Juvenile delinquency

● Juveniles are defined as any person under the age of 18 years.

● Juvenile delinquency refers to the antisocial or criminal activity of the child (below 16
years of age for boys and 18 years for girls) which violates the law. In true context,
that same activity would have been a crime if it was committed by the adult.
● Juvenile delinquency is also known as “juvenile offending,” and each state has a
separate legal system in place to deal with juveniles who break the law.

DEFINITION OF A JUVENILE AND JUVENILE DELINQUENCY

● Initially, Section 2(a) of The Juvenile Justice Act, 1986,defined a juvenile or a child as
a person who has not completed 16 years of age if he is a boy and a person who has
not completed the age of 18 years if she is a girl.
● Later, Section 2 of The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015
defines a juvenile or a child as a person who has not completed the age of eighteen
years.
● Under the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015, a child in conflict with the law means “a child
who is alleged or found to have committed an offence and who has not completed
eighteen years of age on the date of commission of such offence.

Types of juvenile crimes

1. Individual juvenile crimes: Individual delinquency refers to all delinquent activities
undertaken by a juvenile on his or her own. The source of the problem is found inside
the criminal themself. They engage in delinquent behaviour in the first place to attract
attention from family or peers.
2. Circumstantial child crimes: Circumstantial delinquency offers a unique viewpoint.
The notion is that delinquency is not deeply established and that the motivations for
delinquency and the methods for reducing it are frequently straightforward. Because
of less developed impulse control and/or lower reinforcement of familial limitations, a
young individual engages in delinquent conduct without a profound commitment to
delinquency, and because they stand to lose relatively little even if detected.
3. Organised child crimes: Organised child crimes are formally structured
organisations that commit organised delinquencies. This refers to a system of
principles and conventions that drive young people’s behaviour when they exhibit
delinquent behaviours.
4. Group supported child crimes: Delinquencies are committed in this sort in the
company of others, and the cause is found not in the individual’s personality or in the
delinquent’s family, but in the culture of the individual’s home and neighbourhood.

CAUSES OF JUVENILE DELINQUENCY

Socio-economic reasons
1. Broken homes: Death of one or both parents, chronic sickness or insanity,
desertion, or divorce can all break up a family. Interaction at home is a critical
component of a child’s socialisation.
2. Poverty: A substantial percentage of delinquent youngsters originate from
low-income families. They perpetuate their crimes as gang members. Poverty forces
 both parents to work outside the home for lengthy periods of time in order to earn
their daily bread. There will be no one to look after the children. Such youngsters
may join up with gangsters, either knowingly or unconsciously, and become criminals.
3. Friends and companions: As the child grows older, he/she ventures out into the
neighbourhood and joins a playgroup or peer group. He/ she will very certainly
become a delinquent if he/she joins a group or gang that supports delinquent
tendencies. Adolescents also commit crimes as a result of poor friendships.
4. Beggary: Juvenile misbehaviour is frequently caused by beggars. The majority of
child beggars originate from either very impoverished backgrounds or shattered
homes. These youngsters are robbed of their parents’ much-needed love and
attention. They realise that the only way to satisfy their wants and meet their
requirements is to engage in deviant behaviour. As a result, they become
delinquents.

Psychological reasons
1. Mental illness: According to certain criminologists, there is a strong link between
mental illness and crime. Some studies have looked at teenage patients and
discovered that they had a variety of mental illnesses. Treatment, not punishment, is
required for a youngster. Psychopathic personality, according to some mental
therapists, is the root of juvenile crime in India. A psychopathic child is born into a
home where love control and affection are completely absent.
2. Personality traits: Personality qualities and a criminal proclivity have also been
proven to have a strong link. Personality is a means for a person to adapt to their
circumstances. In this adaptation, criminal youngsters engage in criminal actions.
3. Individualised emotional issues: Mental health issues and emotional
maladjustment are significant contributors to juvenile crimes. Delinquent youngsters
may suffer from feelings of inadequacy and jealousy. As a result, delinquents are not
born delinquents, rather, they become delinquents as a result of societal conditions
and personal flaws.