ABPD 1303

FAKULTI SAINS
SOSIAL GUNAAN
(FASS)

ADOLESCENT PSYCHOLOGY
JUVENILE DELINQUENCY IN MALAYSIA

By

PADLYALPATTANI

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Content;-

1.0 Introduction.

2.0 Factors/Causes of Juvenile Delinquency.

3.0 Treatment/Preventions of Juvenile Delinquency in Malaysia.

4.0 Juvenile cases in Malaysia.

5.0 Conclusion.

6.0 References.

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1.0 Introduction.

The nation has long been plagued by juveniles delinquency. Although much has been said
and debated, the issues has not received its due attention. The problem of delinquency
among juveniles is reported to be on the rise from time to time. The actual number of
cases is estimated to be much higher that that reported.

The rise in social deviance among adolescents can be viewed from various aspects.
Throughout 1995, 4012 adolescents were remanded in prison and Hendry Gurney School
involved in crime where 96.2% were male adolescents. There is an increase in the
number of male adolescents involved in criminal misconduct, however statistics show
that the involvement of female juveniles in crime has also increased 161.5% from 325
cases in 1974 to 850 cases in 1995.

The statistics of substance abuse among adolescents are becoming increasingly common.

Gender Jan - Dec 2010 % Jan - Dec 2009 Different

2010/2009
Male 23,062 97.55 15,458 49.19%
Female 580 2.45 278 108.63%
Total 23,642 100 15,736 50.24%
Sources: ‘Laporan Dadah Disember 2010’ Agensi Anti Dadah Kebangsaan (AADK).

The statistics of the Prison Department of Malaysia show that of the 2,964 juveniles who
are serving prison sentences: 1,231 (41.6%) are Malays; 110 (3.7%) Chinese; 314
(10.6%) Indian; 197 (6.6%) other races including the Bumiputera in Sabah and Sarawak,
and 1,112 (37.5%) foreign juveniles.

The economic indicator is often used as the basis for evaluating social problems.
Although there are other variables related to social problems particularly the inter and
intra processes of migration, urbanization, cultural shock and the fluidity of the family
institution, the increase in the poverty rate remains the main indicator for the increase in
social problems. However, there is no specific or accurate indicator that can be used as
the main gauge for evaluating and defining social problems. Apart from that, although

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various parties particularly the government of Malaysia and non-government bodies have
taken relentless and integrated steps to overcome the problem, there is no effective
approach to date. Social problem are most common among adolescents, the future leaders
of the nation.

2.0 Factors/Causes of Juvenile Delinquency.

Juvenile delinquency is a situation when children do something against the law. There are
various definitions of juveniles depending on their group and age. According to the
Prison Act 1995, a juvenile or a young offender is defined as “a prisoner who is under the
age of 21 years”. The Prison Department of Malaysia detains juveniles aged between 14
and 21 years in prison as young prisoners or in Hendry Gurney School as students. The
Child Act 2001 defines child as “a person under the age of 18 years and below” and the
age of criminal responsibility at the age of ten. The Child Protection Act 1991 defines a
child as “a person under the age of 18 years and below”. The Children and Young Persons
Employment Act 1996 defines a child as a person age between 10 and 14 years, and a
young person as one aged between 14 and 16 years. From the legal point of view the
definition for juveniles can be concluded as a group of adolescents under the age of 21
years and who have criminal responsibility at the age of 10 years.

There are four factors that contribute to human development and can be grouped into bio-
psychosocial factors: biological factors, psychological factors, social-cultural factors and
life-cycle factors. From point of view, we believe that all these factors interact with each
other as we grow up and will shape and contribute to the development of children’s
personalities.

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The increase in criminal misconduct among adolescents is influenced by several factors

particularly involving those directly involved with adolescents development such as
parents, the school, the family, social institutions, the community and the government.

a) Family Ties or Dysfunctional Family Dynamics.

Families have also experienced changes with the last 25 years. More families
consists of one-parent households or two working parents; consequently, children are
likely to have less supervision at home that was common in the traditional family
structure. The obsession in pursuing material gains has caused a rift in family ties.
Spiritual ties among family members have become eroded and as a result some members
suffer from emptiness in life and this will result in more serious social problems. Parents,
who have physical illnesses or psychological problems may also not function well as
mothers or fathers. This also can lead to poor parenting skills, resulting in adolescents
misbehavior.

b) Family Residence/Small Overcrowded Home Condition.

The size of the family residence is another contribution factor to juvenile

misconduct. Based on the experience and factors collected at Hendry Gurney School, a
majority of the social degradation cases among adolescents are those who live in small
and overcrowded homes who lives in small and overcrowded homes which have an
insufficient number of rooms. The discomfort of living in such a residence causes the
occupants to seek comfort outside the home particularly in shopping complexes and
places of entertainment which encourage the freedom to mix among adolescents.

c) Peer Group Influence.

