Adolescents who break the laws and engage in illegal acts are called as Juvenile delinquents. Like other categories of disorders, Juvenile delinquency is a broad concept; legal infraction range from littering to murder. Adolescents become a juvenile delinquent after being judged guilty of a crime by a court of law. These delinquent behaviors may include; littering, returning home late, sibling fight, bothering passerby, abusive language, gambling, absence from home run away from home, theft robbery, dacoity, addiction, car-lifting, pick-pocketing, cell phone snatching, stealing, drug selling and murder etc.
There are different contributors of juvenile delinquency that includes child’s own personality characteristics or behavior pattern; aggression, restlessness and concentration problem, substance abuse, association with antisocial peers/negative identity, inferiority/superiority complex, intolerance and overconfidence etc. And another major contributors are family and community or neighborhood i.e. maltreatment, parenting errors (neglect, pampering), rigid, strict or dysfunctional parents, high rate of crime in community, family member’s involvement in crime, exposure of violence, poverty, lack of supervision by the elders etc.
Legally, a juvenile delinquent is one who commits an act defined by law as illegal and who is adjudicated “delinquent” by an appropriate court. The legal definition of is usually restricted to persons under 18, but states vary in their age distinction (Bartol & Bartol, 1986).
Findings of a research study conducted by Health Promotion and Therapeutic Communities revealed that 83 percent of youths detained in juvenile jails of Pakistan are involved in different drugs.
As per the statistics of Youthful Offender Industrial School (YOIS) Karachi or Juvenile prison for children (age between 15-18 years) there are 3592 cases of juvenile (age range 15-18) has been reported only YOIS Karachi and there average per month there are 85 juvenile cases registered. Superintendent YOIS mentioned that most of them come repeatedly here in similar cases. These children are involved in all sorts of crimes including; robbery, drugs selling, taking drugs, pick-pocketing, car-lifting, mobile snatching, dacoity, sodomy, and even murder, and the majority of them belong to lower socio-economic status.
FBI statistics revealed that in United States at least 2% of youths are involved in juvenile court cases. United States Government statistics indicates that 8 of 10 cases of juvenile delinquency involve males (Synder & Sickmund, 1999), (John W. Santrock, Socio-emotional Development in Adolescence page, Life-Span Development Eleventh Edition; 2008).
Many causes have been proposed, including heredity, identity problems, community influences, and family experiences. Erick Erickson (1968) believes that adolescents whose development have restricted them from acceptable social roles or made them feel that they cannot measure up to the demand of placed on them may choose a negative identity. For Erickson, delinquency is an attempt to establish an identity, although a negative one (John W. Santrock, Socio-emotional Development in Adolescence, Life-Span Development Eleventh Edition; 2008).
Family discord and inconsistent and inappropriate discipline are also associated with delinquency (Bor, McGee, & Fagan 2004). An increasing number of studies have also found that siblings can have a strong influence on delinquency (Bank, Burraston, & Synder, 2004; Conger & Reuter, 1996). In one recent study, high levels of hostile sibling relationship and older sibling delinquency were linked with younger sibling delinquency in both brother and sister pairs (Slomkowski & others, 2001).
Studies on the problem of the juvenile delinquency generally present two theoretical perspectives- sociological and psychological. Despite the fact that psychology and sociology focus on different aspects of crime (sociology stressed on the system, psychology on the person), both disciplines concentrate their attention on the theme of “control”. Psychology emphasizes the personal or inner control that is determined by super-ego or by learned behavior patterns. Sociology pays attention to the society or community institutions that have a direct effect on the processes of outward social control. According to Reiss, deviation depends both on the personal and social controls (Trojanowiez, Morash, 1992). The lack of social and personal control may result in crime involvement. There is no doubt that family is significant for both personal and social control.
Adolescence is a period of many transitions-transitions not only to adult roles and responsibilities but also to many of the problems and potential risks associated with adulthood (Sprinthall and Collins, 1995). Early adolescence is considered the most difficult timedur to profound physical, cognitive, and contextual changes. These changes occur simultaneously, affecting various areas of the young adolescent’s life in a manner that can be overwhelming. Middle adolescence occurs during the high school yers and late adolescence is a result of educational structure tht for many postpones the assumption of the adult responsibilities (Elliot and Feldman, 1990).
