INTRODUCTION

Juvenile delinquency is an anti-social behavior or act which differs from the

normal model of set of laws and parameters, culture, custom which society in broad-
spectrum does not conform. Juvenile delinquency generally refers to youth behavior which
is against norm and regulations of society, which if left unchecked would give rise to
criminality.

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

The saying an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure would clearly manifest the
importance of misbehavior deterrence among our youth.

By engaging in lawful, socially useful activities and adopting a humanistic orientation

towards society and outlook on life, young persons can develop non-criminogenic attitudes.
The successful prevention of juvenile delinquency requires efforts on the part of the entire
society to ensure the harmonious development of adolescents, with respect for and
promotion of their personality from early childhood.

Young persons should have an active role and partnership within society and should not be
considered as mere objects of control and socialization. Furthermore, the well-being of
young persons from their early childhood should be the focus of any preventive program.

Purposes of studying Juvenile Delinquency:

The research and analysis of juvenile delinquency is focused on its causes, taking into
consideration the impact on the family, community, school and society as a whole. It is also
concerned with the measures which all spectrum of human society must undertake to check
it. The foregoing are significant objectives in studying it:

a) To determine the nature and extent of juvenile delinquency in the Philippines:

b) To determine its impact to criminality;

c) To ascertain the various causes, conditions that leads to delinquency; and factors and

d) To formulate and adopt reasonable and realistic measures to suppress it.

The need for and importance of progressive delinquency prevention policies and the
systematic study and the elaboration of measures should be recognized. These should
avoid criminalizing and penalizing a child for behavior that does not cause serious damage
to the development of the child or harm to others. Such policies and measures should
involve:

(a) The provision of opportunities, in particular educational opportunities, to meet the

varying needs of young persons and to serve as a supportive framework for safeguarding
the personal development of all young persons, particularly those who are demonstrably
endangered or at social risk and are in need of special care and protection;

(b) Specialized philosophies and approaches for delinquency prevention, on the basis of
laws, procedures, institutions, facilities and a service delivery network aimed at reducing the
motivation, need and opportunity for, or conditions giving rise to, the commission of
infractions;

(c) Official involvement to be pursued primarily in the overall interest of the young person
and guided by fairness and equity;

(d) Safeguarding the well-being, development, rights and welfare of all young persons;

(e) Consideration that youthful behavior or conduct that does not conform to overall social
norms and values is often part of the maturation and growth process and tends to
disappear spontaneously in most individuals with the shift to adulthood;
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(f) Awareness that, in the prevalent opinion of experts, labeling a young person as "deviant",
"delinquent" or "pre- delinquent" often contributes to the development of a consistent
pattern of undesirable behavior by young persons.

Community-based services and programs should be developed for the prevention of

juvenile delinquency, particularly where no agencies have yet been established. agencies
of social control should only be utilized as a means of last resort.

CHAPTER 1
THE NATURE OF DELINQUENCY

Juvenile Crime is a terminology used to generally denote various offenses committed by

children or youths under the age of 18. Such acts are at times referred to as juvenile
delinquency. Children's offenses characteristically include aberrant and anti-social acts,
which would be considered crimes if committed by adults, and status offenses, which are
less serious misbehavior such as truancy and parental disobedience. Both are within the
jurisdiction of the Family Court/Juvenile court; more serious offenses committed by minors
may be tried in criminal court and be subject to prison sentences.

History

Since olden times enlightened legal systems have distinguished between juvenile
delinquents and adult criminals. The young members of society by and large were not
considered morally responsible for their behavior. Under the Code Napoléon in France, for
example, limited responsibility was ascribed to children under the age of 16.
Notwithstanding the perceptible humanity of some early statutes, however, the punishment
of juvenile offenders until the 19th century was often severe. In the U.S., child offenders
were treated as adult criminals. Sentences for all offenders could be inconsiderate and the
death penalty was occasionally imposed.

Children were treated as non-persons until the 1700's. They did not receive special
treatment or respect. Discipline at that time is what we now describe as abuse. There were
some major theories about life before the 1700's. The first assumption is that life was
difficult, and you had to be fierce to survive. The people of that period in history did not
have the conveniences that we take for granted. For example, the medical practices of that
day were primitive in comparison to present-day medicine. Marriages were more for
convenience. rather than for child-bearing or romance.
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The second notion was that infant and child mortality were high. It did not make sense to
the parents in those days to create an emotional bond with children. There was a strong
chance that the children would not survive until adulthood.

