CRIM 105
CRIM 105
Juvenile
Is a person who has not reached adulthood or the age of majority (18). From this point,
it can be assumed that the term covers a child, an adolescent, a minor, a youth, or a
youngster below 18 years old.
Juveniles are generally regarded as immature or ones whose mental and emotional
faculties are not fully developed, thus making them incapable of taking full responsibility
of their actions. Because of their age standing, they are held to a standard of behavior
that is different from those adults. Juveniles are required to attend school between the
ages of 6 and 18; they are expected to obey their parents; they are forbidden to
purchase alcohol or cigarettes or drive motor vehicles; they may not marry without
parental permission; they cannot enter into business or financial contracts; they are not
permitted to vote, enter the military, or run away from home. Some jurisdictions place
other restrictions on juveniles, such as curfew, or laws against “incorrigible” or “immoral”
behavior. On the contrary, adults have the right to vote, to marry, to hold government
office, and to enter into contracts.
Juvenile Crime
In its simplest definition, “crime” is any specific act prohibited by law for which
society has provided a formally sanctioned punishment. This can also include the failure
of a person to perform an act specifically required by law.
Legally peaking, a crime is an illegal act committed by a person with a criminal intent.
Before the establishment of juvenile courts, children under the age of seven were never
held responsible for criminal acts. The law considered them incapable of forming the
necessary criminal intent. Children between the ages of 7 and 14 were generally
thought to be incapable of committing a criminal act, but this belief could be disproved
by showing that the youth knew that act was a crime or would cause harm to another
and committed it anyway. Children over the age of 14 could be charged with a crime
and handled in the same manner as an adult.
The first four categories are comparable in definition to crimes committed by adults.
Status offenses, on the other hand, are acts that only juveniles can commit and that can
be adjudicated only by a juvenile court. Typical status offenses range from
misbehavior/misdemeanor, such violations of curfew, underage drinking, running away
from home, and truancy, to offenses that are interpreted very subjectively, such as
unruliness and ungovernability (beyond the control of parents and guardians).
In the study of juvenile delinquency, there are existing questions that have to be
ascertained as regards to the following: whether the behavior is a manifestation of an
emotional problem, or the result of negative social factors, such as a broken family,
poverty, environment and other socio-economic factors that become the basis of a
delinquent personality. Socio-cultural factors influence personality formation. However,
a better understanding of the general field of delinquency can be learned by examining
the emotional disorders that produce delinquent personality system.
There are four aspects of the relationship between emotional disorder and
delinquency:
STAGES OF DELINQUENCY
a. Emergence – the child begins with petty larceny between 8 and sometime during
the 12th year.
b. Exploration – he or she then may move on to shoplifting and vandalism between
ages 12 to 14.
c. Explosion – at age 13, there is a substantial increase in variety and seriousness.
d. Conflagration – at around 15, four or more types of crime are added.
CLASSIFICATION OF DELINQUENCY
1. Authority – conflict pathway – begins at early age with stubborn behavior. This
leads to defiance and then to authority avoidance.
2. Covert pathway – begins with minor, underhanded behavior that leads to
property damage. This behavior eventually escalates to more serious forms of
criminality.
3. Overt pathway – escalates to aggressive acts beginning with aggression and
leading to physical fighting and then to violence.
A.
1. Occasional delinquents – these delinquents participate in a group. They have
common or similar characteristics. They are “pro-social”. They do what others are
doing.
2. Gang delinquents – they generally commit the most serious infractions, most
often sent of a correctional institution, and most often continuous in a pattern of
semi-professional criminal behavior as adults.
3. Maladjusted delinquents – the activity stems from personality disturbance
rather than gang activity or slum residence. They have “weak ego”, “the asocial,”
experienced early and severe parental rejection. They are disorderly, confused
and not dependable with pathological disturbances.
MODULE II
HISTORY OF CHILDHOOOD DELINQUENCY, THEORIES OF DELINQUENCY
“The history of childhood is a nightmare from which we have only recently begun to
awake. The further back in history one goes, the lower the level of child care, and the
more likely children are to be killed, abandoned, beaten, terrorized, and sexually
abused.” (DeMause, 1974)
Childhood dates only to somewhere between the 14th and 17th centuries. Prior to
this time, “small people” were either accorded no social presence at all, or were
regarded as miniature adults.
Children as “Non-Human”
Adult punishment for misdeeds – punishments for children were severe, even
death penalty for minor offenses.
Slavery and Apprenticeship – children were commonly sold into slavery,
prostitution and apprenticeship, sometimes as security on debts, or as political
hostages.
Morality, Sex and Prostitution – children were exposed to adult sexuality from
an early age, and even used as prostitutes.
The treatment of children in the past would be regarded as criminal today. These
treatments were normal by the standards of that today.
Roman Law and Canon (Church) Law – approximately two thousand years
ago, Roman Law and Canon Law made distinction between juveniles and adults
based on the notion “age of responsibility”.
