Juvenile delinquency- A recent trend of child crime

So many years after completion ofmy school life I could clearly remember the event. When I was a student
of class nine once I noticed one of our timid and aloof classmates becameoverconfident, extrovert and
telling the courageous story of his recent foreign tour alone. He told us that he earned a lot of money in each
trip and also offered us to join him. Few wees later we became sure of his involvement in smuggling group
who used him as a carrier of illegal goods in !iddle "ast countries. It was not surprising that he came from
a well off family. #his is a very plain story of how a young boy became a juvenile delin$uent, but the things
are not so simple.

%elin$uency means law breaing behavior, no more. &uvenile delin$uent is a young person who has been
found guilty of an offence that would be categori'ed as crime when committed by an adult. It becomes a
burning social problem in the last decade and number of violent youth crimes has risen alarmingly which
has created lot of panic among public. (ery recently we saw the news of a homicide committed by a
schoolmate for trivial reason for playing videogames.

In most countries the term juvenile delin$uency applied to youngsters who has attained the age of criminal
responsibility. In )angladesh the age limit is nine years which has been increased from seven years in
*++,.In most "uropean countries lie -te age limit is .+ though -/I0"F has recommended that it should
be at least .*years. #hough juvenile delin$uency is not a psychiatric condition, psychiatric disorders lie
conduct disorders, oppositional defiant disorder and substance abuse and dependence are highly prevalent
among juvenile offenders. 1sychosocial factors play an important role for becoming a juvenile delin$uent.

Current scenario2 Statistical data indicated that, virtually in all parts of the world, the rate of youth crime
rose in .33+s. In Western "urope, arrest of juvenile delin$uent and underage offender increased by around
4+5 between .36+ and late .33+s. !ost of them were drug related crimes. #hough nationwide figure of
youth crime in our country is not available, the number of various crimes committed by juvenile delin$uent
in %haa !etropolitan city has been raised dramatically since last decade. 7 study conducted by 7ction 7id
)angladesh 8*++69 revealed that total number of youth crime among juvenile inmates in .33+ was only ,,.
It was increased up to several folds and became 4:, in *+++ and 4*6 in *++;. 7t present total number of
youth offenders in adult jails are *+4 8-/I0"F *++39.

Epidemiology: <ie many other 7sian countries, &uvenile delin$uency is predominantly an urban
phenomenon in )angladesh. )ut rural youth crimes have also increased but no reliable data are available so
far. !ajority 8;,.;59 of them are adolescent boys of aged between .* and .;years found in a study in
)angladesh. !any fewer girls than boys are delin$uent although ratio has fallen from ..2.to ,2. in over the
past ,+ years 8%& Smith .3349.

&uvenile delin$uency is largely group phenomenon. )etween two=thirds and three=$uarters of all youth
crimes are committed in various groups. #he ratio of criminal activity among juvenile in=group is about
three to four times higher than that of adult. !ost prevalent age is ., years. 7mong boys half are convicted
again and few continue to offending adult life. #hree=$uarters to three=fourths of juvenile offenders
committed crime as adult. #he common crimes committed by a juvenile offender in our country are habitual
theft, extortion, group venture, possession of illegal arms and explosives, sexual offences and suspect in
murder cases. 7 study among underage prison inmates in )angladesh revealed that the commonest charges
were theft **.35, murder .6..5, drug related offences .>.*5 and possession of illegal arms were .+..5.
#he crime scenario is $uite different from western world where drug related and sexual crimes are more
prevalent.

Classification: It is not surprising that delin$uents are defined by breaing of law of particular time, place
and culture that is the reason they are not homogenous. #he best nown and simplest scheme for
classification was proposed by Hewitt and &enins 8.3,;92

.. Socialized: associations with gangs, conforming to delin$uent subculture.
*. Unsocial zed: cruel, destructive and antiauthoritarian.
>. Over-inhibited: reclusive and neurotic.
Etiology: #he causes of juvenile delin$uency are complex. 0lassical criminological studies sated that crimes
lie within individual offender rather than external environment. 0urrent positivist approaches generally
focus on the culture where absence or breadown of communal institutions lie family, school, churchand
social groups are important. Merton's suggests five adaptations tothis dilemma:
.. Innovation: individuals who accept socially approved goals, but not necessarily the socially
approved means.
*. Retreatism: those who reject socially approved goals and the means for ac$uiring them.
>. Ritualism: those who buy into a system of socially approved means, but lose sight of the goals.
!erton believed that drug users are in this category.
,. Conformit: those who conform to the system?s means and goals.
4. Rebellion: people who negate socially approved goals and means by creating a new system of
acceptable goals and means.

!heor of "ifferentialassociation: #his theory deals youth crime as group context.Statistical data in many
countries showed that juvenile delin$uency is largelya group phenomenon. !ost 8,4.659 ofjuvenile crimes
committed in our country occur first time in a group found instudy 87ctionaid *++69. @n the contrary, ratio
is more in western world.

