Juvenile delinquents in Indian scenario: Issues and prospects

Abstract

Delinquency’ signifies deviant behaviour, a behavioural pattern which violates institutional expectations, that is, expectations, which are shared and recognised as legitimate within a social system. The word has been preferred for use, with respect to children, while excluding the use of words ‘crime’, ‘criminal’ and ‘offence’ from the purview. The object is to view the ‘problem child’ from a broader perspective of (anti-) or (un-) social behaviour that the child encounters with legal intervention; but with a liberal, welfare oriented approach (Government of India, 1999). The term ‘delinquency’ appears to be very comprehensive and represents an umbrella for a wide variety of socially disapproved behaviour that varies with time, place and the attitudes of those assigned to administer the law. The word ‘delinquency’ is a broader term which includes all ‘offending acts’ prescribed by law. Statistics from ‘Crime in India’ reflects that juvenile delinquents are associated with different types of property offences as per the Indian Penal Code, expecting counterfeiting, and they are largely intercepted for cheating, theft, robbery and dacoity, reflecting ‘economic criteria’ of causation. Among violent offences affecting body, they are apprehended for sex offences, assaults, rioting, kidnapping and murder. Juvenile delinquency covers anything from small crimes-a student who bunks school repeatedly, biting a classmate, shirking from home work, getting late to class, writing on school walls, cheating in tests, bullying classmates, fighting, cursing teachers-to a very serious crime like theft or even murder. This paper is based on the review of various literature and authors field experiences.