EDUC 207

CURRENT ISSUES
BLOCK B
JULY 31,2021
6:00 PM

REFLECTION

CRIME AND JUVINILE DELINQUENCY

If I will show my emoji, I will show this sad face because I really felt sad
about the video I watched about crime and Juvinile Delinquency. I can say that the Philippines is
one of the countries with high crime and I think it is because of poverty and unemployment to
meet the dire need. My heart was touched by the video about parental adultery. And because of
adultery the good family organization is destroyed where the children are greatly affected and
lose the attention and guidance of the parents and because of the breakdown of the family is
ruined children and they commit crime.
Adultery is against not only the law of man but especially the law of God. We must obey
not only the law made by man but even more we must obey the law made by God so that we can
have a good and peaceful life.

RESEARCH
The foundation of a nation begins with the education of the children since they are
considered one of the most important assets of the nation. Every effort should be made to
promote their welfare and enhance their opportunities for useful and happy life. The
molding of the child’s character starts at the home. Consequently, every member of the
family should strive to make the home a wholesome and harmonious place as its
atmosphere and conditions will greatly influence the child’s development (Villanueva,
2006).
Crime happens anywhere in this world and it excuses no one, whether rich or
poor, adults to youths and juveniles. The general public sees criminals as gruesome
adults. But increasing number of youth getting involved in criminal activities alarms the
society as a whole (“Juvenile Delinquency”, 2009).

Common felonious activities like riots, theft, robbery, carnapping, murder,

homicide, rape, and others are committed by young adults and even mature persons, but
through these days the youth are involved in most of these crimes (“Juvenile
Delinquency”, 2009). This issue is not as big as the economic crisis the society is
experiencing right now; however, this has always been a perennial issue to the
community and to the country as a whole.
According to Villanueva (2006), juvenile delinquency refers to an anti-social act
or a child/minor/youth’s behavior which deviates from the normal pattern of rules and
regulations, custom and culture which the society does not accept.

The prevention of juvenile delinquency is an essential part of crime prevention in

society. Guevara and Bautista (2008) quoted that, “an ounce of prevention is better than a
pound of cure”, this clearly manifests the importance of misbehavior deterrence among
the youth.

The peace officers in the country are concerned with all types of youth in a
community but the major portion of work with the youth is more on delinquency and
prevention activities. The youth apprehended by peace officers after the commission of a
crime are directly turned over to the City Social Welfare Development Office since they
are considered as a minor and are not criminally liable. They are under the protection of
Republic Act (R.A) 9344 otherwise known as Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006.

The figures from the Philippine National Police showed a total of 2,158 cases
involving underage offenders which were reported to the PNP Women and Children
Protection Center. Half of them have theft cases committed from January to December of
2008. Crimes involving minors rose by 18%. Cases of drug use also rose from 113 in
2007 to 145 in 2008. This means that there is an increase at about 28% (Quismundo,
2009).
According to Laudie Salud A. Raras, Officer-in-charge from Ozamiz City Social
Welfare Development office, that from the year 2007 – 2011 there is a decrease of
reported cases involving the children-in-conflict with the law. The gathered data show
that most of the time majority of the child-in-conflict with the law are males while the
females as law breaker occupy lesser in number. It can be noticed also on the information
obtained that though cases of breaking the law was reported to the office responsible on
the issue regarding the youth, there were only very few formal suit filed against them and
sometimes there is even no case filed. This means that the other offended party is not
interested in filing a case in the proper court to prosecute the youth offenders (Appendix
F).
In order that the youth would become productive elements of the society, they
must be reminded that they have committed mistakes so that the expected reformation
follows. In the cases where there is commission or omission of an act which are criminal
in nature, the arresting officer is duty bound to file the appropriate complaint since there
acts are considered in violation against the state and the people of the Philippines in
which they are deemed to be the representative.
Hossain (2011) claims that juvenile delinquency is almost an outcome of rapid
urbanization and industrialization and has almost become a universal problem in most of
the industrialized countries. No single cause or simple explanation for the development of
delinquent behavior but there are different causes of delinquency namely: family aspect
of delinquency, physical and biological factor.
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An online article entitled Juvenile Delinquency (2009) exposes that “ A youth, for
the sake of being a part of something that could protect him will join a gang and throw
chaos to the society that reject him; a youth, who just wants to prove something will be a
rebel to his family; a youth, who just wants to escape from his miserable life will do
foolish crimes; and innocent youth yet dangerous; a naïve youth yet mature; a youth
supposed to study at school, expected to be the next leader, an asset turned liability of our
society”.
In addition, another article “Juvenile Delinquency”, (2003) finds that children
who receive adequate parental supervision are less likely to engage in criminal activities.
On the other hand, dysfunctional family settings characterized by conflict, inadequate
parental control, weak internal linkages and integration and premature autonomy are
closely associated with juvenile delinquency. Further, the article elaborates that families
involved in criminal activities tend to push their younger members towards violating the
law. More than two-thirds of those interviewed had relatives who were incarcerated; 25%
was a father and another 25% a brother or sister.
According to Green (2005), the social-science evidence points strongly to the
influence of parents as the chief underlying cause of juvenile crime. A recent survey
found that criminal parents are much more likely to raise criminal offspring; 43% of
prisoners had family members who had been convicted and 35% had a family member
who had been in jail.

