Dealing with juvenile delinquency

Juvenile courts should consider the background of the offender before passing sentence while the adults are held accountable for their actions regardless of background

If media reports are anything to go by there has been a significant increase in the number of juvenile crimes in Bangladesh. Understanding juvenile delinquency is important to make the masses understand what it really means and how to react to it. When deviant behaviour becomes continuous, chronic and widespread it gets perceived  as a significant part of the population as threatening to the general wellbeing of the society. Juvenile delinquency is a bio-psycho-social phenomenon, the concept is clear cut.
Two large predictors of juvenile delinquency are parenting styles and peer group association, predominantly with antisocial peer groups especially when adolescents are left unsupervised. 
Low socioeconomic status and poor school performance also directs a child towards delinquency. It is seen that high levels of serotonin gives an individual a difficult temper, poor self regulation and low resting rate which makes them fearless. Moreover, children with criminal siblings are more likely to be influenced by them and there is a chance that they start to follow the footsteps of the delinquent sibling.
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.
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.

 

Dealing with juvenile delinquency

Juvenile courts should consider the background of the offender before passing sentence while the adults are held accountable for their actions regardless of background

If media reports are anything to go by there has been a significant increase in the number of juvenile crimes in Bangladesh. Understanding juvenile delinquency is important to make the masses understand what it really means and how to react to it. When deviant behaviour becomes continuous, chronic and widespread it gets perceived as a significant part of the population as threatening to the general wellbeing of the society. Juvenile delinquency is a bio-psycho-social phenomenon, the concept is clear cut. Two large predictors of juvenile delinquency are parenting styles and peer group association, predominantly with antisocial peer groups especially when adolescents are left unsupervised. Low socioeconomic status and poor school performance also directs a child towards delinquency. It is seen that high levels of serotonin gives an individual a difficult temper, poor self regulation and low resting rate which makes them fearless. Moreover, children with criminal siblings are more likely to be influenced by them and there is a chance that they start to follow the footsteps of the delinquent sibling. 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. 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.