Roll No.
Roll No.
Roll No.
ON
JUVENILE DELINQUENCY
Subject: - SIMULATION
1
PAGE OF CONTENTS.
SERIAL TOPIC NAME.
NUMBER.
01. INTRODUCTION
02. HISTORY OF JUVENILE JUSTICE IN
INDIA.
03. REASONS FOR JUVENILE CRIMES.
04. BREIF EVOLUTION OF JUVENILE
JUSTICE LEGISLATION IN INDIA.
05. IMPORTANT PROVISIONS UNDER
INDIAN JUVENILE JUSTICE ACT.
06. JUVENILE DELINQUENCY IN INDIA-
CURRENT TRENDS.
07. SUGGESTIONS.
08. CONCLUSION.
2
INTRODUCTION
Children are the rock of any nation on which it’s future is built. They become the leaders of the
country, the creators of national wealth, who care for and protect the human community of the
land to which they are rooted. These children across the world develop at different rate and
develop different world- view. They increase their ability to think abstractly and develop their
own views regarding social and political issues. They develop ability to indulge in long- term –
planning and goal setting. There is also a tendency of making comparison of self with others.
They yearn for separate identity and independence from parents. This is the age when peer
influence and acceptance becomes very important. They also develop strong romantic/ sexual
ideas, and tend to show indulgence in Love and long- term relationships. However, these are
normal changes and there are no anomalies generally. Problems arise when these juveniles
develop delinquent tendencies, and get into law and order problems. There occurs to be a very
strong relationship of crime/ deviance with age- according to Hirschi and Gottfredson (1983), the
age- crime relationship is universal. The general observation is that criminality/ delinquency
peaks in adolescence and diminishes with age, This pattern of crime common across historical,
geographical and cultural contexts. Indulgence in conventional crimes is more widespread in
teenage and young adults. Most of these offenders disengage from crime after a brief career in
crime. However, for some types of crime, there are older peak ages, and they decline relatively
more gradually Juvenile crimes have become such common phenomena that they raise serious
concern in any nation. In common terminology, juvenile is a child who has not attained a certain
age at which he can think rationally and often understand the consequences of his/ her act.
Hence, the juvenile can’t be held liable for his/her criminal acts. A juvenile delinquent may be
regarded as a child who has allegedly committed /violated some law, under which his/her act of
commission or omission becomes an offence.
The juvenile justice systems have been designed to respond to the needs of young offenders. One
principle role has been to provide specialized preventive and treatment services for children and
young person’s as a means of secondary preventions, rehabilitations and improved socialization.
State’s responsibility of Welfare of the children, with the passage of time has shifted to the social
organizations and certain philanthropic bodies. To make the people aware of the right of child,
3
United Nations Organization declared 1979 as “International Year of the Child” issuing a general
appeal to all the nations to review their programmers for the well being of the children and to
mobilize support for programmers according to the countries conditions, needs and priorities.
There is difference of opinion given by the various authorities in the field and also in the type of
offences and behavior which is included in the juvenile delinquency. The concept of juvenile
justice was derived from a belief that the problem of juvenile delinquency and related problem of
youth in abnormal situations are not only amenable to the resolution within the framework of the
traditional process of criminal law. The juvenile justice systems have been designed to respond
to the needs of young offenders. One principle role has been to provide specialized preventive
and treatment services for children and young person’s as a means of secondary preventions,
rehabilitations and improved socialization.
The term juvenile justice emerged from the word Juvenis, in Latin it means Young so a justice
system for the young. Historically the concept of juvenile justice was derived from a belief that
the problems of juvenile delinquency in abnormal situations are not amenable to the resolution
within the framework of traditional process of criminal law . Over the time a need felt in
ensuring that juvenile justice system beside catering the needs of young offenders only it also
provide specialized and preventive treatment services like community support, harmonizing
impersonal state intervention with the family, community and institutional interventions for the
children and as a means of prevention, rehabilitation and socialization through schools and
religious bodies . As this law was passed prior to the UNCRC 1989 which India ratified in 1992 .
In 2000 the former law was repealed and a new law which was more exhaustive and one of the
best law was enacted The Juvenile Justice (care and protection of children) Act 2000 but the age
was kept at 16 only later it was Amended in 2006 to increase the age of the child which
increased to 18 years to adhere the International ratified laws. The juvenile justice is one of the
step taken by the state so as to attain constitutional vision of India pertaining care and welfare of
children. The provisions of constitution which grants the special status to the children Article
15(3), 24, 39(e) & (f) and 45, National policy for children 1974, 2013, declare that children are
national asset. Further through constitutional directions many other laws and statutory provisions
4
have been enacted to protect the rights of children like RTE 2009, child labor prohibition act
1986, JJ act 1986, later JJ(C&P) Act 2000.
