Revisiting Juvenile Justice with Victim Lens

Abstract

Juvenile offenders also remain victims of multifaceted and complex social needs, and hence termed as children in conflict with law in India. Statistically, juvenile offending as well as juvenile victimization continues to be a persistent problem too. Children being in their vulnerable age in both scenarios of offending or being victims can have long-lasting impact; consequently, emphasis on developmental victimology becomes essential and unavoidable in a structured and safe setting. The dynamics that may place a child to come in conflict with law can also place a child at risk of being a victim. Juvenile crime victimization, therefore, needs a relook towards their intertwined relationship without excluding the other. Around various jurisdictions, victimology has been given a vital role within the juvenile justice (JJ) system, namely circle sentencing, victim–offender mediation and reconciliation programmes, wherein all stakeholders including the victim move towards a collective satisfaction. Through the present study, the effort would be placed on answering the viability of victim-based approach in JJ: Whether in the absence of a safe structured setting such reconciliation and mediation programmes can prove effective towards restoration? How victim-based justice can be included in cases of violent or serious and heinous offences?