Adolescence has been described as a phase of life beginning in biology and ending in society (Petersen, 1988). Indeed, adolescence may bbe defined as theperiod within the life spar when most of a person’s biological, cognitive, psychological, and social characteristics are changing form what is typically considered child-like to what is considered adult-like (Lerner & Spanier, 1980). For the adolescent, this period is a dramatic challenge, one requiring adjustment to changes in the self, in family, and in the peer group. Longitudinal research shows that youth who encounter multiple life changes in early adolescence are more likely to experience emotional and behavioral problems (Simmons & Blyth, 1987).
Childhood conduct problems are a strong predictor of subsequent involvement in antisocial behavior. Results for a variety of longitudinal studies show that children who are aggressive and no compliant during elementary school are at risk for serious delinquency during adolescence (Caspi & Moffitt, 1995; Lober, 1982; Patterson, Reid, & Dishion, 1992).
Statistical data indicate that in virtually all parts of the world, with the exception of the United States, rates of youth crime rose in the 1990s. In Western Europe, one of the few regions for which data are available, arrests of juvenile delinquents and under-age offenders increased by an average of around 50 per cent between the mid 1980s and the late 1990s.The countries in transition have also witnessed a dramatic rise in delinquency rates; since 1995, juvenile crime levels in many countries in Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States have increased by more than 30 per cent. Many of the criminal offences are related to drug abuse and excessive alcohol use.
Statistical data in many countries show that delinquency is largely a group phenomenon; between two-thirds and three-quarters of all juvenile offences are committed by members of various groups. Even those juveniles who commit offences alone are likely to be associated with groups. According to data from the Russian Federation, the rate of criminal activity among juveniles in groups is about three to four times higher than that of adult offenders. Juvenile group crime is most prevalent among 14-yearolds and least prevalent among 17-year-olds. The rates are higher for theft, robbery and rape, and lower for premeditated murder and grievous bodily harm.
Available data show that delinquency and crime have strong gender associations. Police records indicate that the crime rates of male juvenile and male young adult offenders are more than double those of young females, and conviction rates are six or seven times higher. The number of male juvenile suspects for every 100,000 members of the designated age group is more than six times the corresponding figure for females; for those in the youth category the male-female suspect ratio is even higher, at 12.5 to 1.
Numerous studies indicate that alcohol use is a significant predictor of delinquency, especially aggressive behavior (Bachman and Peralta 2002; Barnes et al. 2002; Harrison et al. 2001; White et al. 2002; Zhang et al. 1997). This causal connection is based on psychopharmacological effects (selective disinhibition, cognitive-perceptual distortions, reduced intellectual functioning and self-awareness, inaccurate assessment of risks, and attention deficit) and situational factors (Chermack and Giancola 1997; Ito et al. 1996; Parker and Auerhahn 1998) associated with alcohol use. Several studies have shown that minor delinquent behavior normally precedes alcohol use; therefore, delinquency may be a cause of alcohol use (Elliott et al. 1989; Loeber, 1988; Zucker and Fitzgerald 1991; White, et al. 1993; White and Hansell 1996). Sometimes referred to as the ‘‘crime out-growth hypothesis,’’ this paradigm argues that alcohol and other substance use is a natural consequence of a delinquent lifestyle. That is, delinquent behavior provides the context and peer associations to facilitate future substance use.
Having delinquent peers greatly increase the risk of becoming delinquent (Dodge, Coie, & Lynam, 2006; Laird & others, 2005; Lauber, Marshall, & Meyers, 2005). Among the risk factors that increase the likelihood an adolescent will become a gang member are disorganized neighborhoods characterized by economic hardship, having other family members in a gang, drug use, lack of family support, and peer pressure (Lauber, Marshall, & Meyers, 2005). A community-peer model illustrates how family, school, and neighborhood risk and protective factors influence contact with peers, and how peers can serve as a pathway to delinquency (O’Donnell, 1998, 2000).
The use of alcohol and illegal drugs by juveniles is one cause of delinquency, as they are often compelled to commit crimes (usually theft) to obtain the cash needed to support their substance use.
According to the Monitoring the Future study (previously called the High School Senior Survey), which has measured the use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs by the Nation’s youth since 1975.
The danger of contracting HIV or other sexually transmitted diseases is increased for substance-abusing youth if they engage in high-risk behaviors, including the use of psychoactive substances (particularly those that are injected) or activities resulting from poor judgment and impulse control while experiencing the effects of mood-altering substances. Rates of AIDS diagnoses currently are relatively low among teenagers when compared with most other age groups. Nevertheless, because the disease has a long latent period before symptoms appear, many young adults with AIDS may actually have been infected with HIV as adolescents.
