A STUDY ON JUVENILE DELINQUENTS: IMPACT OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC FACTORS OF FAMILY IN THE STATE OF UTTAR PRADESH, INDIA

 

Rajender Pal Singh¹ and Jahanara²

¹Dr. Mr., SHIATS Deemed University, India, singrp55@yahoo.com

²Prof (Dr.) Ms., SHIATS Deemed University, India, jajahanr648@gmail.com

 

Abstract

Juvenile crime is one of the most important issues in criminal law today. Young people violating the rules and disturbing the social order, attract the attention of the Law Enforcement as well as Social Control agencies. After Nirbhaya rape case in New Delhi on 16.12.2012, an opinion has built up in India that juvenile mock the law and if they are indulging in serious crimes like rape and murder, they should be treated stringently like adult criminals. The latest report of India’s National Crime Record Bureau published in 2015 reveals that the rate of juvenile offences has steadily increased in the past decade from 1.8% in 2004 (19,929 cases) to 2.7% in 2014 (33,526 cases). The juvenile misbehaviour is on the whole, not perceived as an imminent danger to society but as a potential risk for the future development of individual and society alike. In contrast to criminal justice against adults, juvenile justice is governed by the rehabilitative ideal as the underlying legitimation for intervention.

The justification for the study arises from the fact that India is home to the largest child population in the world. Children are the future of any nation and as per our country’s National Children Policy, are our most precious asset. For a strong nation to grow, it is required that children have normal and robust upbringing, and bottlenecks are properly identified. Mr. Nelson Mandela, former President of South Africa and Nobel peace laureate, once observed that there can be “no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children”.

The objective of the present research is to explore the impact of socio-economic factors of family on juvenile delinquents. The study was conducted in the Observation Home of Allahabad District in the State of Uttar Pradesh (India) which housed juvenile delinquents of male gender only. Sixty Juvenile delinquents and sixty sets of parents were selected purposively. The data was collected by using the personal interview method through a pre-structured schedule and by making participant and non-participant observations. The collected data was tabulated, analysed and interpreted with the help of appropriate statistical tools. Descriptive Research design was used for the study. The approach is mostly directed towards identifying the various characteristics of the research problem. The variables were measured by using suitable scales and procedures. The maximum number of juvenile delinquent respondents selected for the study belonged to joint families. Most of the families were not involved in any mal-practice. Most of the Juveniles did not have any previous arrest or criminal record. Nevertheless, it was revealed that the majority of the respondent families belonged to other Backward Castes, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Minorities which are the weaker sections of Indian society, who have been deprived of their social privileges and rights and economic opportunities for decades. It was further found that most of the families had low income levels. Additionally, most of the families of juvenile respondents were illiterate and majority of the juveniles themselves had low levels of education. It was concluded that the poor socio-economic profile of the families had a direct bearing on their children who tended to take up delinquent activities at a young age.

Keywords: Juvenile delinquency, socio-economic factors, low levels of education, Observation Home