Juvenile Delinquency in Perspective

Since time immemorial, man's greatest hope has always been to live in universal peace. This hope has often been thwarted by the existence of crime, which in itself is a difficult reality to come to terms with. It becomes even more difficult to deal with when crime is perpetrated by the youth. In legal jargon, the term is juvenile delinquency.

Although many contend that delinquency should be associated more with deviant cultural and social behavior, in the legal sense, juvenile delinquency is equated with minors committing acts that are legally considered as crimes when committed by adults.

Of course, the boiling controversy over legal provisions used to curb juvenile delinquency can easily be understood, considering that juvenile delinquents are really just still big kids. The trouble however is that being too lenient may not serve the good of the public. At some point there must be some form of control over juvenile delinquents otherwise, there will be no deterrent to performing unconscionable acts.

This point becomes especially relevant considering that there is a considerable rise in the cases of juvenile delinquency. The cause for such an increase and the causes for delinquency in adolescents itself is not that clear at all.

It is supposed that delinquency may be peculiar to an individual and that there should be no other factor that should be blamed for its existence. As the study of society would point out however, rarely are social realities independent of the society itself. This would mean that by nature, juvenile delinquency is caused by factors in society. Perhaps the influence and modeling patterns of equally delinquent parents are a plus factor in developing delinquency in adolescents. It is also possible that family and peer violence may lead to occurrences of juvenile crime. While it ,may be unfair to blame parents for how their children turned out, it is a fact that the lack of parental guidance may lead to the development of deviant behavior in children which might translate to juvenile delinquency.

Depending on the place, the law does provide guidelines for the treatment of juvenile delinquents. Generally, the law would look into such considerations as status offenses and segregation.

In status offenses for example (that is, offenses which are not considered criminal when committed by adults), the law says that the authorities may not detain adolescents for such offenses. The problem with this is how to contain status offenses and how to effectively reunite a status offender with his family.

Segregation is also a standard procedure followed in most countries. Those teenagers who have actually been proven juvenile delinquents may be placed under custody but may not, under any circumstances be kept in the same room or immediate location as adult criminals. The main problem with this provision is that not all towns can afford to maintain separate facilities for delinquents of all ages.

For all the criticism against it, it is to be supposed that the law, which in itself has always upheld justice in the best way possible, presently has the best solution for curbing juvenile delinquency.