JUVENILE DELINQUENCY

Shivi Forensics
JUVENILE DELINQUENCY 
Written By: 
Ms.Thotla Mahasri 
Member, Shivi Forensics


INTRODUCTION: 

WHAT IS JUVENILE DELINQUENCY? 
Any person who is below the age of 18 years is considered a juvenile, and any violation or crime done by a person is called a delinquency. Thus, violation of law by a child is called  . Delinquency is an antisocial and criminal behavior committed by a person who is under the age of 18; that is, who is not an adult. Juvenile delinquency is also called delinquency. When a person reaches adulthood, antisocial and criminal behavior done by him can be considered a crime. Thus, we can say that juvenile delinquency is the child and adolescent version of the crime.

CAUSES OF JUVENILE DELINQUENCY: 
WHAT CAUSES JUVENILE DELINQUENCY? 
There are many factors that cause juvenile delinquency. They are characterized into 3 categories; they are 
 1. Socioeconomic factor. 
 2. Socio-environmental factor. 
 3. Psychological factor. 

Socioeconomic factor: 
• This factor indicates the social status, like poverty or lack of education, which causes children to commit crimes like theft and pickpocketing. 
• In order to fulfill the basic necessities of day-to-day life, the children tend to do such crimes even though they are still kids; if they are caught during the act of crime, they will be put in the juvenile board house. 
• This type of delinquency is often seen in regions where poverty is high. Lack of education is also a main cause for juvenile delinquency, as the children are unaware about the consequences of the crimes they are committing unintentionally. 
• Bringing awareness about the consequences of committing crime and providing proper guidelines for the children to choose a wise future, choosing education over committing crime.
Socio-environmental factor: 
• This factor indicates the environment the delinquent is living in or has been raised in. For example, children who have parents who are drug addicts are most probably likely to become drug addicts.This kind of cause is mainly because of family dynamics and peer pressure. Having a family who are either drug addicts or gambling or doing illegal business will have a huge negative impact on the kids who are in the family. 
• Peer pressure is a main cause after family dynamics, which will lead the juvenile on the wrong path, which will affect the juvenile's future. 
• If the family is not taking care of the juvenile, then it will make the juvenile go out and seek comfort from strangers who may or may not be wise people. If the juvenile finds the right person who helps them in a proper way, it is fine, but if the juvenile finds the wrong peer, then the result of being a part of the peer is almost always negative. 
 • So, choosing a good peer is very mandatory. Having a good bond with families is very much mandatory to have a peaceful mindset and to lead a peaceful life. If a peer is full of people who gamble, drink alcohol, smoke, and do illegal business, it will only lead to a miserable life.
Psychological factor: 
 • This factor indicates the mental state of a person. The psychological state of a person's mind can help in determining the sanity level of a person, so if a mentally disabled person's sanity level cannot be proved, they will be considered insane. 
 • If a child has a psychological disorder, it will be mainly because of trauma, improper care, PTSD, or lack of emotional support, and sometimes it can be because of innate factors, which means having that disorder from birth. 
 • Many studies and research show that many prominent psychopaths and serial killers are the people who had been suffering from psychological disorders from childhood; they will always have childhood trauma, which made them the way they are. Even though it can be helped under proper care and therapies, the trauma will also leave a huge impact on the person, which makes it hard to cure psychological disorders in adults. 
 • People or juveniles who commit a crime unknowingly can be tested for sanity level, through which we can determine whether it is intentional or not. This test is not given to all the criminals but only to a few who are psychologically tested and considered mentally unstable.

These 3 factors are the major factors that cause juvenile delinquency. Research has shown that young people who form relationships with positive individuals and groups that pursue positive commitments tend to shun delinquent behavior. While on the other hand, juveniles who are engaged in activities that do not have concrete objectives and commitments. Children who are being abused or exposed to family violence are likely to become delinquents. Some researchers have linked the genes to delinquency, arguing that children who are brought up by criminals and drug dealers or drug addicts are likely to become delinquents. Another risk is in a family in which there are no effective communication channels between members.
EFFECTS OF JUVENILE DELINQUENCY: 
Juvenile delinquency is a deep problem that not only affects the victims of the delinquents but also affects the delinquents themselves, their families, and society as a whole. Juvenile delinquents are not able to predict the effect of their crimes by themselves, but they are badly affected by these crimes. Mostly these crimes lead to juveniles losing freedom, as they might be placed on probation or even incarcerated. This also negatively affects their academic welfare because he or she will miss academic activities that will happen during the probation or incarceration. 

 In some cases, he or she may be influenced by more experienced juvenile delinquents when the juvenile is placed in a residential center for detention; because of this, the juvenile will be more likely to suffer the consequence of redoing the offense. The delinquency of the minor may dictate and affect his or her career choices in the future. Sometimes it becomes a trauma for the members of the family to have a juvenile delinquent in their family, and this creates instability and a sense of insecurity for other members. 

PREVENTION OF JUVENILE DELINQUENCY: 
It is vital to ensure that families influence children positively due to the contribution of their influence to delinquent behavior in juveniles. It can be achieved by showing that there is a strong emotional bonding in the family and by laying out effective strategies for communication. 

Most of the children are raised in families that do not conform to the traditional form of family. It should especially be closely watched to curb the development of delinquent behavior. Schools should also check the backgrounds of children to fill in the gaps that may be left by the parents. Teachers can also help to counsel a child who has a criminal parent. Parents should closely monitor the kind of company their children keep. They should make sure that their children are engaged in productive social activities. It will help in reducing the chances of children becoming delinquents. Teachers should keep a close eye on pupils to ensure that they are involved in good activities. Pupils should be appropriately checked in schools to ensure that they do not carry any illegal objects. It will also help in identifying delinquent children so that they can be corrected in various ways. 

One of the main ways to prevent delinquency is through reducing or eradicating racism from society because it also affects it badly. It always targets the delinquent in minority groups. It will help in the reduction of several juveniles in these minority groups who commit offenses. 
JUVENILE JUSTICE AND REHABILITATION: 
While the juveniles are held responsible for their violation of the law and are being kept in juvenile homes or other similar correctional facilities for public safety, the primary objective is to rehabilitate them. Through rehabilitation, we can re-introduce the juvenile to the society, which is more stable and is willing to live in the right way, which is living in harmony with the society. 
It is not easy to rehabilitate the juvenile, as they will be very unwilling to change the way they had been raised. Some juveniles may be willing to change and live for better, while some don't, so it's really very important to have effective rehabilitation centers and practice therapies.

The rehabilitation process includes: 
 1. Psychological assessment of the crime committed by the juvenile. 
 2. The environment that caused it to happen. 
 3. Therapeutic guidance. 
 4. Skill development, which involves them in yoga and other activities for the development of the mind. 

CONCLUSION: 
Juvenile delinquency is a major issue in India. There are a lot of cases being filed on juveniles. Not many people are realizing the consequence that juvenile delinquency has on them. Juvenile delinquency affects the society as a whole, which will impact the development of the nation. So, that is why for juvenile delinquency, the justice system has brought a new system under the main justice system named the JUVENILE JUSTICE BOARD, which is specially designed and allotted for juvenile delinquency. The Juvenile Justice Board has its laws and punishments. Recently the Juvenile Justice Board has undergone amendments of laws and punishments because of a very prominent case in India regarding rape and murder, which included a juvenile. The NIRBHAYA CASE was the reason why the JUVENILE JUSTICE BOARD has undergone several changes in laws and punishments in the year.2015.   

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