Ancient Jewish Law – the Talmud (body of Jewish civil and religious laws)
specified condition under which immaturity was to be considered in imposing
punishment. There was no corporal punishment prior to puberty, which was
considered to be the age of twelve for females, which thirteen for males. No
capital punishment was to be imposed on those offenders less than twenty years
of age. Similar leniency was found among Muslims, children under the age of
seventeen were typically exempt from the death penalty.
Codification Of Roman Law – in 5th century B.C., this law resulted in the “twelve
tables” which made it clear that children were criminally responsible for violation
of law and were to be dealt with by the same criminal justice system as adults.
Punishments for some offenses, however, were less severe for young people
than for adults. Thus, theft of crops by night was a capital offense for adults, but
offenders under the age of puberty were to be flogged. Adults caught in the act of
theft were subject to flogging and enslavement, but youths received corporal
punishment at the discretion of a magistrate and were required to make
restitution.
Anglo Saxon Common Law (law based on custom or usage) – this law was
influenced by Roman and Canon Law, which emerged in England during the
eleventh and twelfth centuries.
The distinction made between adult and juvenile offenders in England at this time is
most significant. Under common law:
Children under 7 were automatically presumed innocent because of their age.
Children over 14 were automatically judged as an adult.
Children between 7 and 14 were presumed innocent because of their age, but
could be found guilty under certain circumstances.
These two types of juvenile institutions were established, the houses of refuge,
which housed juvenile offenders and the orphan asylums, which housed abandoned
and orphaned children. The purpose of separate institutions for juveniles was to
separate them from hardened adult criminals.
Albert K. Cohen was the first man who attempted to find out the process of beginning
of the delinquent subculture.
The period 1899 to 1967 was considered the era of socialized juvenile justice.
1. Demonological Theory – this was developed during the middle ages. Hence, it
is the oldest perspective of theory. It was based on the belief of primitive people
that every object and person is guided by a spirit. This theory promoted the
notion that persons should not be held responsible for their actions when they do
evil things because their body is possessed by evil spirits.
2. Classical Theory – postulated by Cesare Beccaria and Jeremy Bentham.
Classical theory was consistent with the utilitarian view that people weigh the
benefits and costs of future action before they decide to act. This was based on
the assumption that people are rational, have freewill, and therefore able to
choose.
It promoted the idea that people choose criminality the same way when they
choose criminality the same way when they choose conformity that youths commit
crime because they think or imagine that greater good things can be earned through
conformity. This is because people by nature are hedonistic. Hedonism is a doctrine
that pleasure is the highest good in life and that moral duty is fulfilled trough the pursuit
of pleasure.
Classicists have four good reasons why delinquent persons and offenders should be
punished:
B. Biological Theories
Early biological theories calm that criminal behavior is a result of biological or
genetic defect in the individual. Contemporary biological theories focus more on
variations in genetic and other biological factors in interaction with the environment, and
are less likely to refer to biological defects or abnormalities.
C. Psychological Theories
1.1 Freudan Psychoanalytic Theory – the proponent of this theory was Sigmund
Freud. Freud believed that people develop in a series of stages. When abnormalities
occur, the person is more likely to experience conflict. Conflict stems from the persons
basic drive (ID) and social controls. Because conflict is painful to confront, people tend
to push into their unconscious mind those experiences that produce conflict. Finally,
people use defense mechanism to handle personal conflicts.
The Four Elements in Freud’s Theory:
2. Anomie Theory
Advocated by Emile Durkheim, anomie is normlessness produced by rapidly
shifting moral values. This occurs when personal goals cannot be achieved using
available means.
Anomie refers to a breakdown of social norms and a condition where norms no
longer control the activities of members in society. Individuals cannot find their place in
society without clear rules to help guide them. Changing conditions as well as
adjustments in life lead to dissatisfaction, conflict and deviance.
3. Strain Theory
Strain theory contends that certain classes are denied legitimate access to culturally
determined goals and opportunities, and the resulting frustration results in illegitimate
activities or rejection of the society’s goal.
Sources of strain according to Robert Agnew include:
a. Strain caused by the failure to achieve positively valued goals.
b. Strain caused by the disjunction of expectations and achievements
c. Strain as the removal of positively valued stimuli from the individual
d. Strain as the presentation of negative stimuli
F. Situational Theories
a. Denial of responsibility
b. Denial of injury
c. Denial of victim
d. Condemnation of the condemners
e. Appeal to higher loyalties
Sykes and Matza’s theoretical model was based on the following observations:
1. Labelling Theory
Develop by Howard Becker, labelling theory views that youths may violate the law
for a variety of reasons including poor family relations, peer pressure, psychological
abnormality, and pro-delinquent learning experience. Regardless of the cause of
individual delinquent’s behaviors detected, the offenders will be given a negative label
that can follow them throughout life. These labels include “troublemaker”, “juvenile
delinquent”, “mentally ill”, “junkie”, and more.
H. Control Theories
5. Learning Theories
This set of theories advances that delinquency is learned through close relationship
with others. It asserts that children are born “good” and learn to be “bad” from others.
Learning theories hold that children living in even the most deteriorated areas can resist
inducements to crime if they have learned proper values and behavior. Delinquency, by
contrast, develops by learning the values and behavior. Delinquency, by, contrast,
develops by learning the values and behavior associated with criminal activity.