Juvenile justice in India Historical development of juvenile justice in India can be divided into
six phases through reference of treatment of children, legislative developments, judicial
Intervention and other government policies. Prior to 1773, 1773-1850, 1850- 1950, 1950-2000,
2001-2010 [4] Year 1773 was a benchmark in the Indian legal system as Regulating Act of 1773
granted East India companies the power to make and enforce laws, the Charter Act of 1833
changed commercialization of company into a governing body. Between 1773 -1850 many
committees were established focusing on children’s in jails, first law was made in 1850 to keep
juveniles out of jails later the Report on All India Jail committee 1919-1920 segregated children
from criminal justice system.
1 Social Factors.
Sometimes, the juveniles develop delinquent sub- culture due to cultural deprivation and status
frustration that they go through They often adopt the delinquent tendencies due to peer pressure.
According to Walter B. Miller (1958), some youth (usually belonging to lower class) turn the
mainstream culture up- side down, thus whatever is valued and is regarded as positive generally
by the is society given up by these youth, and is replaced by just the opposite value system.
Thus, if certain morals are upheld by society, juvenile delinquents give up these values and try to
excel in the areas of toughness, over- smarting the others and indulge in things that give them
excitement. Delinquent sub- culture theory has been applied in latest studies in the United States
(Ling Ren, Hangowel Zhang et al, 2016), where new area of attitude of the juvenile towards the
5
Police in China has been focused. Cloward and Ohlin (1960) feel that juveniles develop different
delinquent tendencies depending upon what opportunities are available in their surroundings.
The youth may become criminals if they have opportunities to learn illegal activities. They may
indulge in acts of street brawls and hooliganism if the lack these opportunities, or are not able to
excel in the area of organized crime. Other studies indicate that social factors such as poverty
and low education are also responsible for juvenile delinquency. Habits of substance abuse also
make the youth vulnerable to offending. Broken families are directly related to higher rates of
delinquency. The negative role of family has also been highlighted in other studies . The report
indicates that the juvenile who receive less familial supervision, or who live in dysfunctional
family settings or in disadvantaged families have more chances of getting involved in delinquent
behavior.
2. Psychological Factors
There are psychological explanations to delinquency also, which can be well understood through
Freudian concepts of id, ego and super-ego. When the id (the instinctive element of individual’s
personality) becomes too strong, and the super- ego becomes weak (the socially taught element
of personality) the ego develops into anti- social person (K. S. Williams 2012). Sometimes when
the self- control and social control through primary groups becomes weak, the juveniles develop
delinquent tendencies. The breakdown of the social institutions has also been connected to
deviance and delinquency (Chris Knoester and Dana L. Haynie, 2005). There can a strong link
between psychological condition of the youth and delinquent tendencies. Study of female
inmates in Bangladesh showed very high incidence of psychiatric disorder among the offenders
of Female Juvenile Center (Maruf et al, 2015). These offenders also showed high incidence of
substance abuse. David Brandt (2006) has extensively talked about the social and psychological
factors responsible for delinquency in India. Under the social factors it has been noted that the
social environment has a strong impact on deviating tendencies of the juveniles. Amongst these
neighborhood ties and social organization can be important determinant in the delinquent
behavior of the juvenile. This is highlighted in the study conducted by He Len Chung and
Laurence Steinberg (2006). The study indicates that when the neighborhood ties are weak and
the social organization factors are not effective, the social control over the members of the
society becomes weak, thus leading to delinquent tendencies. Along with the weak
6
neighborhood, ineffective parenting and association of the youth with deviant peers leads to
higher rates of offending.
3 Biological Factors
The biological explanations suggest that individuals are influenced by their biological/ genetic
make- up. They are not exactly the captives of biological designing, but it does render these
individuals inclined towards delinquent tendencies. The hormonal changes in the body of the
juveniles are responsible for their impulsive and rebellious behavior. Ecological/ environmental
and economic parameters also play important trigger points in lives of the juveniles. But usually
it’s the combination of these factors that together creates situation of juvenile delinquency.
