What can prevent juvenile delinquency

 

What is Juvenile Delinquency?

Juvenile delinquency is the involvement of juveniles in illicit activities. A person's behaviour is described as 'delinquent' when he deviates from the typical flow of his social life. In other terms, a juvenile delinquent is someone whose activities are hazardous to society and to themselves. Running away from home, using improper or vulgar language, committing sexual offences, and other acts of delinquency are examples of delinquency.

Historical Background of Juvenile Justice System India

The Juvenile Justice Act of 1960 was in effect across the country prior to the Juvenile Justice Act of 1986, which was adopted by Parliament to offer care, protection, treatment, development, and rehabilitation to neglected or delinquent youngsters. As a result, the Juvenile Justice Act of 2000 was passed in India. Later, on December 30, 2000, the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 became the fundamental legislative foundation for juvenile justice in India.

The statute was revised again in 2006 and 2010. Following the Delhi gang rape (16th December 2012), this legislation was widely criticised for its ineffectiveness in combating crimes in which adolescents are involved in horrible crimes such as rape and murder yet are not prosecuted. Parliament enacted the Juvenile Justice Bill, 2014 in December 2015, and it became the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015. It went into effect on January 15, 2016. It came into force from 15th January 2016. Under the Act of 1986, Section 2(a) defined the term juvenile is a "boy who has not attained the age of 16 years and girl who has not attained the age of 18 years". Meanwhile, India signed and ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), which defined a person under the age of 18 as a juvenile.

Juvenile Delinquency:

Individual determinants

A person's delinquent conduct can be influenced by a number of things. A youngster with a low IQ who has not received adequate schooling is more prone to engage in delinquent behaviour. Impulsive behaviour, uncontrolled hostility, and an inability to defer satisfaction are all possible causes. Individual considerations include mental health aspects as well. An individual's mental condition has a significant impact on his social conduct. As a result, these elements may lead to a juvenile's engagement in hazardous, destructive, and unlawful actions. Continuing family feuds, neglect and abuse, or a lack of sufficient parental supervision are all examples of family factors. Children whose parents show a lack of regard for the country's laws and social standards may imbibe the same. Furthermore, the children with the poorest bonds to their family tend to be the same adolescents who engage in risky behaviour.

Factors that contribute to substance abuse

The majority of juvenile delinquent cases involve substance misuse. Adolescents currently use more potent drugs than they did ten years ago. Furthermore, many youngsters begin using drugs at an early age. Adolescents who use these drugs, whether illegal or legal, are more likely to commit crimes. Furthermore, a youngster under the influence of drugs or alcohol is more likely to participate in disruptive, dangerous, and unlawful behaviour.

Juvenile Delinquency Prevention

For such youngsters, prevention is essential. It is critical to first identify such kids and then provide them with the appropriate treatment. If they are not stopped from committing crimes in a timely manner, these teenagers will become chronic criminals. Furthermore, the most successful strategy to avoid juvenile delinquency has unquestionably been to help children and their families from the start. The state's initiatives aim for early intervention, allowing a variety of groups to approach the problem in a variety of ways. Various regulations for the prevention of juvenile delinquency have been proposed by a number of jurists and criminologists.

The following are some of the provisions that are extremely beneficial to the welfare, development, and growth of juveniles.

(i) Individual Programs- This entails delinquency prevention through counselling, psychotherapy, and appropriate education.

(ii) Environmental Programs is the use of measures to alter the socioeconomic environment that encourages delinquency.

(iii) Delinquency Prevention measures aimed at preventing kids from being involved in criminal or other negative activities are referred to as prevention. Various governments are seeing the value of dedicating resources to delinquency prevention. Substance addiction education, treatment, family counselling, youth mentorship, parental education, educational assistance, and youth sheltering are all examples of prevention programmes.

Juvenile delinquency usually follows a pattern similar to that of typical teenage development. In other words, rather of engaging in delinquent or criminal activity at random, children and teens tend to follow a route toward it. According to research, there are two categories of delinquents: those whose serious antisocial conduct begins in early infancy and those whose commencement occurs as they enter adolescence.

In any instance, these developmental trajectories provide opportunities for families, communities, and systems to intervene and avoid the start of antisocial behaviours and engagement with the criminal system.