Depression, developmental lag, apathy, withdrawal, and other psychosocial disorders are frequently linked to substance abuse among adolescents. Users are at higher risk than nonusers for mental health problems, including suicidal thoughts, attempted suicide, completed suicide, depression, conduct problems, and personality disorders. Marijuana use, which is prevalent among youth, has been shown to interfere with short-term memory, learning, and psychomotor skills. Motivation and psychosexual/emotional development may also be influenced (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1992).
Many aspects of family life are jeopardized, sometimes resulting in family dysfunction. Siblings and parents are profoundly affected by alcohol- and drug-involved youth (Nowinski, 1990), who often drain family financial and emotional resources (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1992).
Possession and use of alcohol and other drugs are illegal for all youth. Because substance abuse and delinquency are inextricably linked, arrest, adjudication, and intervention by the juvenile justice system are eventual consequences for many young people engaged in such behavior. Substance abuse and delinquency often share the common factors of school and family problems, negative peer groups, lack of neighborhood social controls, and a history of physical or sexual abuse (Hawkins et al., 1987; Wilson and Howell, 1993).
Survey of Youth in Custody, 1987 (Beck, Kline, and Greenfeld, 1988) found that more than 39 percent of youth under age 18 were under the influence of drugs at the time of their current offense. More than 57 percent reported having used a drug within the previous month.
A study of 113 delinquent youth in a State detention facility found that 82 percent reported being heavy (daily) users of alcohol and other drugs just prior to admission to the facility; 14 percent were regular users (more than two times weekly); and 4 percent reported occasional use (De Francesco, 1996). Free (1994) showed that a weak school bond leads to involvement in minor delinquency, and minor delinquency leads to alcohol use. Likewise, Marcos et al. (1986) showed that an individual with a weak bond was more likely to have drug-using friends and individuals with drug-using friends were more likely to be substance users.
Findings of (M. Z. Khan, N. Prabha Unnithan, & Archana Dassi, 2007) on the basis of their study they have conducted in an Indian slum area, they found that drug use and alcohol use ranked on higher substances that lead children towards juvenile delinquency. Findings of (Jason A. Ford, 2005) indicate that there is a reciprocal relationship between alcohol use and delinquency during adolescents.
In an Indian slum context, and as reported by our respondents, the continuum of deviant acts may range from a fight among siblings to drug use and stealing. Drug use has the highest weight and, hence, is defined by our experts to be the most deviant behavior. Although picking pockets, gambling, and stealing are all illegal, our experts have ranked them as less serious in comparison to alcohol or drug use. Drug and alcohol use in the context of slum children, however, may be more disturbing for the experts. (M. Z. Khan; N. Prabha Unnithan; Archana Dassi, 2007) Drug use is stigmatized the most because it is often perceived as a gateway to other forms of deviance (Khan, 1985). Dare & Mallett (2009), found that approximately one in six of the youth had a substance abuse disorder.
Slums of Karachi are the hub of criminal gangs and they are involved in all sorts of crimes i.e. drugs, alcohol, theft, robbery, dacoity, car-lifting, street crimes, pick-pocketing, abduction, kidnapping, smuggling and child trafficking murder etc. All these children who are living in these slums are vulnerable to be a part of these groups and most of them are involved in crimes. These children are blessing for gangs, antisocial/state elements. Gangs, antisocial elements involved in such crimes and get benefit them due to the flexibility in laws for Juveniles.
According to the statistics of a Initiator: A Child Rights Non Governmental Organization (works for street children) mentioned that only in Karachi there are 300,000 children on streets and among them 35,000 are permanently on streets and they live and sleep on streets and they have no contact with their families. In Karachi there are 400 Afghan Colonies and 40 Bengali & Burmi Colonies and they are thickly populate slums and the habitants of these slums are deprived from basic facilities i.e. food, shelter, water and sanitation, healthcare, education and jobs and due to such issues the parents of these children are not able satisfy their basic needs and these children comes on streets where they become an easy target of antisocial groups and get involved in all types of crimes. These gangs involved them, in addiction, criminal activities and also abuse them physically and sexually and they are vulnerable of psychological problems and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and all other health problems.
Juvenile delinquency rate can be minimized by minimizing these factors and enhancing support system, attachment with family, provision of basic requirements to slum areas, effective teaching, provision of formal and non-formal education, high achievements at school, school connectedness, and low neighborhood crime rates. And it is very much important to work on their major causes i.e. peer pressure and substance abuse to alleviate crime and save our children form juvenile delinquency.
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