Peer group influence is another contributing factor to social deviance among

adolescents and juveniles. The urge to try something new and provocation from the peer
group often result in adolescents being involved in criminal activities. The habit of
imitating a certain culture, for example the punk and skinhead cultures, without
evaluating the good and bad of those cultures, can also lead adolescents to involve
themselves in social deviance. They are more inclined to be influenced by their peer

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group and treat advice and criticisms from their family as something that restricts and
bores them.

d) Poverty

Poverty is closely connected with criminal misconduct. The strain of financial

burdens is often used as an excuse by offenders to commit crimes such as stealing and
snatching. The experience and observation of young prisoners and juveniles who are
serving prison sentences shows that a majority of them come from families with a
monthly income below RM1000 and with four to seven siblings.

e) Academic Background.

Statistics at the Hendry Gurney School and the Prison Department of Malaysia show
that 122 (30%) of the inmates received a primary education and 410 (70%) received a
secondary education. Of the total, 310 of them left school after lower secondary
education.

f) Religious Education

Based on the experience with and observation of juvenile detainees, the Prison
Department of Malaysia found superficial religious knowledge to be a contributing factor
to juvenile misconduct, where 80% of the juveniles have a weak foundation in religious
knowledge, 18% have secondary level religious education and 2% tertiary level religious
education.

g) The individual/Psychological Disorders.

The individual factors, namely attitude, low self-esteem, mental and physical health
problems, a low level of education, the inability to cope with stress and to solve
problems, drug abuse and pornography are contributing factors to social deviance among
adolescents. This is due to the fact that adolescents require guidance and support in the
process of developing their identity and in determining their goals in life.

h) The Environment.

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The environment refers to a wide area. Individuals live and depend on the
environment in determining their way of life. The environmental factors which
encompasses the high rate of poverty, weak social support system, community tolerance
of crimes, limited social amenities, peer group influence, social rejection and the influx of
criminal sources, particularly pornography, are contributing factors to criminal behaviour
in society.

Sub-conclusion.

The Prime Minister’s Department stated in Parliament that over 15 crimes cases were
reported per hour in the average crime index, which means there are 368 cases being
reported in a day. Many cities in developed countries like the UK and US are also
grappling with the problem of rising crime by kids. Does this mean that as Malaysia
moves toward a developed nation, this unhealthy trend of rising juvenile crimes is set to
increase further?

3.0 Treatment/Preventions of Juvenile Delinquency in Malaysia.

The juvenile justice system tries to treat and rehabilitate youngsters who become
involved in delinquency. The methods can be categorized as community treatment and
institutionalization. In most instances community treatment involves placing the child on
probation. When the child is not believed to be harmful to others, he or she is placed
under the supervision of an officer of the juvenile court and must abide by the specific
rules that are worked out between the officer and the child. In some instances community
treatment also takes the form of restitution, in which the child reimburses the victim
either through direct payment or through some form of work or public service.

As they are young offenders, juveniles must be given the opportunity to correct their
wrongdoing through the process of rehabilitation. This is due to the fact that most of the
problems involving juvenile misconduct are the result of the shortcomings of the social
system itself, particularly the family institution and the spirit of neighbourhood in the
society. The Prison Department of Malaysia has developed and implemented a
rehabilitation module that is specially targeted at young prisoners known as the Putra

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Module and a rehabilitation plan targeted at juveniles in Hendry Gurney School with
attitude building, knowledge and skills development as the main objectives. This is to
ensure that the juveniles can be rehabilitated to be normal individuals again.

a) The Putra Module (Prisoners and Young Detainees)

The Putra Module was developed with an integrated approach namely;

physical and spiritual rehabilitation. The Prison Department of Malaysia has identified
the four main programmes in the module, namely the Discipline Building Programme,
the Character Reinforcement Programme, the Skills Programme and the Community
Programme. The implementation of the rehabilitation programmes is supported by
spiritual activities, counseling, good citizenship and moral/civic education.

Phase 1 - Discipline Building Programme

The Discipline Building Programme was developed with the main objective
to produce inmate who are discipline and abide by all the regulations, are active and who
practice a healthy way of life. The programme is implemented for a period of three
months.

Target Process Activity

To prepare offenders to  Offenders’ personal  Marching
serve their sentence data and reason for
effectively committing crime are  Civic/moral classes.
recorded.  Basic regulations.
 To get offenders’ vow  Spiritual.
for good conduct.
 Counseling.
 Offenders are
categorized according  Cleaning work.
to sentence.
 Basic personal hygiene.
Phase 1 - Discipline Building Programme

Phase 2 - Character Reinforcement Programme.

