Juveniles are the most susceptible segment of society. They react sharply to any social problem. Scarcity of basic needs, lack of parental attention, and any social crisis touch them so deeply that many of them cannot cope with the abnormal situation.
They respond to social anomalies in ways not approved by social norms and law. Some of them even form gangs and commit crimes, both individually and collectively. Some of them choose an aberrant life pattern and develop juvenile subcultures to exhibit their resistance to the injustice done to them.
Evolution Juvenile Delinquency and Juvenile Justice
The Root Causes of Juvenile Delinquency
Juvenile delinquency cannot be considered apart from social reality. Social malfunctioning causes an increase in juvenile delinquency and the emergence of juvenile subculture, indicating that the children have been subjected to malnourishment.
If the dominant culture of society fails to accommodate all the children sufficiently, the deprived young folk will stand up with their own sub-culture.
Different countries have already experienced this reality. Juveniles’ resistance through delinquency and aberrant lifestyles reminds us that social institutions need to be reorganized, and the causes of juveniles should be specially taken care of.
Historical Evolution of Juvenile Policing
The 19th century was characterized by rapid social change and huge population growth. America started encountering a variety of people with different languages, customs, and religions.
Diverse conditions and a life of anonymity created more opportunities for crime, compelling municipal governments to think of changes in the police departments. By 1870, all big cities had full-time police departments. In the early part of the 20th century, police departments established specialized units to deal with juveniles.
With this specialization, female officers were given the responsibility to look after “runaway, truant, and delinquent children, (and to) check on amusement parks, dance halls, and disorderly houses, and otherwise discourage youngsters from pursuing criminal careers.”
Many big city police forces had created Juvenile Bureaus by 1924. This trend continued into later decades due to an increase in delinquent gang activity among juveniles.
The Impact of Economic Conditions on Juvenile Delinquency
As an offshoot of social disorganization, the slum juveniles in downtown Chicago created a network of gangs with a distinctive culture. The Wall Street crash and the Depression of the 1930s worsened the overall economic condition, causing severe social disorganization in America. It also aggravated the situation of juvenile delinquency.
Young people in America developed a culture of criminal gangs, expanding their criminal activities to different parts of the country. Economic deprivation, a class-oriented social structure, and a consumerist ethos caused an increased rate of juvenile delinquency that has been continuing for decades.
Youth Subcultures and Their Historical Context in the UK
During the early nineteenth century’s urban and industrial revolutions, modern complaints against juveniles started to appear. Youth cultures in Britain are considered a post-Second World War phenomenon, but they have existed for far longer.
Childhood was separated from adulthood from the seventeenth century onward. In the course of time, the physical, moral, and sexual development of young people became important with the recognition of childhood as a separate category. People realized that juveniles required protection.
As the two phases in the life cycle – childhood and adulthood – were progressively separated, so did the necessity to recognize adolescence, an intermediary phase, increase. Adolescence became important during the course of the nineteenth century.
The development of formal education in schools and significant changes in the family paved the way for adolescence to become important. With the development of market capitalism and the growth of individualism in philosophical, political, and religious thought, changes in family structures emerged. Consequently, the family was insulated into a private and domestic unit.
The Emergence of Youth Subcultures and Delinquency
Modern adolescence, as has been mentioned, appeared in the nineteenth century. The first youth subculture emerged from among the urban working-class young people. By the turn of the century, young people had more leisure time and enjoyed considerable economic independence in the new cities and manufacturing towns.
During this time, concerns about delinquency and hooliganism emerged. Juvenile delinquency results from deficient self-control and insufficient control by the parents.
Poor social conditions and inadequate opportunities for constructive use of leisure were identified as causes of juvenile delinquency. Juvenile crime, as suggested by most official indicators, increased steadily during the 1930s and rose sharply during the Second World War.
Because of the blackout, high wages for youth labor, family disruption, and the closure of schools and youth clubs, juvenile crime became high.
Post-War Social Reconstruction and Its Impact on Juvenile Delinquency
After the Second World War, social reconstruction started and continued well into the 1960s. The aim of this reconstruction was the creation and maintenance of a new social order. The consequences of war
and continuing inequality were the causes of social disorder. War and the post-war situation had a considerable impact on the family and children. The solution, therefore, lies in successful economic management and reduction of inequality.
From about 1955, the number of known juvenile offenders began to rise considerably. Increasing affluence created an opportunity for young people to enjoy a substantial degree of autonomy, leading to the growth of youth culture. The ‘Teds’ were the first major post-war subcultures. Rock ‘n’ roll appeared with quiffs, long jackets with velvet collars, bootlace ties, drainpipe trousers, and suede shoes.
International Perspectives on Juvenile Rights and Justice
There are International Rules, Conventions, and Guidelines that have defined the rights of children. All these instruments ponder over children as a special category of human beings.
The United Nations has taken a number of initiatives to set standards for the treatment of children who come into conflict with the law. They also set an ideal for the administration of juvenile justice. Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice (The Beijing Rules) 1985 provide minimum conditions for the treatment of juveniles who come into conflict with the law.
The Convention on the Rights of the Child and Its Implications
The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) 1989 is a comprehensive international document that deals with the rights of the child. It also sets a standard for the state parties when children conflict with the law.
Under Article 2 of the Convention, state parties are under an obligation to respect and ensure the rights of each child, irrespective of the child’s or his/her parent’s or legal guardian’s race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national, ethnic, or social origin, property, disability, birth, or other status.
Guidelines for Protecting Juveniles and Preventing Delinquency
UN Guidelines for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of their Liberty 1990 apply to all institutions, namely institutions for health, welfare, or juvenile justice, which detain any person under the age of 18 years.
The Guidelines stand for the least possible use of deprivation of liberty and do not encourage the detention of children in prisons and other confined institutions.
The Guidelines also underscore the necessity to separate children from adult prisoners. The best possible welfare of the children should be the prime concern of the institutions, which should work in a way that develops self-respect and a sense of responsibility among the juveniles to promote their smooth return to society.
The Global Challenge of Implementing Juvenile Justice Standards
The above-mentioned Standard Minimum Rules, the Convention, and the UN Guidelines provide for children’s rights, the best possible welfare of children, children who come into conflict with the law, and the administration of juvenile justice.
They insist on ensuring the welfare of the children who conflict with the law.
The actions taken against them must be commensurate with the nature of the offense and the context in which the child committed the crime. They argue that the aim of the juvenile justice system should be to protect the rights of the children who come into conflict with the law and their reintegration into their societies.
The international instruments require that the deprivation of liberty should be utilized as a last resort, and there ought also to be sufficient alternative measures for the rehabilitation of juveniles.
The Lack of Enforcement of International Juvenile Justice Standards
The international Conventions set standards before the state parties, but they do not automatically guarantee their enforcement in their domestic sphere. The international standards, therefore, lack binding force.
Though the international Conventions set certain responsibilities for the ratifying states, there is no formal obligation on their part to implement the provisions of the Conventions. In this context, the state parties should develop enabling mechanisms for giving effect to international standards.