Some authors have evaluated the origin and development of Juvenile Justice in India (Mousami
Dey, 2014). Prior to coming of British in India, the actions of children were governed under
existing Hindu and Muslim laws, where the respective families of the person concerned were
held responsible for monitoring the actions of their children. In India, the need for new
legislations for children was felt under the British rule. Some specific laws were passed between
1850 and 1919, like the Apprentice Act (1850), the Code of Criminal Procedure (1861) and the
Reformatory School Act (1876 and 1897). Under the Apprentice Act (1850), it was held that
destitute or petty offenders in the age group of 10 and 18 years should be dealt with separately-
the convicted children were required to work as apprentices for businessmen. Section 82 of the
Indian Penal Code of 1860 also recognized the special status of children. It set age limits on
criminal responsibility and excluded children younger than 7 from culpability. The children
between 7 and 12 years of age were considered to have sufficient maturity to understand the
nature of their actions under certain circumstances. The Code of Criminal Procedure of 1861
allowed for separate trials of persons younger than age 15 and their treatment under the
reformatories rather than prisons. It also laid down provisions of probation of the young
offenders. Such attempts marked the changing attitude and approach of state to juvenile
delinquents, and the transition from penal to reformative philosophy. In this regard, the
Reformatory School Act 1876 and 1897 came as harbinger of such legislations. Under the Act,
the provisions were laid down for putting the delinquents in the reformatory schools for a period
7
of two to seven years. However, as they attained 18 years of age, they were shifted to adult
prisons. Provision for treatment and rehabilitation of young offenders was laid down in the 1897
Act. There was no national legislation under the British rule. However, certain provinces came
up with their own legislations to deal with juvenile delinquency (like Bombay, Madras and
Pondicherry). After India got independence, Juvenile Justice policy in India got structured
around the mandates prescribed under various articles of Indian constitution (Article 15 (3), 21,
24, 39 (e) & (f), 45 & 47). The Indian Juvenile justice policy was also guided by various
International Covenants such as UN Convention on Rights of Child (CRC) and Beijing Rules, or
UN Standard Minimum Rules for Administration of Juvenile Justice. The important law for
neglected and delinquent children in India was passed Central Child’s Act (1960), which
prohibited imprisonment of children under any circumstances. It declared children’s courts and
child weld welfare board to be two important bodies that would deal with such children. In 1986,
the central government of India passed a central Act, called the Juvenile Justice Act of 1986. It
was a social legislation that aimed to provide care, protection, treatment and rehabilitation for
delinquent and neglected children. It also looked into adjudication of juvenile matters. It created
juvenile courts for the offenders and juvenile welfare boards for the non- offenders/ neglected
children. The juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act was passed in 2000. It
provided for a uniform legal framework of justice across the country. The main objective of the
new Act was to ensure that no child (up to the age 18 years) offender is lodged in jail. The Act
also made provisions for the infrastructure and machinery for care, protection and rehabilitation
of children. The Act was again amended in 2006 and then in 2010. The Juvenile Justice Act,
apart for providing for care, protection, rehabilitation and development needs also makes the
juvenile adjudication and disposition system child – friendly. It enables the Juvenile Justice
Board (earlier called Juvenile Court) in taking a multidisciplinary approach when conducting
inquires. Under the Act, Child Welfare Committee has been established to cater to the needs of
vulnerable children.
8
The Juvenile Justice Act, 2000 defines, under section 2 (I) defines juvenile in conflict with law
as a juvenile who is alleged to have committed an offence and is under 18 years of age (and
above the age of 10 years) on the date of commission of crime. Under the various Indian laws,
there is no consensus over the definition of child, which creates confusion and dilemma over the
legal treatment of the children. Under section 2 (d) the same Act, there is another category of
children- “Children in Need for Care and Protection” referred. These children are defined as the
ones who are found without any home or settled place or abode and without any ostensible
means of subsistence.
They may be street children/ indulging in beggary, child laborers, orphaned/ abandoned/ destitute
children, abused children/ trafficked children, children suffering from physical deformity/ mental
illness or victims of conflict and disaster situations. The Indian JJ Act acts all such children and
legally protects their rights, at least on paper. R. N. Choudhary (2005) talks about various laws
that are prevalent in reference to juvenile justice in India. S. K. Bhattacharya also discusses about
the juvenile justice in India (2000). The need to incorporate the second category of children came
from preventive approach of the JJ Act. The children who live under the condition of destitution,
or under difficult situations, are very vulnerable to commit crime. Any trigger point in their lives
can push the offender button, and they may convert into delinquents. So, keeping up to the
philosophy prevention is better than cure, the JJ Act of India has made provisions for including
both category of children, both who are offenders, or those who are quite likely to indulge in
deviant acts should be treated under the Act. The two category of children are also treated by
different institutions- juvenile offenders under the Juvenile Justice Board, and the vulnerable
children under the Child Welfare committee. The Juvenile Justice Board consists of a
metropolitan judge, or judicial magistrate of first class, and two social workers, at least one of
whom should be a woman. Under the Act, there are also provisions for a Special Juvenile Police
Unit in every police station. All these personnel must be preferably trained in child psychology,
or should have sensitivity in child related matters. If the juvenile is a co- accused with an adult/
adults, joint trial of the juvenile offender cannot be held along with adult criminals. Further, the
Juvenile Justice Act in India restricts the apprehension of juveniles, stipulates bail as a right to
the offender, irrespective of the fact that the offence is bailable or not. Further, the trials of the
juvenile offenders are held in a very informal manner, where the offender cannot be cannot be
brought to the Juvenile Justice Board handcuffed. The police officials or other government
9
personnel are dressed informally. The identity of the offender is always concealed, and in no
case media can mention the name of the offender in newspapers or on news channels. After the
trial, the offenders are kept under the observation homes or Special homes. Children in need for
Care and Protection are sent to Children’s homes.