A growing quantity of research is being undertaken within this preventative and early intervention paradigm to discover which of the many existing programmes are genuinely successful. According to current research, successful programmes are those that try to intervene as soon as feasible and focus on identified risk factors and adolescent behavioural development. The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Preventative supports the use of the following school and community prevention initiatives in general:

• Programs for classroom management and behaviour modification

• Classroom-based programmes with many components

• Curriculums for promoting social competency

• Curriculums on conflict mediation and violence prevention

• Programs to avoid bullying

• Programs for children after school

• Mentoring programmes

• Programs for school organisation

• Interventions in the community at large

Conclusion

One of the many ills in our society is the exploitation of children. Abuse like this has a long- term and significant impact on a child's life. Kid abuse is a major problem because it pushes the child to react or behave in ways that are damaging to both society and the child. The adolescent's delinquent conduct is a result of the emotional trauma he has experienced in his early years. Abuse can take many forms, including physical, sexual, psychological, or a mix of these, all of which have a harmful impact on these children.

To keep the problem of juvenile delinquency under control, it is critical to abolish this practise from society. It is in the deviant child's best interests to rehabilitate him as soon as possible and reintegrate him into society. The state has a responsibility to defend these children's rights and to provide reformative techniques to instil ideals in them that will help them socially elevate and gain confidence so that they may continue to play a positive part in society.

Note on Juvenile Justice Act, 2015

As the name of the Act on which this article is based suggests, the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 was created to ensure that not only children who have been victims of criminal activity are provided with a supportive, protective, and caring environment, but that those who have committed any crime, whether minor, serious, or heinous, are also afforded the same protection and also, to ensure that a developing new individual is not subjected to harsh sanctions that may have a negative impact not only on his life but also on his whole mental development toward society. However, the Juvenile Justice Act (hereafter referred to as the J.J.A.) has a clause known as the J.J.A. The Act has legitimately raised doubts about the Act's purpose, or why it was adopted in the first place. Section 15 of the Juvenile Justice Act of 2015 establishes the mechanism for Juvenile Justice Boards to perform a preliminary assessment in order to determine the maturity' level of minors in conflict with the law who are between the ages of 16 and 18.

If the Board determines, based on preliminary findings, that the child lacked the mental capacity to understand the consequences of the offence at the time it was committed, the matter should be resolved by the Board using the summons procedure outlined in the Cr.P.C. Maturity is a subjective scale of evaluation. Furthermore, various people's definitions of maturity may differ. Furthermore, as seen by the above-mentioned instance, India's criteria are insufficient to conduct effective maturity determination tests. Furthermore, children are those who have not yet reached the age of eighteen. Even despite such disclaimers and loopholes, the J.J. Act included the idea of preliminary evaluation. It is critical that we recognise that the Act was created for the 'protection and care of children,' as the name implies. Trying a kid as an adult, on the other hand, is not only demeaning to that youngster's psychology, but it also goes against the fundamental purpose of adopting this Law. It must be realised that there can be no partial justice. If the Act specifically states that children are those under the age of 18 and that all children are presumed to be innocent of any mala fide or criminal intent, there is no room for a preliminary evaluation and subsequent treatment of a kid "accordingly." The goal of the Act is to treat all children equally. It should be able to achieve the same level of success.

Steps involved in the preliminary inquiry under the Juvenile Justice (Care & Protection of Children) Act, 2015 :

The Board shall make a preliminary assessment in the case of a child aged 16 to 18 who is involved in a heinous crime. It is performed in order to assess the child's mental capacity and understanding of the consequences of the offence.

(i) A preliminary inquiry is not a trial.

(ii) For the purpose of conducting a preliminary assessment, the Board will interact with the child, his family members, and, if available, his counsel's submissions.

(iii) The child shall be referred to a psychologist, psychosocial workers, or other experts to determine his mental capacity to understand the consequences of the offence and the circumstances under which he committed it.

(iv) The Probation officer's report shall be called for.

(v) If the Board determines, based on preliminary findings, that the child lacked the mental capacity to understand the consequences of the offence at the time it was committed, the matter should be resolved by the Board using the summons

procedure outlined in the Cr.P.C.

(vi) If the Board determines that the child in conflict with the law must be treated as an adult, the child will be referred to the Children's Court. The order passed by the Board on preliminary assessment shall be taken by majority including the Principal Magistrate.

(vii) The police report of investigation, witness statements recorded by the Child Welfare Police Officer, medicolegal report, forensic report, and other documents prepared during the course of the investigation shall also be considered.

(viii) Medical reports, mental health reports, and an assessment of the child's cognitive maturity must all be considered.

(ix) Reasons must be stated for making an order requiring the aforementioned kid to stand trial as an adult before the Children's Court. The child will receive a free copy.

(x) The Board shall inform the child of his right to appeal against the order. Free copy of the order shall be provided to the child in conflict with law.

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