People paying even a whisper of attention to the TV news or a daily paper must be horrified to learn of the crimes perpetrated by young children in their teens, such acts of crime from petty shop lifting to homicide, rape and robbery indulged in by young children are often referred to as juvenile delinquency which has been rising relentlessly - a graph plotting the rate of criminal offences indulged into by youngsters in their teens over recent decades would look like a ski slope in profile.
Juvenile delinquency is a complex social problem that significantly impacts all members and processes of a social structure. Delinquency refers to a set of behaviors that are not in line with collective practices and/or ethics of the dominant social group.
Criminologists, social scientists and other intellectuals, concerned as they are, have uniformly forecast a horrible future.
It would be appropriate to quote former US President Bill Clinton who once said “We know we have got about six years to turn this juvenile crime thing around or our country is going to be living with chaos. And my successors will not be giving speeches about the wonderful opportunities of the global economy. They will be trying to keep body and soul together for people on streets of the cities.”
As far as crime is concerned, it turns out that not all children are born equal. Not even close. Decades of studies have shown that a child born into an adverse family environment is far more likely than other children to become a criminal.
Needless to say that juvenile delinquency has become a menace all over the world and for the entire human civilization. This has to be tackled on all conceivable fronts viz. parents and families, social, innovative policing, judiciary, media and legislature.
A study conducted in USA goes to indicate that roaring 1990s economy, proliferation of gun control laws, legalization of abortion helped reduction in juvenile delinquency more than policing.
In a country like India education, poverty alleviation and improvement in land distribution system would go a long way in addressing this social menace. Our media too needs restraint and refrain from making a Robin Hood of every hoodlum.
Juvenile delinquency is a complex social problem that significantly impacts all members and processes of a social structure. Delinquency refers to a set of behaviors that are not in line with collective practices and/or ethics of the dominant social group.
Criminologists, social scientists and other intellectuals, concerned as they are, have uniformly forecast a horrible future.
It would be appropriate to quote former US President Bill Clinton who once said “We know we have got about six years to turn this juvenile crime thing around or our country is going to be living with chaos. And my successors will not be giving speeches about the wonderful opportunities of the global economy. They will be trying to keep body and soul together for people on streets of the cities.”
As far as crime is concerned, it turns out that not all children are born equal. Not even close. Decades of studies have shown that a child born into an adverse family environment is far more likely than other children to become a criminal.
Needless to say that juvenile delinquency has become a menace all over the world and for the entire human civilization. This has to be tackled on all conceivable fronts viz. parents and families, social, innovative policing, judiciary, media and legislature.
A study conducted in USA goes to indicate that roaring 1990s economy, proliferation of gun control laws, legalization of abortion helped reduction in juvenile delinquency more than policing.
In a country like India education, poverty alleviation and improvement in land distribution system would go a long way in addressing this social menace. Our media too needs restraint and refrain from making a Robin Hood of every hoodlum.
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