Why rehabilitate juvenile delinquents

Societies look at juvenile delinquents as those deserving punishment and not as ticking time bombs which should be defused at the earliest to minimise social cost. But that myopic attitude is incorrect and disastrous. Firstly, most juvenile delinquents, some as young as nine years, are themselves victims of horrific or unfortunate circumstances. Many are runaways from homes to escape torture or sexual abuse only to be caught by police and remanded into custody. Others are coerced into crime by older criminals or get caught doing petty thefts.

Some just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. Even the law recognises that children cannot be assigned the same sense of agency or consequentiality as adults and has different metrics for them. However, society does not make that distinction in terms of stigma and often is more cruel to juveniles than adults.

Secondly, most juvenile delinquents suffer from stress and severe mental illnesses. None of them have the mental maturity and many even the intellectual quotient to be held accountable for their actions like adults.

Representational image. Photo: iploeaders. Though, the Juvenile Justice, Rules of provide for the procedure to be followed for evaluating the age of an offender, it also allows a margin of 1 year as concession for those offenders whose age cannot be determined correctly.

Whereas, this provides an increased time period for an offender to be treated as a minor, it also affects the society and the morale of the victims seeking justice, adversely. The victims of the crimes are the most affected since neither can they hope for retribution nor can they repose their faith in the justice delivery system, nor can they believe that the offender has indeed reformed.

This is especially so in case the juveniles belong to the borderline cases. The children incarcerated during their formative years i. And if their trial is not completed before they cease to be minor,then how should they be treated, rather why should they be treated like children? Should they not be punished as adults?

The Juvenile Justice Board could determine whether such punishment was to be carried out continuously after the detention in the observation home or if it should be suspended to be revived upon the offender repeating the crime or upon subsequent violation of the law based on th seriousness of the offence. Another method could be to provide for punishing the borderline offenders who have committed heinous crimes, in the manner of adults, subject to release upon showing good conduct or for completion of the term.

The Juvenile Justice Act, provides for removal of any disqualification attached to a child from its records even in borderline cases and when the crime is heinous ,upon reaching adulthood.

For,borderline cases who cease to be children during the course of the trial it would be difficult to determine on what basis their should be an end to that record and why? That when the reform process could not be initiated how could they be presumed to be without any criminal record?

Atleast in instances where the crimes are henious their records should be maintained so that innocent persons of the society do not fall prey to any future criminal activities by these individuals. The Nirbhaya5 case has led to the address of the issue of whether a juvenile committing a heinous crime should be allowed to walk free or should be treated as an adult who has committed a crime?

The Juvenile Justice Bill of has been passed by the Rajya sabha seeking for punishing juvenile offenders between the ages of like adults. Dealing: Police and Courts are the two major components of the criminal justice system. Police have a more significant role to play in cases related to juveniles delinquents.

Even the statutory provisions provide for the active participation of police in cases concerning juveniles. For these juvenile police units with special training must be set up who will help in discovering delinquents and pre-delinquents. Treatment: Modification of delinquent behaviour is one of the basic purposes of correctional institutions. The Juvenile Justice Care and Protection for Children Act, gives special attention to the children who are in a situation of social maladjustment.

The Act provides for the constitution of the Board. The State Government has been authorized to constitute for a district or a group of districts one or more Juvenile Boards for exercising the powers and discharging the duties, conferred or imposed on such Boards in relation to Juveniles in conflict with the law under this act. The Board shall consist of a Metropolitan Magistrate or a Judicial Magistrate of the first class, as the case may be, and two social workers of whom at least one shall be a woman;.

Section 4, the Juvenile Justice Care and Protection of Children Act, that will hold the inquiry and may make such order as it deems fit. Section 14, the Juvenile Justice Care and Protection of Children Act, The juveniles may be kept in observation homes Section 8, the Juvenile Justice Care and Protection of Children Act, where the juvenile is provided accommodation, maintenance, and facilities for medical examination and treatment apart from informal education and moral teaching.

State Governments have been empowered to establish and maintain special homes Section 9, the Juvenile Justice Care and Protection of Children Act, in every district for the reception and rehabilitation of juvenile in conflict with the law. In case of the child in need of care and protection, the State Governments have been empowered to constitute a Child Welfare Committees Section 29, the Juvenile Justice Care and Protection of Children Act, for every district.

The Committee shall have the final authority to dispose of cases for the care, protection, treatment, development, and rehabilitation of the children as well as to provide for their basic needs and protection of human rights. Rehabilitation and Reintegration: Social reintegration of children shall be carried out alternatively by adoption, foster care, sponsorship, and sending the child to an after-care organization Section 40, the Juvenile Justice Care and Protection of Children Act, The foster care may be used for temporary placement of those infants who are ultimately to be given for adoption.

After-care organisations Section 44, the Juvenile Justice Care and Protection of Children Act, are set up for the purpose of taking care of juveniles or the children after they leave special homes, children homes and for the purpose of enabling them to lead an honest, industrious and useful life.

The government and non-governmental organisations work together for the rehab of the juvenile. The core concern of the correctional law for juveniles shifted from punishing for the alleged crime to make him grievous of his actions and rehabilitating the juvenile. International conventions and social activists demand child-centric activities and due diligence on the case proceedings involving juveniles.

Except for heinous crimes such as rape and murder, the child is treated leniently and inquired away from the normal courts and conducted in specifically constituted the Juvenile Justice Board. The law and statutes are continuously updated and upgraded with the major concern towards the welfare of the child in conflict with the law.

Though the evolution of juvenile laws going towards the welfare model, social activists still feels yet more to be done in that field. They argue that importance should be given to social upliftment and removing disparity in resource availability for child development, free education, equal footing in opportunities and so on. We can understand the primary motto of the juvenile justice care and protection act is to reform and not simply to punish the child in conflict with the law.

Mere punishing may lead to make the juvenile delinquent a serial offender and a danger to society. To avoid this scenario with the help of the non-governmental organisations and not for profit social workers and voluntary service people the state nodal agencies run child care homes, aftercare organisations, foster homes etc. Though the laws, rules, regulations and guidelines exist in the paper the actual implementation at ground level lacks proper execution.

State governments should allocate more funds to meet up the expenses of child welfare programs and follow up and monitor the activities of NGOs through trained officials. More Juvenile Justice Boards should be set up for each taluk and district and proportionately enough homes also should be established by the government. A true society wants to get rid of crimes should start the reformation from within. This starts with the rehabilitation of the estranged young minds back to the path of righteousness.

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There is one major psychological theory — Social Learning Theory, which seeks to explain the causes of a particular behavior. Followers of this theory see crime as a deliberate response to a particular life event. The most famous representative of this theory A. Bandura believed that people are not born with innate actions, and that violence and aggression can be learned by modeling the behavior of othersMost times, the causes of the crime indeed can be linked to this theory.

Especially in cases of minors. Issues associated with family can be one of the risk factors. These issues can be economic, social, etc. In Georgia, with the increasing number of immigrants rises the number of minors left without a parent. For grandparents or other caregivers, sometimes it is challenging to pay attention and supervise these children so they do not end up in an unfavorable environment.

The causes of committing a crime can be domestic violence, parental indifference and their bad habits, etc. Often, potential perpetrators are the victims of violence. Individuals may confront violence in a variety of social settings: in family, school, etc. A human being goes through several stages of social development, among which childhood and adolescence are important. Values, patterns of behavior, and motives are forming in childhood age.

Further, in adolescence, people try to define their own identity, try to establish themselves, and often the influence of parents is replaced by the influence of peers and friends. Hence, the reason for juvenile delinquency can become imitation. They can follow the example of:.