the consumers addicted to them, then cause diseases. If the juveniles are
accustomed to consume those kinds of thing, it can be ascertained what will happen later, their future will be destroyed.
Many people who have taken drugs say they saw it as a solution to a problem or barrier. But they ended up broken, failed and in deeper problems. Every person has
problems or challenges in life. No one is perfect. Problems are part of life, and using drugs to solve a temporal problem is like creating a bigger problem to solve a little one.
In The Last Song novel. Ronnie as the main character is a teen who anti with those things, but different from her friends.
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She has friends who like smoking, drinking till they get drunk, and also consuming drugs, as quoted below:
“She wasn’t naive about drugs. Some of her friends smoke pot, a few did cocaine or ecstasy, and one even had a nasty meth habit.
Everyone but her drank on the weekends. Every club and party she went to offered easy access to all of it.”Sparks 2010:35
People who get into drugs get it from a friends friend, who also got it from his friends friend… and so on. At the end of this long line of friends is a dealer who is
making money out of destroying young people futures. It is very bad. Drug use come in many forms. People who consume drugs, chemicals or
substances by swallowing, injecting, applying to skin, or any other way to enhance their looks, mood, performance, or influence their thinking is committing an act of drug
abuse, because inevitably, it will have some very bad results sooner or later. Each day more than two thousand youths try cigarettes for the first time. Some
teens think smoking looks sexy or cool; others hope cigarettes will help them lose weight or make them seem independent. Girl teens usually smoke because of that
reason. In this novel, Ronnie has a girl friend named Blaze. She usually smokes. ”Surprising her, Blaze was learning against the side of the booth, smoking a
cigarette.”Sparks 2010:39. Having parents who smoke is also likely to influence a teen’s decisionin favor of
smoking. With their busy schedules, many teens todaysuffer from similar stresses and anxieties as adults. Many turnto cigarettes for the same reason adults do; nicotine has
the samecalming effect on teen smokers as it does on adults. Cigarette advertising also encourages teens to smoke.
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The best treatmentstrategy thatis effective to the juveniles who smoke, drink alcohol, and consume drugs is the drug court, which combines treatment and
punishment ingraded steps or phases
4.2Theft
Juvenile theft is a common of delinquent behavior that most children participate in at least once. For the majority of juveniles, the theft is merely an isolated
incident. For a smaller population of juveniles, theft is a part of ‘fitting in’. Theft is a central part of a developing criminal lifestyle, and may continue to steal or commit
other illegal activities as adults. Many of these delinquents will end up in jail or prison. Juvenile theft is usually an early indicator of other problems. It is a symbolic
way by which some juveniles display their unhappiness. Most of children know theft is wrong. But they commit this wrong act because it is a way openly expressing their
confusion. They do not yet have the maturity to handle these problems in less impulsive and healtier ways.
Theft is one of the first delinquent acts juveniles commit. Young children tend to begin stealing at or near home by taking objects or money from family members,
friends, neighbors or local stores. Theft also is larceny in such cases; stealing an item or property without force, violence, or fraud, shoplifting, and pocket picking.
