There has been a disturbing increase in criminal incidents involving young people in Bangladesh especially in the last few years

The problem of juvenile delinquency

Just before the Eid ul Azha there was a significant increase in mugging and snatching. And in many cases those involved in these crimes were in their early to mid teens. Also there are increasing reports of many juveniles committing violent crimes, especially rapes.
The increasingly high rates of juvenile delinquency are a great problem in modern societies across the globe and Bangladesh is no exception. There has been a disturbing increase in criminal incidents involving young people in Bangladesh especially in the last few years.
Violent behaviour can have several triggers. Parental conflict, broken families, child abuse, poor parental supervision and delinquent peers, coupled with the carefree attitude of the youth in schools and colleges are often the precursors to youth involvement in crime. Famous Indian anthropologist Ashis Nandy states "Youth crime is an inevitable part of urban growth. The giant uprooting in the name of development has led to a breakdown of community ties and as a consequence results in spiralling crime." The disconnect between aspiration and opportunity causes social disruptions that ultimately lead to youth turning to crime.
One of the major reasons of the high rates of juvenile delinquency is the negative influence of commercialised mass media. Publishers of books or film or TV producers are more concerned with profits than with the quality. Thus books or movies may have negative effects on children. Once the children are exposed to violence or bad and dirty ideas are introduced into their mind, there will be lifelong harm.
Modern kids are more independent than their elders. When this tendency goes to an extreme, problems arise. Some of the young want to throw away all the traditional principles and beliefs, most of which are actually good for them. They are reluctant to listen to the advice from their elders’ generation.
A recent UNESCO study reveals boys' fascination for aggressive icons. There is a desensitisation to violence. Some youths see it as a solution to day-today problems. Influenced by these violent images, many young people feel they can get away with anything. This mistaken notion that crime is a low risk and high gain endeavour is their motto.
A newly emerged theory puts the blame on biology. It says Generation Next is growing up faster physically. Girls and boys now attain puberty at a younger age than previous generations did. But emotional development has not kept pace with physical maturity. The hormonal disturbance often makes young people turn violent,
Even in the correctional facilities for children and teens most young offenders are treated as common prisoners and they have to stay with the criminals. Not only are the living conditions extremely vulnerable but officials also treat them abusively.
Many disturbing reports about torturing, serious ill-treatment and sexual abuse of children by personnel of correctional facilities are common. Our teenagers are our future but due to poverty and lack of essential facilities, food items, shelter, clothes, education and proper guidance and justice system of the society many become professionals criminal.
The atmosphere in many correctional facilities is not conducive for reformation, and in fact may toughen or entrench criminal propensities. The system may end up creating a new underclass of potential criminals with the psychological effects of staying under bleak, hope-denying conditions. Juvenile correctional facilities must be made more humane.
The fundamental difference between the juvenile justice system and the criminal justice system is that since its inception the rehabilitation of juveniles is considered to be the primary goal of the juvenile justice system while that for the adults has been retribution. Juvenile courts also tend to consider the background of the offender before passing sentence while the adults are held accountable for their actions regardless of background. But few of these advantages exist for the juvenile delinquents here.
There are not only a high number of children in prisons detained in poor conditions but more concernedly, often together with adult offenders and thus extremely vulnerable to abuse and ill-treatment as said earlier.
The need to treat young people as a group dissimilar to adults when it comes to delinquency is supported by the theories of a growing diverse group of professionals who feel that youth involved with the justice system by committing delinquent acts and/or status offences are afflicted with a myriad of issues. It has become increasingly evident that their mental health, educational and social disabilities have often been inadequately assessed or addressed and hence their behaviour needs to be resolved by keeping in mind the immaturity of their age and their restricted capacities.
Measures that place the young offenders in the same category as adults are more likely to create a population of repeat offenders and fail to respond to the root causes of antisocial behaviour. Also with the growing realisation that most of these youth silently suffer from a variety of mental health problems, professionals have begun to seriously study both the prevalence of these disorders and how they might effectively by treated. According to a latest US national study of youthful offender laws, treating offenders under the age of 18 as adults in the criminal justice system makes it more likely that they will re-offend when  they emerge from prison.
The juvenile justice administration started functioning in Bangladesh with the enactment of the Children Act, 1974 and the Children Rules, 1976. The Children Act was enacted in 1974 and was enforced in 1976 only for Dhaka District and for other districts, it was enforced in 1980. At the same time, according to section 3 of the Children Act, 1974 the first juvenile court was established at Tongi correctional institution in 1978 for male child. But there were no juvenile courts (both male and female child) for other districts in Bangladesh. In fact, there was hardly any focus on the juvenile justice until 1990s in the media, administration and judiciary.
In 1990, after signing the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), 1989 juvenile justice issue was focused by the GOs and NGOs as an international issue. Thereafter, two juvenile courts established at Pulerhat, Jessore in 1995 for male children and the other at Konabari, Gazipur in 2003 for female children. Unfortunately many juveniles are still rotting in jails. In fact hundreds of Bangladeshi children are sent to jail every year and kept with convicted criminals in complete violation of the country's laws according to a recent report published jointly by Save the Children UK and a Bangladeshi human rights group, Odhikar.
According to the law of the land children accused of committing offences should be held either at a correction centre or in a remand home. Unfortunately the government itself violates this law every day while dealing with children being arrested or detained on criminal charges. Another worrisome phenomenon is many political parties use street children for their own narrow political end during strikes, picketing and other violent street protests.
Poverty brings many kids to the roads and the path of crime. Sometimes they are sent to rehabilitation or correction centres. However after being released from these centres they take the same path again they are not provided with any alternative way of income.
There are several ways to prevent the youth from committing crimes. School education plays an important role to teach the right values. There should be more educational books and programmes for the youth to tell them how to distinguish the right from the wrong. Mutual understanding between parents and children is also very important. Parental supervision and guidance are a key factor of self-cultivation. The two generations need to smooth away disagreement. Parents need to spend more time staying with their children.
Parents’ education especially the mother’s education matters a lot in the development of their children behaviour in a positive manner. The common saying that the best school for a child is the lap of a mother still holds true. The authorities should launch awareness programmes for the parents. Teenagers should be provided moral education as well as access to health educational and recreational activities in educational institutions and their neighbourhoods.
Media can play a vital role in order to educate parents and teens towards their moral responsibilities. In the correctional facilities the staff members needs to made more conscious about their duties because if they have an empathetic understanding of the delinquent issues, problems and needs then things will really improve.