The beginning of Childhood.

At the end of the 18th century, "The Enlightenment" appeared as a new cultural transition.
This period of history is sometimes known as the beginning of humanism and reason.
People began to see children as flowers, which needed fostering in order to bloom. It was
the invention of childhood, love and nurturing instead of beatings to stay in line. The youth
had finally begun to emerge as a distinct group. It started with the upper-class, who was
permitted to attend colleges and universities.

Innovations

Throughout all time there has been delinquency. It may not have had the delinquency label,
but it still existed. In ancient Britain, children at the age of seven were tried, convicted, and
punished as adults. There was no special treatment for them, a hanging was a hanging.
This dates back with the classical period. Juvenile crime is mentioned as far back as
ancient Sumeria and Hammurabi, where laws concerning juvenile offenders first appear in
written form.

The first institution dedicated for the treatment and confinement of juveniles, the House of
Refuge, was founded in New York City in 1824 so that institutionalized delinquents could be
kept apart from adult criminals. By the mid-19th century other state institutions for juvenile
delinquents were established, and their populations soon included not only young criminals
but also first time and less serious offenders and dependent children. The movement
spread quickly throughout the U.S. and abroad. These early institutions were often very
harsh and punitive.
In the second half of the 19th century amplified awareness was given to the need for
special legal procedures that would protect and guide the juvenile offender rather than
subject the child to the full force of criminal law. Massachusetts in 1870 and 1880 and New
York in 1892 made possible special hearings for children in the courts. As the U.S. juvenile
justice system began to progress, jurisdiction over criminal acts by children was transferred
from adult courts to the newly created juvenile courts. The first such court was established
in Chicago in 1899. One of the principal reasons for the new system was to avoid the
unkind treatment previously imposed on delinquent children. An act of wrongdoing by a
minor was seen as a sign of the child's need for care and treatment rather than a
justification for punishing that child through criminal penalties. In addition to the juvenile
court, other innovations in working with juvenile delinquents have appeared in the 20th
century, including child-guidance clinics, juvenile-aid bureaus attached to police
departments or other official agencies, and special programs in schools.

Industrialization.

Industrialization set into motion the practices needed for modern juvenile delinquency. The
country had gone from agriculture to machine-based labor-intensive production.
Subsistence farming quickly turned into profit making. People who were displaced from
their farm work because of machinery were migrating to the city to find work.
Urbanization.

There was a massive increase in the amount of movable goods that were produced. These
transient goods were easy to steal. The stealing of these goods made property crime rise
immensely in these urban centers. The wealth of the upper- class increased, and stealing
became a way of living. These large urban centers also produced another problem. The
work place was now estranged from the home. During the tough times both parents took
employment. There was also very little for the youths to do, especially when school was not
in session. It was then that youths were becoming increasingly
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unsupervised. These youths were largely unemployed. Without supervision, and with
movable goods easily available, stealing became a way of life..

The massive influx of people to these urban areas overwhelmed society. The factories
could not keep up, and unemployment became a factor. Poverty became widespread.

Salvage Attempts.

Poorhouses were created to keep youthful offenders away from trouble. The idea behind
them was to take the children of the "dangerous" classes out of their "dangerous
environment." Kids were thought to be salvageable needed to be saved. The majority of
these children were rounded up for the crime of being poor, not because they committed a
crime. These houses, sometimes referred as reform schools, were very harsh. This was
contradictory to the ideas that they needed nurturing and love. In New York, houses of
refuge were created to do the same. The houses eventually became overfilled, and children
were sent out West as indentured servants. As many as 50,000 children were shipped out.
Some of them never were allowed to have contact with their parents again.

Industrialization and urbanization played a tremendous role in the modern era of Juvenile
Delinquency. A lot of these factors are true today. Many more farms are going bankrupt.
Unemployment is still a factor with the youth of today. We are a culture that values material
wealth over and above all. Youth who have no money to live the way they want will often
turn to crime as a way to satisfy themselves. As our nation changes, the way in which
juveniles are treated will also have to change. The current trends in Juvenile Delinquency
have an impact on how we view the problem.