All these child friendly measures of Indian government are indicative of the fact that government
does not want to jeopardize the lives of the young criminals, and wants to give them all a chance
for improvement. All the provisions are very much in line with juvenile jurisprudence
10
2013). The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data indicates that there has been an
increase in crimes committed by juveniles, especially by those in the 16-18 years’ age group.
Due to this trend, legal definition of child under Indian legal system came under question.
Malvika Tyagi (2016) also feels that with trend of involvement of juveniles in violent crimes in
India, state intervention is required in terms of making amendments and in terms bringing in new
legal provisions. The new Juvenile Justice Act of 2015 took into cognizance the involvement of
juveniles in heinous crimes and brought out some amendments. Under the new legal provisions,
if a child of 16 years or above commits a heinous crime, a preliminary assessment of his mental
and physical maturity will be made by the Juvenile Justice Board. Level of maturity will be
matched to his capacity to commit such an offence, his ability to understand the consequences of
his offence and the circumstances in which he allegedly committed the offence. The Juvenile
Justice bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha in 2014, after it was felt in the post- Nirbhaya case
that some action has to be taken against the increasing involvement of juveniles in the age group
of 16 to 18 in heinous/ serious crimes. The serious crimes have not been in the Indian Acts per
se, but they may be taken to mean the category of crimes which would entail imprisonment for 7
years or more for adults. It was felt that JJ Act 2000 was flawed with implementation issues, and
the new bill intended to close these loop holes. The bill introduced concepts from Hague
Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Inter-Country Adoption
1993. It was laid down under the bill of 2015 that the Juvenile Justice Board will decide whether
a juvenile offender in the age group of 16 to 18 years should be treat as an adult. Those juveniles
who commit heinous crimes such murder and rape (which invite punishment of 7 years or more)
should be treated as adults. However, if the Board decides, the juvenile can be sent for
rehabilitation.
The earlier Acts dealing with Juvenile Justice in India have had serious implementation issues
(Ved Kumari, 2010) - the Bill (which became an Act) sought streamline the adoption process of
orphaned and abandoned children. Through the 2016 Act, foster care has been introduced, under
which families can take up responsibilities of juveniles in conflict with law, or the orphaned or
abandoned children. The Act has made it mandatory for all states in India to set up Juvenile
11
Justice Board and Child Welfare committee in each and every district, with at least one woman
member on board. It also laid down that when any child is found committing a crime, he will be
first sent for a preliminary assessment of child’s capacity to commit crime (Here assessment is
not same as trial). The JJ Act has paid lot of attention to preventive measures in controlling
juvenile delinquency. Keeping in mind the weakening family and community control on
individual members, the Act has emphasized on the role of family in controlling juvenile
delinquency (Prakash Haveripet, 2013). Family is the most fundamental structural and functional
unit of society. According to the Act, family plays a very crucial role in taking care, nurturing
and protecting the children. Thus, the children are groomed to become responsible members of
society. The family keeps the children away from bad habits, such as substance abuse, watching
pornography etc.