The harsh and abusive rearing of the child also contributes to the development of
violent behavior. Maltreated children tend to commit more crime in adulthood compared
to non-maltreated children (Honkatukia & Kivivuori, 2006).
Moreover, Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act (R.A. 9344, Sec.4, 2006) stated
“child/youth refers to any person under the age of eighteen (18)”. This act deals with
children at risk and children in conflict with the law. This provides child-appropriate
proceeding, including programs and services for prevention, diversion, rehabilitation, re-
integration and aftercare to ensure their normal growth and development. Furthermore, in
Sec.6 of this Act states that “a child 15 years old or under at the commission of the
offense shall be exempted from criminal liability. A child above 15 years but below 18
years old is likewise exempted from criminal liability but be subjected to an intervention
program”.

The National Institute of Justice (2005) reports that offenders age 13 and under
are more likely to commit crimes in pairs and groups than 16 and 17 year old offenders.
About 40% of juvenile offenders commit most of their crimes with others. When young
offenders affiliate with offenders who have previously used violence, the result appears
to be an increase in the likelihood that they will subsequently commit a violent crime.

Becroft (2009) has find out that association with anti-social peers become a
training ground for delinquent behavior and increases the chance of the youth to become
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delinquent. A juvenile gang member considers his group as his family, such associations,
an individual acquires a sense of safety and security (“Juvenile, Delinquency,” 2003).

On the other hand, The National Academies Press (2000) claims that student’s
commitment to school and learning contributes to their academic success. However,
schools operate in a complex social context characterized in many instances by limited
resources. Schools in urban, poor, disorganized communities experience more disorder
than other schools. The availability of drugs, alcohol, or weapons, weak or inattentive
school leadership and poor administration of discipline correlate with school disorder and
a school’s inability to cope with and solve the problem.
On the other hand, Montaldo (1999) finds an analysis from the Federal Bureau of
Investigation’s National Incident-Based Reporting System data that from 1997-1998 19
% of the victims of nonfatal violent crimes were victimized by a juvenile offender, either
a juvenile acting alone, multiple juvenile, or juvenile and adult offenders acting together.
About two-thirds (62%) of the victims of nonfatal violence committed by juvenile
offenders were themselves younger than 18, and about one-third (38%) were adults. Most
(95%) of the victims of sexual assaults committed by juveniles were younger than 18, as
were 43% of victims of robberies by juveniles, 53% of aggravated assaults, and 61% of
simple assaults.

In the report released by The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse
(CASA) at Columbia University (2010), four of every five children and teen arrestees in
state juvenile justice system are under the influence of alcohol or drugs while committing
their crimes. In their five year study of Criminal Neglect: Substance Abuse, Juvenile
Justice and The Children Left Behind, they have found that 1.9 million of 2.4 million
juvenile arrests had substance abused and addiction involvement. The findings include
that 92% of arrested juveniles who tested positive for marijuana and 14.4% for cocaine.
The report revealed that drug and alcohol abuse is implicated in 64% of violent offenses,
72% of property offenses and 81% of assaults, vandalism and disorderly conduct.