According to Rhodes 2005:7 “Juvenile shoplifting is the theft of merchandise from stores during regular operating hours by individuals under age 18. Juvenile
shoplifting is the most common form of juvenile theft.” In this novel, the main character, Veronica “Ronnie” Miller shoplifted something. I used to shoplift,” she said,
subdued. “A lot. Nothing big, just more for the thrill of doing it.” Sparks 2010:85. Parents always want to understand why kids steal. But most juveniles cant explain
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themselves. In this novel, Ronnie did it not because she needed the thing, she even didn’t know why she did it. She just wanted to seek the thrill.The mood-enhancing
effects of shoplifting are part of the appeal. The adrenaline of swiping an item coupled with the relief of getting away with it can make for an addictive high. But, Ronnie’s
male friends stole money because they need money to buy some drugs, alcohol and cigarettes, as quoted below:
“Nowadays, they were the ones who stole the booze, the ones who beat the bald guy unconscious at the airport before taking
his wallet, the ones who painted the swastikas on the synagogue.” Sparks 2010:48
Ronnie had been caught because of her shoplifting. And it happened twice. But she confessed that the second one was an accident. Kim, Ronnie’s mother did not
believe in her. She thought that her daughter was getting used to shoplift, as quoted below:
“It’s not the first time, which is the problem,” she confessed. “She admitted to stealing the bracelet last year, but this time, she
said she was buying bunch of stuff at the drugstore and couldn’t hold it all, so she tucked the lipstick in her pocket. She paid for
everything else, and when you see the video, it seems to be an honest mistake, but...”Sparks 2010:24
In most places there are heavy penalties for it, including being arrested and possibly charged with a crime.The sooner a teen is caught for shoplifting, the sooner the
teen’s behavior can be corrected before it becomes a habitual plunder down a winding path to nowhere.Because of her shoplifting, Ronnie went to court and the judge charged
her for a year and if she do not get in trouble again, the charges will be dismissed, as quoted below:
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“If she doesn’t get into any more trouble it’ll be expunged from her record. If she does it again, though...” She trailed off.”
Sparks 2010:24
Getting caught shoplifting can be a lot more serious than people may think. Some of the things that can happen to shoplifters, such as: they may be arrested and
paraded through a store in handcuffs, they may face charges for theft, they may be banned from stores or malls, and people who have been arrested for shoplifting —
especially if its more than once — may end up with a criminal record. This can make it harder to get a job, get into college, or do the other things they want.
Juveniles who continue to steal, and who do not receive help in resolving their problems, can develop a negative pattern of behavior that may grow worse and result in
more frequent and more serious delinquent acts. Parents need to be aware of their teen. Teaching children the value of honesty can be a great lesson learned as they grow
throughout their life. When faced with the pressures to shoplift, they can remember their childhood experiences and would in turn refrain from stealing
4.3Violence
Juvenile violence refers to harmful behaviors that can start early and continue into young adulthood. The young person can be a victim, an offender, or a witness to
the violence. According to Dahlberg and Krug 2002:191“Interpersonal violence is defined as the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against
another person or against a group or community that results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, maldevelopment, or deprivation.”
Often people who act violently have trouble controlling their feelings. They may have been hurt by others. Some think that making people fear them through
violence or threats of violence will solve their problems or earn them respect. This isnt
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true. Some violence occurs as a response to prolonged hurt, trauma, bullying or victimization. People may use violence to get something, while others may act out of
self-protection or desperation. In this novel, juveniles that often involve in a violence are boys. For example
Will and Marcus, they often involve in fights; they hit each other until they bleed, as quoted below:
“Will and Marcus were struggling on the ground before Marcus was finally able to extricate himself. Instead of continuing to
fight.” Sparks 2010:315
Marcus is a bad character in this novel. He always does something that can make bad effects to other people. He ever burned a church and hurted many people because of
his act. But he did not feel guilty, even he did not care with them, he was only scared if he caught by the police and put in the prison, as quoted below:
“The buildings he’d burned and the people he’d hurt meant absolutely nothing to him, but the thought of prison made him...
sick.” Sparks 2010:326
Not only the chruch that he had burned, he also ever set a fire on a boat and just watched it burned by the fire, as quoted below:
“Three days later, Marcus set the boat on fire and watched it burn from behind the magnolia tree on the sixteenth green.”
Sparks 2010:48
Decisions about whether to get involved were based on what youngpeople thought was right or wrong; and whether they felt the benefits tothemselves outweighed
the risks. These decisions were influenced by all theabove factors. The range of factors
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identified affected decisions in differentways for different people: someone who initially saw the actions as justifiable, could end up deciding the personal risk was too
great to get involved;someone who was initially unsure about taking part could end up decidingthe chance of getting caught was minimal and so get involved.
4.4 Broken family
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