The Character Reinforcement Programme is the core treatment in the Putra

Module. The programme is implemented between 6 and 12 months where the stress is on

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the development of self-identity and positive attitudes through the Halaqah approach,
therapeutic community and counseling, academic and Malaysian Skills Certificate basic
classes. The main objective of the programme is to produce inmates who possess strong
self-identity when facing the pre-entry process while in prison and when they are
released. In the Halaqah approach, inmates are divided into many groups depending on
their knowledge of Islam. Ustaz or other religious teachers, who have much knowledge of
the religion, will monitor the inmates’ progress.

Target Process Activity

To build a strong self  Offenders are given  Religious talks.
identity and to instill good activities according to
moral values among interest, problems and  Counseling.
offenders. background.  Moral and civic
 Offenders are exposed education.
to basic training and  Team work.
practical work.
 Basic training for
Malaysia Skills
Certificate.
 Spiritual.
 Academic.
Phase 2.- Character Reinforcement Programme.

Phase 3 - Skills Programme

Phase 3 of the Putra Module is the Skills Programme. The main objective of
the programme is to produce inmates who are skilled and possess certificate as well as
those who excel in sports. The main activities in the programme include certified skills,
vocational skills and sports excellence skills. Apart from that, spiritual activities and
counseling are still the main activities in this phase.

Target Process Activity

To enable offenders to be  Through the SKM and  SKM, CIDB Theory
independent after their CIDB Learning and practical classes.
release. System, etc.
 Vocational Skills.
 Vocational training
through work at joint-  Counseling.

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ventures and trust  Moral and civic

accounts. Education.
 Work which involves  Spiritual.
low costs aimed at
sharpening skills.  Academic.
 Sports Excellence.
Phase 3. - Skills Programme

Phase 4 - Community Programme.

The last phase of Putra Module is the Community Programme. The main
objective of this programme is to prepare the inmates to face the stigma attached to the by
society after they are released and to encourage public participation to assist in the
process of assimilation of prisoners into society.

Target Process Activity

To prepare inmates to face  Work outside of the  Work outside the
life beyond prison and to prison. prison.
assimilate with society.
 Living skills and  Give educational talks.
income.
 Individual and family
 Sports and community counseling.
activities outside the
prison.  Spiritual.

 Crime prevention  Job interviews.

activities.  Realisation programme-
Message from the
prison.
 Camping for uniformed
units.
 Visit to towns.
 Spritual (Qiamullail).
 Short holiday
 Freedom to obtain
license.
Phase 4- Community Programme.

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Others possible solutions.

There also have been few suggestions that being proposed to deal with the issue of
juvenile in the country which includes amongst other by strictly enforce the school
canning punishment. Since many cases involving juvenile delinquency occur due to bad
influence received through social network, there also has been suggestion to give more
power to the government to control or having the censorship of the internet. Others there
also a suggestion to introduce special “Islamic Juvenile Law” in the country to
specifically dealt with issue delinquency as Malaysia implemented ‘dual system of law’
namely common law and islamic law as provided under the Federal Constitution of
Malaysia.

4.0 Juvenile Cases in Malaysia.

As stated earlier, Malaysia has been plagued with the issue of juvenile delinquency for
many years. Adolescent delinquency, which includes such actions as misbehaving in
school, gambling, smoking cigarettes, using drugs, and carrying weapons, is becoming a
serious social issue. Malaysia is confronting increased adolescent delinquency, in fact
with the introduction of the new medium of social communication technology in internet
like twitter, instagram, facebook and others, the number involving juvenile delinquency
has increased very dramatically in the country over the years. These adolescents under 18
years of age have committed crimes such as assault, rape, molestation, sodomy, incest,
burglary, vandalism, gang activities, theft, and murder. The involvement of adolescents in
delinquency is an act of risky behaviors that threatens the well being of families and
communities (Jessor, 1998). In fact, delinquency has increased the fiscal costs and social
costs which affect a nation's economic progress (DeLisi, 2005). The statistics released by
the Malaysia Ministry of Home Affairs (MOHA) which registered an increase number of
5,305 juvenile delinquency cases where it went up from 3,399 cases in 2012 to 8,704
cases in 2013 (please refer to table 1).

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Violence crime cases Number of reported cases Number of reported cases

(2012) (2013)
Murder 33 74
Arm gang robbery with 24 101
weapon.
Arm gang robbery without 238 685
weapon.
Rape 386 824
Arm robbery 2 8
Robbery 39 116
Causing injury 325 745
Property crime cases Number of reported cases Number of reported cases

(2012) (2013)
Stealing 295 836
Car theft 41 150
Motorcycle theft 1,244 3,173
Heavy vehicle theft 11 32
Snatch theft 19 87
Others 446 985
Street crimes 296 888
Total 3,399 8,704
Table 1 - Statistic on the reported juvenile delinquency cases in Malaysia. (Source -
Ministry of Home Affairs, Malaysia)

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According to the statistics, three categories of violent crime cases like rape, causing
injury and arm robbery without firearm committed by juvenile seen a very sharp
increased within a year mostly committed by adolescence between the age of 8 until 15.