On the other hand, prohibited drugs are only one of the factors that may influence
the youth’s behavior since Roberts, Christenson, and Gentile (2003), found a positive
correlation between amount of MTV (music television) watching and physical fights
among third to fifth-grade children (as cited in Anderson et al., 2003).
In the article of Soriano (2001), she stipulates that theft and robbery are crimes
against property were most of the crimes today are done by minors. This indicates that
economic difficulties drive them into criminal activities. She further adds that the major
factor that pushes the youth towards delinquency is poverty together with family conflict
and negative peer influence.

In the Philippines, Verwijs (2002) finds that in the final years of the Marcos era,
crime became hardened in the street. Delinquent youth doubled from 3,814 in 1987 to 6,
778 in 1989. The majority (59.1%) apprehended were between 17 and 21 years old, while
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another 31.8% were between 13 and 16 years old. This situation is based on data given by
the Department of Social Welfare.
Juvenile delinquency refers to the anti-social act or behavior which is against the
norm, culture, customs and regulations of the society and is committed by the youths
(Guevara and Bautista, 2008).

According to Villanueva (2006), “Juvenile delinquency is a major problem that a

society suffers from and will continue to suffer until there is a significant social and
economic change taking place”.

Ngale (2009) emphasizes that “monitoring becomes increasingly important as

children move into adolescence and spend less time under the direct supervision of
parents or other adults and more time with peer.” Smith, Tolan, Loeber & Henry (1998)
find that parental conflict and paternal aggressiveness predicted violent offending,
whereas, lack of maternal affection and paternal criminality predicted involvement in
property crimes.

In addition Ngale (2009) says that “juvenile delinquent acts are the direct
consequences of their family’s economic disempowerment, permissive parenting style,
and parent’s heavy job-time overload”. Moreover, Ngale (2009) reveals that in the
absence of moral, psychological and financial viability at home, the children are forced to
seek to “survive” beyond the family context. Juvenile delinquency in this case is an
escape from a family system which is neither empowered nor empowering.

Villanueva (2006) declares the four factors that contribute on juvenile

delinquency. These four factors are:

Family. The first and most basic institution in the society where the child learns
to curb his desires and to accept rules that define the time, place and circumstance.
Child’s personal needs are satisfied in a socially acceptable manner in the family.
However, the child tends to become delinquent as influence by his/her own family due to
(1) faulty development of the child, (2) lack of parental guidance/monitoring, (3) lack of
maternal affection, (4) unfair treatment, and (5) parental rejection and broken home.

Environment. This is where the child is influenced after his/her first highly
formative years. His/her friends in the community may influence him/her to become
delinquent. Eventually, he/she becomes victim of his/her own environment, attitude,
dress, tastes, ambitions, and even behavior which have been already influenced by those
anti-social acts recognized in their environment. Some of the causes are, (1) associations
with criminal groups, (2) alcoholism and drug addiction, (3) crime inducing situation that
causes criminalistics tendencies, and (4) imitated instinct like selfishness, violence and
anti-social wishes.
School. Unlike the family, the school is the public instrument for training young
people. Therefore, schools are more directly accessible to change the youth through the
development of new resources and policies. Schools are the principal institutions for
developing young people to the goals and values of society. The failure of the school in
character development of the children is one of the instances that the school will
contribute to juvenile delinquency. In addition, the use of methods that create the
conditions of failure or frustrations on the part of the students, truancy and lack of
facilities for curricular and extra-curricular activities are also some of the instances that
caused juvenile delinquency.

Other departments or agencies of the government. They also create factors that
influence the youth to become delinquent, such as: (1) political interference of the higher
positions, (2) unfair decisions of the court, (3) police carelessness and unfair treatment,
(4) influence from the newspapers, movies, t.v, radio, comic, and other magazines.
The causes of juvenile crimes are usually found at each level of social culture,
including society as a whole, social institution, groups and organization and interpersonal
relations. Juveniles’ choice of delinquent activities is triggered by different factors like:
economic and social factors, cultural factors, urbanization, family, media, exclusion, and peer
influence (“Juvenile Delinquency”, 2003).
peer influence (“Juvenile Delinquency”, 2003).