#abeling !heor: <abelingtheory states that once young people have been labeled as criminalthey are more
liely to offend 8"adie A !orley *++>9.

$amil $actor: !anystudies have found that crime runs in families 8Farrington .33;9. Half of boyswith
criminal father are convicted compared to on fifth of them with father whois not criminal 8West and
Farrington .33:9. )owlby 8.33,9 described thecharacteristics of juvenile thieves and prolonged maternal
separation was maincause. @ther family factors are broen homes, large family si'e and childrearing
practices, erratic disciplines and harsh or neglected care.

Individual factor: Beneticfactor appears to be less significant in juvenile delin$uent than seriouscriminal
behavior in adult. #here are important relation among bellow average IntelligenceCuotient 8IC9, educational
and reading difficulties and juvenile crime 8Dutteret al. .3:;9. 1sychological ris factors lie impulsivity,
inability to delaygratification, aggressiveness and restlessness are also crucial 8Farrington*++*9.

Psychiatric disorders andjuvenile delinquency: &uvenile delin$uency is sometimes e$uates withconduct
disorder though this is not the case. )ut juvenile offender suffersmore fre$uently from psychiatric disorders
lie conduct disorder, oppositionaldefiant disorder, depression, substance abuse and dependence.

Assessment and management ofjuvenile delinquent: 1sychiatric, physical and social assessment of
juvenile delin$uent should be an integral part of management of such cases. 1sychiatricand medical
conditions should be treated with due attention. Sometimes,psychiatric assessments are sought from court
for producing court report. Inthat cases, informant lie parents, teacher, prison guard and ward attendantare
valuable source of information. 1sychological assessment of IC test andeducational achievement are useful.

#he main goal of management is toreduce chances of further offending. #he principle of Diversion that is
divertingchildren from criminal justice system through provision of support and careservices which is the
cornerstone of international standard. 1sychosocial carelie parent training program, family therapy, system
therapy, anger managementtraining, assertive sill training, educational and vocational training
andresidential placement play a pivotal role in management of juvenile offenders.7 reform is needed in
juvenile justice system which should be child friendly.#here are three child development centre or correction
homes present in our country under the !inistry of Social Welfare. #wo of them are for boys namedEishore
-nnayan Eendra in #ongi, Ba'ipur and 1ulrehat, &essore. #he other forfemale juvenile offenders is located
at Eonabari, Ba'ipur. -/I0"F and other/B@s are woring in this arena. -/I0"F endorsed a %iversion
project in &essoreEishori -nnayan Eendra. 7s a signatory of -nited /ations 0onvention on the Dightsof the
0hildren 80D09, 0hild 1olicy of )angladesh has some discrepancy with therules 80D09 which is under
reform in current draft child policy.

Preventing JuvenileDelinquency: 7 number of -nited /ations Instruments reflect a preferencefor social
rather than judicial approach in controlling juvenile delin$uency. #he -nited /ations Buidelines for the
1revention of&uvenile %elin$uency, also called the Diyadh Buidelines 8.3669 statedthat prevention of
juvenile delin$uency should be an essential part of overallcrime prevention in society. !inimum Dules for
7dministration of &uvenile&ustice 8)eijing Dules9 recommend instituting positive measures to strengthen
ajuveniles overall well being and reduce the need for state intervention.1revention re$uires individual, group
and organi'ational support to youngpeople with economic opportunity, educational and professional training
in worplaces, cultural activities and sports which would promote youth development.(ocational training
would help to engage in positive self appraisal, deal withconflicts and control aggression. #hese programs
debun the myth of gangglamour and help youngsters to find alternatives to illegal behavior. 0hildrenshould
be raised in strong family ties, $uality schools, healthy community withrecreation and cultural activities and
other youth development programs whichare encouraged in Diyadhguidelines. Fouth development activities
under the !inistry of Fouth and Sportsare meeting this demand in our country which should be strengthen
further. Doleof /B@s, social welfare organi'ations, )oys Scout, Birls guide are alsoimportant in youth
development.

Conclusion: #he updated0hild 1olicy should be child friendly which would help to prevent juvenile
delin$uency. &uvenile justice system needs urgent reforms in this respect. #imehas come to tae concerted
effort and multi=sectoral collaboration preventingthis social problem. Without ensuring a better future for
children no nationcould be developed. So, this the high time to tae necessary steps from allwals of life in
our country.

References:

.. 0hild 1sychiatry in Shorter @xford #ext boo of 1sychiatry, 4
th
edition. @xford -niversity 1ress, /ew For *++;G p2 ;6+=
6*.
*. Ha$ue !", Salam !, 7lam Dafi$ul et al. -nder=7ged 1rison Inmates in )angladesh. 7ctionaid )angladesh, /ovember
*++6.
>. Hill 1. #he psychiatry of adolescence. In "ssentials of 1ostgraduate 1sychiatry, *
nd
edition. Brune A Stratton Inc,
<ondon, -E .364.
,. &uvenile %elin$uency. World Fouth Deport *++>.