CATEGORIES OF DELINQUENT YOUTH

Accidental - Less identifiable in personality and temperament, essentially a law abiding

citizen but happens to be at the wrong place at the wrong time., This may be credited to
peer pressure or pure curiosity on the part of the young person.
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Asocial- Children whose acts are manifested by vile, cruel and atrocious acts and conduct
for which they feel no remorse. Timely intervention is necessary so as to prevent them from
becoming ruthless criminals capable of acts of violence and heinous crimes.

'Neurotic - The anti-social behavior of the youth is a direct result of internal conflict and pre-
occupation with his own emotion and mood., Therapy and counseling is necessary to
control this type of delinquency, failure to do so will be risky since this anti-social behavior
makes the child prone to commit serial crimes upon adulthood.
'Social - Refers to an aggressive teens who resents authority, whether be it parental, school
regulations or ordinances and laws passed by the proper legislative authorities. The most
common reason for such dislike is focused to anyone who tries to control their conduct.

METHODOLOGY TOWARDS DELINQUENCY

Biogenic Approach - This view gives an explanation that law violations and delinquency is a
result of some physical defects. It advocates that youth misconduct is a direct result of
faulty biology. Hence the support from family members, friends and acceptance of the
community may solve the problem on delinquency.

/Psychogenic Approach - This argues that the critical factors in delinquency are personality
problems, to which the misbehavior is presumed to be the response. This advocates the
use of counseling to curtail juvenile misbehavior.

Sociogenic Approach - Ascribes the distinction and variation and delinquency pattern to
social structures. The youth misdeed may be attributed to their learning process cultured in
on youth gangs, stigmatizing contacts with governmental and social control agencies and
other similar variables.

TYPES OF YOUTH BEHAVIOR DISORDERS:

Anti-social behavior - it may be best characterized by disobedience and disrespect for

authority.

Truancy Students failing to attend their classes for 20 days without any reasonable cause.
This may be attributed to the school's proximity to place of vices, unattractive school life,
failing grades, strict and unreasonable mentors, family and domestic problems; fear of
school bullies and fear of punishment.

Vagrancy-Refers to children who are unable to cope with their family life and chooses to
leave the family home. This is a direct result of Feeble-mindedness, disagreeable home
conditions, broken homes and misdirected fancy for adventures.

Emotional disorders - Such misbehavior's is related to fear reactions, temper tantrums and
jealousy reactions.

Lying - The penchant for not telling the truth clearly manifest

that the following are lacking: love, security, attention, respect,

acceptance, praise and happiness.

Stealing This criminal act comes from loose morals in the home, lack of economic security
wherein the parents are unable to provide for the needs of their children, undisciplined
desire for possession and pleasure seeking and parental indifference.
CAUSES OF BEHAVIORAL DISORDERS:

Predisposing factors- Internal propensities which may not be considered as a criminal act
unless the attempt was made.

'Precipitating factors- Refers to conditions and elements which provokes crimes or factors
such as personal problems, curiosity, ignorance, necessities and diseases.

SOCIALIZATION PROCESSES

Emphasis should be placed on preventive policies facilitating the successful socialization

and integration of all children and young persons, in particular through the family, the
community, peer groups, schools, vocational training and the world of work, as well as
through voluntary organizations. Due respect should be given to the proper personal
development of children and young persons, and they should be accepted as full and equal
partners in socialization and integration processes.

GENERAL PREVENTION

Comprehensive prevention plans should be instituted at every level of Government and

include the following:

(a) In-depth analysis of the problem and inventories of programs, services, facilities and
resources available;

(b) Well-defined responsibilities for the qualified agencies, institutions and personnel
concerned in preventive efforts;

(c) Machinery for the suitable co-ordination of prevention efforts between governmental and
non- governmental agencies;

(d) Policies, programs and strategies based on analytical studies to be continuously

monitored and carefully appraised in the course of implementation;

(e) Methods for effectively reducing the opportunity to commit delinquent acts;

(f) Community participation through a wide range services and programs;

(g) Close interdisciplinary co-operation between national, State, provincial and local
governments, with the involvement of the private sector representative citizens of the
community to be served, and labor, child-care. You sent health education, social, law
enforcement and judicial agencies in taking concerted action to prevent juvenile
delinquency and youth crime;

(h) Youth participation in delinquency prevention policies and processes, including recourse
to community resources, youth self-help, and victim compensation and assistance
programs;

(i) Specialized personnel at all levels.