The writer is Assistant Editor of The Independent and can be contacted at: [email protected]

 

There has been a disturbing increase in criminal incidents involving young people in Bangladesh especially in the last few years

The problem of juvenile delinquency

Just before the Eid ul Azha there was a significant increase in mugging and snatching. And in many cases those involved in these crimes were in their early to mid teens. Also there are increasing reports of many juveniles committing violent crimes, especially rapes. The increasingly high rates of juvenile delinquency are a great problem in modern societies across the globe and Bangladesh is no exception. There has been a disturbing increase in criminal incidents involving young people in Bangladesh especially in the last few years. Violent behaviour can have several triggers. Parental conflict, broken families, child abuse, poor parental supervision and delinquent peers, coupled with the carefree attitude of the youth in schools and colleges are often the precursors to youth involvement in crime. Famous Indian anthropologist Ashis Nandy states Youth crime is an inevitable part of urban growth. The giant uprooting in the name of development has led to a breakdown of community ties and as a consequence results in spiralling crime. The disconnect between aspiration and opportunity causes social disruptions that ultimately lead to youth turning to crime. One of the major reasons of the high rates of juvenile delinquency is the negative influence of commercialised mass media. Publishers of books or film or TV producers are more concerned with profits than with the quality. Thus books or movies may have negative effects on children. Once the children are exposed to violence or bad and dirty ideas are introduced into their mind, there will be lifelong harm. Modern kids are more independent than their elders. When this tendency goes to an extreme, problems arise. Some of the young want to throw away all the traditional principles and beliefs, most of which are actually good for them. They are reluctant to listen to the advice from their elders generation. A recent UNESCO study reveals boys fascination for aggressive icons. There is a desensitisation to violence. Some youths see it as a solution to day-today problems. Influenced by these violent images, many young people feel they can get away with anything. This mistaken notion that crime is a low risk and high gain endeavour is their motto. A newly emerged theory puts the blame on biology. It says Generation Next is growing up faster physically. Girls and boys now attain puberty at a younger age than previous generations did. But emotional development has not kept pace with physical maturity. The hormonal disturbance often makes young people turn violent, Even in the correctional facilities for children and teens most young offenders are treated as common prisoners and they have to stay with the criminals. Not only are the living conditions extremely vulnerable but officials also treat them abusively. Many disturbing reports about torturing, serious ill-treatment and sexual abuse of children by personnel of correctional facilities are common. Our teenagers are our future but due to poverty and lack of essential facilities, food items, shelter, clothes, education and proper guidance and justice system of the society many become professionals criminal. The atmosphere in many correctional facilities is not conducive for reformation, and in fact may toughen or entrench criminal propensities. The system may end up creating a new underclass of potential criminals with the psychological effects of staying under bleak, hope-denying conditions. Juvenile correctional facilities must be made more humane. The fundamental difference between the juvenile justice system and the criminal justice system is that since its inception the rehabilitation of juveniles is considered to be the primary goal of the juvenile justice system while that for the adults has been retribution. Juvenile courts also tend to consider the background of the offender before passing sentence while the adults are held accountable for their actions regardless of background. But few of these advantages exist for the juvenile delinquents here. There are not only a high number of children in prisons detained in poor conditions but more concernedly, often together with adult offenders and thus extremely vulnerable to abuse and ill-treatment as said earlier. The need to treat young people as a group dissimilar to adults when it comes to