12
SUGGESTIONS
Some suggestion can be made to deal with the issue of Juvenile Delinquency in India. Though
Indian government has been making lots of efforts to deal with the problem, and has taken
progressive and bold steps in this direction, more effective measures are required with respect to
implementation. It has been found that though various provisions for juvenile justice have been
laid down, they are followed properly. For instance, the members of the Juvenile Justice Board
should be trained in child psychology and should be sensitized in child related matters, more
often they are incompetent in this area. There are provisions for Special Police unit for dealing
with Juveniles at every police station. In reality, these special units are not functional. So, when
there are cases of juvenile delinquency or when neglected children are taken to police, the police
department is not able to handle the cases in expected manner. The police personnel are not very
sensitive to the issues that come up. It is suggested that strong steps are taken to make effective
implementation of the laws pertaining to Juvenile Delinqunecy, so that we are able to deal with
the problem in a holistic manner. It is also important to monitor the functioning of Observation
Homes and Shelter Homes. These special places meant for reformation of the juveniles/ children
often become breeding grounds for more offences. Rather than effectively handling the problem
and counselling the inmates, these places create atmosphere for resocialization of the juveniles
into criminal/ delinquent world. Instances of inmates of Observation Homes indulging in serious
offences are quite many. For reformative and rehabilitative measures, it’s important that the
situation is handled very tactfully. Community participation and sensitization in matters related
to juvenile delinquency is very important. In the administration of Juvenile Justice, preventive
measures are very important. For this, if people in society are sensitized about issues of
neglected children and children living in difficult situation, they can play important role in
rehabilitation. Some informal bodies like registered Residential Associations in different areas
can be involved to report matters of juveniles who indulge in deviant behaviour, or whose
behaviour cannot be controlled effectively by the parents. It has been reflected earlier in this
paper that families are important agents of social control and socialization. So families, along
with other primary groups in society can be more effectively involved in preventive measures.
13
CONCLUSION
The Juvenile Justice Act of 2016 can be seen as a very progressive step of the Indian
government towards keeping pace with changing trends in juvenile crimes. The bold step under
the Act on treating the juvenile offenders found guilty of committing heinous crime as adults,
subject to the observations of the Juvenile Justice Board. The Justice Verma Committee took a
stand against the lowering of age of juveniles in conflict with law. It was observed in the report
that “Any attempt of reducing the age of juvenility, or excluding certain children from the
purview of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2000 on the basis of nature
of the offence and age, will violate guarantees made under the Constitution and international
instruments, the United Nation Convention of Rights of the Child (UNCRC)”. But the Suprme
Court in India took a stand contrary to the suggestions and warnings of the Committee. It was
argued that the age of 18 years was fixed because of the expert notion of psychologists that
children/ juvenile up to this age are malleable and can be reformed through redeeming and
restoring techniques. It was then argued that putting them with adult criminals would re-socialize
them into the world of crime and convert them into hard core criminals. The Indian courts keep
this fact in mind when dealing with offenders who are not habitual criminals. The judges don’t
want to burden the jails with criminals. However, when the latest trends in juvenile delinquency
in India are analyzed, in respect of the age pattern and nature of offences committed, it appears
that we need to review and amend our juvenile justice policy (Shivani Goswami and Neelu
Mehra, 2014). The same kind of trends appeared in US and UK, with peaking of heinous crimes
committed by the juveniles in the age group of 16 to 18 years (McDowell, L. Gary, Smith,
Jinney, 1999). US came up with a change in its juvenile justice policy, with a shift from
restorative to retributive methods. The same applies to UK also. Here, a person under 18 years is
tried by the youth court normally, but in instances of serious offences, the case can be transferred
to the Crown court. In India, it is indicated from the crime trends that existing laws (prior to
2016) were not proving to be a deterrent. The constant exposure of children to violence and lack
of understanding about the consequences of crime committed makes them quite prone to
delinquent tendencies. The problem gets worsened in absence of some adults in role of
responsible guardians to give them and help them in filtering the information that comes to them
through various sources. In the face of fast pace of industrialization and globalization, the self-
14
control and parental control that was earlier sufficient to prevent individuals from committing
offences has become weak. The primary socialization that functioned through groups such as
family, peer groups, traditional neighbourhood ties, close kin circles is fast becoming ineffective
in Indian society. All this has lead to present trends in juvenile delinquency. It is to be kept in
mind that the legal sub- system is a part of the larger social system. Any change in the larger
whole, that is the society necessitates changes in the constituent parts or the smaller sub- sub
systems. Thus, when changes are occurring in the society at a fast pace, the legal system has to
go in sync with the society. The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act 2015 has brought
these changes.
15
BIBLIOGRAPHY
VICTIMOLOGY PARANAJAPE.
AND PENALOGY.
JUSTICE SYSTEM.
WEBOGRAPHY
# https://www.researchgate.net/publication/322918203_JUVENILE_DELINQUENCY_IN_INDIA-
_LATEST_TRENDS_AND_ENTAILING_AMENDMENTS_IN_JUVENILE_JUSTICE_ACT
# https://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/21219/1/10%20chapter-3
# http://ignited.in/a/57753
#www.scribd.com
16