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Today in
Malaysia
many

adolescents are psychologically, socially, and physically healthy. They perform well in
several areas such as in academics and in sports. Despite these facts, some adolescents
are seeking professional help to confront the complexity and severity of the problems
they face (Chong, 2004, July 16). The most prevalent problems affecting adolescents in
Malaysia today are emotional. More adolescents are stressed and unable to find interested
people to listen to their concerns (Chong, 2004, July 16). This scenario is worrying the
society as adolescent delinquency is becoming worse in Malaysia. Those who have
worked with juveniles for a decade found that many parents of delinquent adolescents are
not giving their children love and attention (Boosting, 2004, May 23; Penjenayah, 2004,
March 1). In fact, many researchers who conducted studies regarding drug addiction and
other risky behaviors on Malaysian youths found that one of the contributing factors to
this problem was the family (Baginda, 1984, April; Hadi, 1990, December; Nagaraja,
1984, April; Suppiah, 1984, April; Taha, Ridzwan, & Ahmad, 2004)

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“This is largely because of the degradation of moral value. Compared to the past, life was
much more simpler in the 60s and 70s, but now with the phase of modernization of the
Internet era, we can see that it had given a rise to juvenile problem, especially in cyber
gambling,” Tan Sri Lee Lm Thye, Malaysia Crime prevention Foundation vice-chairman.

5.0 Conclusion.

There is no single best solution to the issue concerning juvenile delinquency not in
Malaysia but in all countries all over the world. Social deviance among adolescents, no
matter the aspect of its definition, can not be separated from the fact that the problem has
its source at all levels of community and involves all members of the community. Thus,
each programme, module, approach and activity whether in the form of prevention,
rehabilitation, policy or social system development, must involve a role that is united,
thorough and continuous, requiring the full commitment of all levels including
individuals, families, society, social institutions, rehabilitation institutions, non-
government organizations, private bodies and the government.

Some research shows that a stable and supportive home life is essential to preventing
delinquency and on this theory educating parents and caregivers can be part of the
solution. Adult may be able to play a vital role by displaying positive and concerned
attitudes towards youth in their communities, and by getting involved in youth activities.
If politicians, corporate leaders, school administrators, as well as concern group and
individuals are all on more or less the same page when it comes to encouraging
appropriate engagement between youth and the large society, children often will stay out
of trouble. Each member of society must have the opportunity and desire to fulfill their
self potential in a healthy social environment in line with the objective of Vision 2020.

(3084 Words).

6.0 References

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Ahmad Ibrahim Ahilemah Joned. (1987). The Malaysian legal system. Kuala Lumpur:
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Anwarul Yaqin. (1996). Law and society in Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur: International Law
Book Services.

Barlow, H. D. and Ferdinand, T. N. (1990). Understanding delinquency. United States of

America: Harper Collins Publishers Inc.

Cheang, M. (1990). Criminal law of Malaysia and Singapore: Principle of liability. Kuala
Lumpur: Professional (Law) Books Publishers.

Cheong, C. W., Meng, M. H. Y., and Ramraj, V.V. (2005). Fundamental principles of
criminal law: Cases and materials. Singapore: LexisNexis

Chesney – Lind, M. and Shelden, R. G. (2004). Girls, delinquency and juvenile justice.
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Del Carmen, R. V. and Trulson, C. R. (2006). Juvenile justice: The system, process, and
law. United States of America: Wadsworth. Drowns.

Grisco, T., Vincent, G., and Seagrave, D. (2005). Mental health screening and assessment
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Henggeler, S. W. (1989). Delinquency in adolescence. Developmental Clinical

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Hollin, C. R. (1990). Cognitive – behavioral interventions with young offenders. United

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Jackson, M. S. and Knepper, P. (2003). Delinquency and justice: A cultural perspective.

United States of America: Pearson Education Inc.

Kaplan, H. B. (1984). Patterns of juvenile delinquency. Law and Criminal Justice Series,
vol. 2. United States of America: Sage Publication.

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Katkin, D. Hyman, D, and Kramer, J. (1976). Delinquency and the juvenile justice
system. North Scituate, Massachusetts: Duxbury Press.

Krisberg, B. and Austin, J. F. (1993). Reinventing Juvenile Justice. United States of

America: Sage Publications.

R. W. and Hess, K. M. (2000). Juvenile justice. Third edition. United States of America:

Wadsworth. Feld, B. C. (1999). Bad kids: race and the transformation of the juvenile
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Wu Min Aun. (1990). The Malaysian legal system. Kuala Lumpur: Longman Malaysia
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