delinquency is supported by the theories of a growing diverse group of professionals who feel that youth involved with the justice system by committing delinquent acts and/or status offences are afflicted with a myriad of issues. It has become increasingly evident that their mental health, educational and social disabilities have often been inadequately assessed or addressed and hence their behaviour needs to be resolved by keeping in mind the immaturity of their age and their restricted capacities. Measures that place the young offenders in the same category as adults are more likely to create a population of repeat offenders and fail to respond to the root causes of antisocial behaviour. Also with the growing realisation that most of these youth silently suffer from a variety of mental health problems, professionals have begun to seriously study both the prevalence of these disorders and how they might effectively by treated. According to a latest US national study of youthful offender laws, treating offenders under the age of 18 as adults in the criminal justice system makes it more likely that they will re-offend when they emerge from prison. The juvenile justice administration started functioning in Bangladesh with the enactment of the Children Act, 1974 and the Children Rules, 1976. The Children Act was enacted in 1974 and was enforced in 1976 only for Dhaka District and for other districts, it was enforced in 1980. At the same time, according to section 3 of the Children Act, 1974 the first juvenile court was established at Tongi correctional institution in 1978 for male child. But there were no juvenile courts (both male and female child) for other districts in Bangladesh. In fact, there was hardly any focus on the juvenile justice until 1990s in the media, administration and judiciary. In 1990, after signing the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), 1989 juvenile justice issue was focused by the GOs and NGOs as an international issue. Thereafter, two juvenile courts established at Pulerhat, Jessore in 1995 for male children and the other at Konabari, Gazipur in 2003 for female children. Unfortunately many juveniles are still rotting in jails. In fact hundreds of Bangladeshi children are sent to jail every year and kept with convicted criminals in complete violation of the countrys laws according to a recent report published jointly by Save the Children UK and a Bangladeshi human rights group, Odhikar. According to the law of the land children accused of committing offences should be held either at a correction centre or in a remand home. Unfortunately the government itself violates this law every day while dealing with children being arrested or detained on criminal charges. Another worrisome phenomenon is many political parties use street children for their own narrow political end during strikes, picketing and other violent street protests. Poverty brings many kids to the roads and the path of crime. Sometimes they are sent to rehabilitation or correction centres. However after being released from these centres they take the same path again they are not provided with any alternative way of income. There are several ways to prevent the youth from committing crimes. School education plays an important role to teach the right values. There should be more educational books and programmes for the youth to tell them how to distinguish the right from the wrong. Mutual understanding between parents and children is also very important. Parental supervision and guidance are a key factor of self-cultivation. The two generations need to smooth away disagreement. Parents need to spend more time staying with their children. Parents education especially the mothers education matters a lot in the development of their children behaviour in a positive manner. The common saying that the best school for a child is the lap of a mother still holds true. The authorities should launch awareness programmes for the parents. Teenagers should be provided moral education as well as access to health educational and recreational activities in educational institutions and their neighbourhoods. Media can play a vital role in order to educate parents and teens towards their moral responsibilities. In the correctional facilities the staff members needs to made more conscious about their duties because if they have an empathetic understanding of the delinquent issues, problems and needs then things will really improve. The writer is Assistant Editor of The Independent and can be contacted at: [email protected]