Juvenile delinquency

Because young have the ability to acquire, recognise, and apply knowledge, youth are very vital for the growth of every sector around the world. They are knowledge consumers, and not only do they consume knowledge, but they also play an important role in putting those ideas into practice in the society that they have created with the use of that knowledge. They have the ability to affect society in a favourable way from time to time because variety is critical for society’s progress. However, there is a severe issue that can be detected that is interfering with juvenile development through antisocial behaviour, which can lead to Juvenile Delinquency. There are numerous social, psychological, and familial factors that contribute to a young criminal’s development.

Juvenile delinquency refers to a minor breaching the law. A person under the age of 18 engages in antisocial and deviant behaviour known as delinquency. We can define crime as a child’s antisocial behaviour that has an impact on their family and society. As a result, juvenile delinquency might be defined as a crime committed by children and adolescents. Juvenile delinquency can be divided into two categories. One is a status infraction, which is damaging to children and is not beneficial for them. Such as drug usage, tobacco use, fleeing from home, and failing to attend school for no apparent reason. These behaviours are not illegal, but they can lead to a youngster developing an antisocial disposition. The second form of delinquent offence is when an adult violates the legal system, which is part of the criminal justice system. Murder, rape, robbery, harassment, child abuse, and other related offences are examples of these types of crimes.

Juvenile delinquency is not a new phenomenon; it has existed for hundreds of years. Imagine committing a crime at the age of 11 and being sentenced to a facility for adult offenders. Or be subjected to severe punishment as a result of the crime you committed? Today’s juvenile justice systems around the world focus on the rehabilitation of children, but this was not always the case. The English Common Law inspired the idea of treating juveniles the same as adults. Under English Common Law, minors are compelled to work and learn many social and household skills. Furthermore, a large number of minors were apprenticed into adulthood. The same English Common Law procedures swiftly spread to America and lasted until the early nineteenth century. The child-saving movements began in the nineteenth century, with the goal of developing programmes aimed at reforming juveniles. The majority of the youngsters admitted to the House of Refuge were status offenders or minors whose parents were unable to supervise their actions. As a result, various programmes for youth rehabilitation were established as part of this movement. The first juvenile court in Illinois was founded in 1899.

It’s difficult to assess the rise in adolescent delinquency. Many countries throughout the world have seen a significant increase in juvenile convictions since World War II. Juvenile delinquency may increase as a result of technological and economic advancements, as well as societal change. According to the UK National Prisons Survey, 38 per cent of lock-up young offenders were in council care, compared to only 2% of the general community. In 1992, 110,400 youngsters aged 10 to 16 were apprehended breaching the law in the United Kingdom, with 75 per cent of them being boys. Nearly a third of British teenagers knew someone in their age group who broke the law in 1993.

We must estimate the rate of juvenile delinquency in Pakistan after seeing the global scenario of juvenile delinquency. Because adolescent delinquency has been observed in Pakistan for many years and is on the rise. In Pakistan, the minimum age for criminal culpability is seven years. In 2019, 1424 cases of juvenile offenders were reported in jails across Pakistan, including 1210 under-trial detainees and 215 juveniles convicted of crimes, according to data from Juvenile Prisoners. In Sindh province, there was only one incidence of a female juvenile detainee who was sentenced to life in jail. But this isn’t the most important case we’ve discussed. It is critical to discuss the factors that contribute to juvenile delinquency. After conducting my situational study, I discovered two major causes of adolescent delinquency.

Careless parenting and a weak family system are the primary causes of adolescent misbehaviour in Pakistan. In Pakistan, I can readily observe that parents are mainly concerned with their children’s academic achievement and do not discuss national norms and values. They place a greater emphasis on the child’s social capital and social grooming, but they ignore the child’s psychological needs. They are preoccupied with their own careers and provide a decent lifestyle and education for their children in order to ensure a better social position for them in the future, but they are unaware that their children also have psychological needs that must be met, such as love, care, and security. If a youngster is unable to satisfy these feelings from his or her parents, the child develops into a psychopath, and psychopaths quickly develop into sociopaths due to their antisocial behaviour.

Parents are also unconcerned about their children’s moral ideals. Education can provide information about a culture’s moral principles, but parents may provide moral scenarios that can help children apply these values in their daily lives. So, if we claim in our daily lives that the family is the fundamental institution of society, we must recognise that while the family is a crucial institution, it must also fulfil some important roles. And the family’s first and most important obligation is to provide social, domestic, and psychological fulfilment to their children, as well as education about cultural moral principles that will help them become decent citizens.

Another factor for juvenile misbehaviour in Pakistan is orphan children who are on the streets and have no one to teach them about Pakistan’s values, traditions, and laws. These are crimes that have been committed on a huge scale. This is the government’s job to provide them with training, education, and adequate care because they are involved in a variety of offences such as drug addiction, robbery, and murder, all of which can contribute to an increase in the rate of juvenile delinquency in Pakistan.