Juvenile Crime around the World - Essay Example

Juvenile crime around the world Juvenile crime, also known as juvenile delinquency, youth crime, juvenile offence is illegal actions by minors that are those who are typically under the age of eighteen. They would be acted upon had they been adults, but the laws for juvenile crime are different. They can be tried in court as adults however, but this depends solely on the crime that they have committed. Different legal systems have different ways of dealing with this crime, but mostly they rely on court action or detention centers for the delinquents. There is an aspect called ‘first arrest’ in which the delinquent is arrested but may not necessarily be tried in court. And over the years, younger and younger children are indulging in crime which leads to a lowering of the average age of arresting children. Not only do adolescents commit crimes, but pre-adolescent’s rate of crime has also gone up. The crimes occur on a continuum, and may be as simple as a status offence such as smoking at a very early age, to violent crimes that can lead to juveniles being tried in the court as adults. It is a worrisome scenario to see so many crimes being committed by young people. And it may even start off as non-violent behavior such as smoking, but it usually builds up to repeated offence, and the amount of violence in crimes also tends to increase. They even tend to show antisocial behavior before they even reach adolescence if they are committing such crimes. There are also several types of juvenile crime. Around the world they can be classified as: Criminal acts which the criminal justice system deals with Delinquent behavior which is dealt with by juvenile courts Status offences which are crimes only due to the age of the offender, which are also accounted for by the juvenile courts. There are also certain types of offenders in juveniles: Adolescent limited offender who only commits crimes in adolescent and then grows out of it. However, they are likely to have some kind of disorder or difficulty in adulthood as compared to normal people who have never showed offensive behavior. Repeat offender who continues to commit offences regardless of age; but the initiative is taken in adolescence. Their level of violence may increase over their age span and they start showing anti-social and violent attitude during childhood. The reasons for this behavior might be many; from parents who have the wrong style, a low socioeconomic status, peer pressure, psychological deficiencies such as lack of serotonin etc. In the following discussion, the juvenile crime definitions and the way they are dealt with in different countries, along with the similarities and differences in different countries will be seen. Juvenile delinquents in US are believed not only to be hurting society, but them as well. Causes are believed to vary from strict parents, to poverty, living situation such a divorced family etc. One in four juveniles is considered to be an offender in US out of the 75 million delinquents in the country. Also, the trend is on the rise, since the number of delinquents’ increases rapidly each year, and so there are many more who can commit crime. The classes of age identified are three and in all three of them, the amount of crime was the same roughly in 2009. The proportion of juvenile crime is estimated to increase consistently till 2050 in the US. The crime rates of murder, forcible rape, aggravated assault and robbery were at their peak in the 1990s, but a 2005 survey shows that they dropped for all four crimes. Also a 2009 report suggests that most of the delinquents were White, which shows that this may not be due to racial discrimination. They were those who were either living in poor conditions, without a mother or father figure or both and this trend seems to point towards parents as a primary cause for this behavior. Males are also five times more likely to commit crimes than females in the US, maybe because they have more pressure, maybe because they are naturally more aggressive than females and it may be due to the way they are treated. The Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Act was passed in 1974 which allotted the Justice Department a certain sum of money to deal with delinquents and keep a track record of the statistics. The orders include: Segregation- adults and children are separated in custody; this involves no interaction of people who interact with adult offenders etc. This may result in lower incidents of assault in custody, however, this increases the cost of maintaining criminals, since according to law, either juveniles be kept under custody accordingly, or they should be set free. Deinstitutionalization- the juvenile has committed a status offence such as being caught with cigarettes, and in similar such cases, and with exceptions such as being caught a caught, the offender is simply reported to his or her parents and no strict actions is taken. The state should automatically try to reduce the locking up of juveniles as compared to other groups of the population. Lockup and Jail removal- Once again, juvenile delinquents cannot be kept in the same jail or lockup as adults and so a thorough procedure is required to transfer them to a jail or lockup facility and that too a juvenile one. Juveniles also have more rights than other members of society in court, such as the right to seek counsel etc. considering their age. They are also given these rights because in many cases they are brought to court even though they are innocent by-standers and just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Harsh treatment is usually avoided when dealing with them. (Heilbrun, Goldstein and Redding) In People’s Republic of China, there has been an upward rise in juvenile delinquency, and the government aims at creating a protected environment along with criminologists for the children to grow up in, prevent and handle crime in a way that is not detrimental to both the society and the children. Juvenile in China refers to children in the age bracket of 14-18 and till 1979, there was no specific law for juvenile delinquents, but since they’ve been on a rise, the government has taken all sorts of measures. Also, even though the overall number of juvenile delinquents is increasing, their number as compared to the overall population seems to be falling. Majority of the crime however, is larceny, or property crime in China, followed by assault, murder, robbery etc. Like the US, the reasons for juvenile crime are similar, such as a broken family and other social problems, victimization, psychological tendencies displayed early in their life. However, female offenders are on a rise in China as compared to US. To remove social crimes, China has a ‘comprehensive management’ policy which has many stages including ‘crackdown’ and ‘prevention.’ Crackdown is cracking down on offenders who are a major threat to society and punishing them where as prevention is preventing the deed before it happens. Education is also an important tool to increase morality in the youth, as well as provide self-protection to the victims. Management is the improvement on different sectors of society so that it functions better and gives more employment. Construction is working on the different pillars of the society, such as the courts, government, the police force etc. so they deal better with the delinquents. In 1999, the law of juvenile crime prevention was created to improve the scenario of the country. Even under custody, juveniles were provided with an environment that ensured normal socialization so that they grew up better. Also, if it was found to be their parent’s or guardian’s fault, they were scolded and told to do a better job than arresting the juvenile. In any case, education is the first hand measure, and punishment is the last resort measure. And the Chinese juvenile system has a child welfare system inbuilt to ensure least damage to the individual. There is also a clause of guardian care, in which the guardian’s responsibilities are outlines such as not allowed the juvenile to carry guns, roam around at night etc. The community can also work at the grass root level to prevent crime. However serious offenders and those who commit crime despite many warnings shall be punished seriously by the public organs and in court similar to US procedure in which the first warning or first arrest isn’t a sure ticket to jail. (Wang) In Europe, the issue is prevalent as well, and like China, they believe that pro-social reforms should be taken; and adults and other forces in society shape the behavior of the young ones, while at the same time, persistent offenders must be prosecuted. The ‘Young People’s Court’ makes the decisions and the Justice System for young people administers them. Detention is a last resort measure however it is taken into account along with therapeutic detention. Different places within Europe have different measures but more or less similar to the following: Attending a community center, to educate, train and support individuals Allowing freedom to do what they like, however with more monitoring to ensure that the law is obeyed. In case of a serious offence, detention, or staying at home on weekends with supervision. The purpose of detention centers is to create discipline and they are either extremely restrictive, or open and flexible. Education, social training etc. encourage the individual to develop a healthy lifestyle and social behavior. Lastly, mediation between the victim and the offender may also be considered in which the offender must accept some responsibility for their actions. (Clara Dago Garcia) In South America, in high violence countries, homicide reports are greater than population increase and violence is the largest cause of death. The offenders seem to be men mostly, and domestic violence seems to be rampant, although it is not reported in most cases. There have been a number of corrective measures by the government, especially a community approach such as the ones outlined for China and Europe, is used to reduce the drop-out rate and encourage education in the community, which is especially stringent in Boston. There is also a program called ‘Functional Family Therapy’ since family problems are on a rise in South America, and this has helped to reduce the amount of abuse, be it physical or substance in homes. There is also and ‘Adolescents Diversion Program’ which helps diverts children’s minds to something more productive with the help of a mentor; but these are usually non-serious offenders. For more serious offenders there is ‘Aggression Control Therapy’ in which aggression is curbed, and more socially acceptable behavior is taught; also anger is subdued. Cost benefit analysis is done since all this is costly; and even mothers are targeted so that they are protected from domestic violence and can provide a better home for their children. However, unlike US’ segmentation policy, there is no such clause outlined in South America to separate adults and children in prison or custody. (Heckel, Mandell and Institute) Juvenile delinquency has more or less the same meaning as in different countries including a bad language and behavior. Different states have different policies since the early twentieth century regarding juvenile delinquents. The Madras Children Act was the first one to be enacted in 1920. The welfare of the children was at the heart of all legislations and they were either neglected children category or offenders. The Children Act of 1960 was passed to ensure the active training, education and rehabilitation of children who were offenders. The age of a child was defined as below eighteen for a girl and below sixteen for a boy, which was not the case in any other country aforementioned. However there was much confusion under this law and juvenile laws were ignored until 1985 when UN policies were adopted and juvenile was used in place of children; who also brought about a consensus among states. A child is to be treated with justice as well as protection and then the decision made. And all decisions are made by the Juvenile Courts, be it a strict offence, or a state offence. (Adenwalla) Even though the problem of juvenile delinquents is lesser in the Middle East, and they engage in minor offences, this is a rising issue that needs to be addressed. Most of the states follow UN standards of justice and intervention. The Penal Reform International is working in many states to improve the legislation, create networks in the region and identify the stakeholders in the reform system. The main aim of the justice system is to: Take action against delinquents under 12 years of age who have committed offence by providing rehabilitation centers, foster homes, training centers, vocational training and other correctional measures for the delinquents. Under age wives are allowed to visit their home from time to time The health of the delinquents is ensured Surveillance is ensured for those who have committed a minor offence at some point and counseling of the delinquent’s parents/parent/guardian Reports should be made about the offence and how far it was corrected. (Dr. Elias M. Choueiri) Different states have different laws, but the same aim; to keep the children’s welfare in mind while at the same time protect the society and prevent breeding more delinquents. Bibliography Adenwalla, Maharukh. Child Protection and Juvenile Justice System. Mumbai: Childline India Foundation, 2006. Clara Dago Garcia, Patricia Fernandez. Young people and Crime. Glasgow: Scottish Executive, 2005. Dr. Elias M. Choueiri, Dr. Bernard M. Choueiri, Dr. Georges M. Choueiri. "Juvenile Delinquency – An International Case Study." The Correctional Trainer (2004). Heckel, Robert V, Elizabeth K Mandell and University of South Carolina. Social Problems Research Institute. Crime and delinquency : a study of incarcerated offenders in South Carolina. Microfilming Corp. of America, 1976. Heilbrun, Kirk, Naomi E Sevin Goldstein and Richard E Redding. Juvenile delinquency : prevention, assessment, and intervention. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005. Wang, Dawai. "Juvenile Delinquency in China." crime&justice International (2006): 94. Read More