JUVENILE DELINQUENCY IN PAKISTAN

                      

Antisocial or criminal behavior by children or adolescents.

                                                            
A high proportion of adult criminals have a background of early delinquency. Theft is the most common offense by children. The causes of such behavior, like those of crime in general, are found in a complex of psychological, social, and economic factors. Clinical studies have uncovered emotional maladjustment's, usually arising from disorganized family situations, in many delinquents or high poverty level in the society as in Pakistan.

Juvenile delinquency in Pakistan:  

Juvenile delinquency in Pakistan is reaching epic proportion with neither the law nor other people associated with it willing to understand the continual and serious dangers being rendered to the health, social and moral development of these children and society.The majority of these delinquents are ‘street children’ who are increasing rapidly in direct proportion with poverty. The result is that more and more of these children find themselves in conflict with the society for some reason or another. Which is creating a never ending breed of hardened criminals that are only a menace to an already crime ridden society.
    
It has become increasingly evident that their mental health, educational and social disabilities have often been inadequately assessed or addressed and hence their behavior needs to be resolved by keeping in mind the immaturity of their age and their restricted capacities.

Children are the investment of any nation in its future but the poverty ridden children suffer from the day they are born in Pakistan. Denied basic amenities, food and clean water, the streets turn them into criminals and the justice system makes them professionals that have nothing to offer to society except misery.

SYMPTOMS:

• Conflict with authority figures such as teachers, parents, or older siblings indicate a growing disregard for rules

• Stubborn, defiant behavior, disobedience, skipping classes or not attending school at all

• Running away from home to avoid obeying rules

• Overt acts, such as bullying others, physical fighting, gang activities, or violence Causes       

LACK OF ATTENTION:

It is a common assumption that children get their behaviors from their family and their friends. What many parents do not realize is that, from the minute of birth, all children have a natural attraction to their parents. As the children grow up, often times the parents are too busy to pay any attention to them, basically allowing them to do whatever they want and to be with whomever they please. The next thing they know, their baby boy is on the cover of the local newspaper for selling drugs or shooting the older man down the street. Often times, the crimes are now that severe but are usually juvenile acts such as abuse or breaking into another’s house. So, all of this stems from the parents not paying enough attention to their children.

SEPARATION OF PARENTS:

Divorce is also a rate that has risen over the past several decades. Have our values changed that much over the last twenty years that a family can not even stay together? I know that my grandparent’s and even my parents have never dreamed of getting a divorce, which honestly is probably why my family seems to stay out of trouble. It is a proven fact, and a sad one at that, but divorce has a direct effect on the rise of juvenile delinquency. It could be because they only have one set of eyes to provide guidance over them, allowing them plenty of time to possibly hangout with the “bad influences” of the world. This is what causes teenage delinquency and why it has risen so frequently in the past two decades.

LOW SOCIAL CLASS OR POVERTY:

Being in a low social class, it is obvious that these people are not equipped with the same opportunities as the rest of us. They are just making it by and they are not “cool” enough to fit in with the innocent people of their age group. This causes them to find comfort in other people like them, who are more times than not, delinquents themselves. These children pressure them to commit different criminal acts like them especially stealing as in our society or using and selling drugs.

PEER PRESSURE : 

Peer pressure is a term describing the pressure exerted by a peer group in encouraging a person to change their attitude, behavior and/or morals. OR Pressure from one's peers to behave in a manner similar or acceptable to them. Negative peer pressure occurs when a child's or teen's friends or other people their age try to convince them to do something that is either harmful to their body or is against the law. Examples include drinking alcohol, taking drugs, smoking cigarettes or stealing. Although teens usually know when something is bad for them, they often choose to do it because they want to be liked, to fit in, to be accepted, or because they're afraid they'll be looked down upon or made fun of.

MEDIA INFLUENCE:  

When children are taught how to tie their shoes, it is because of how their parents showed them. When children are taught how to do math problems it is because how their teachers show them. With all of the role models how does television affect our children? Many adults feel that because they watched television when they were young and they have not been negatively affected then their children should not be affected as well. What we must first realize is that television today is different than television of the past, violence is more prevalent in today's programming unlike the true family programming of the past.

Now a days in our society as you can see children spent more time in time front of television other than in the classrooms. And when they watch violence on televisions the learn those violent acts in the same way as they learned how to solve math problems from their teacher or how to tie their shoes laces from their father. Which then results in aggressive attitude and behavior which can make them engage in more serious crimes like murders. Violent Video Games have the same but no different impact on the mind of the youth.

Cures :-

MEDICINAL CURES: 

Psychologists with criminologists considering Delinquency as being a sickness are looking to find a medicinal cure or some genetic link that can be altered to keep the child from ever becoming a delinquent. This sickness has been named by them as  ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder).

ADHD has organic, genetic and mental causes. It can significantly interfere with academic performance and/or interpersonal relationships The criteria used are:

Hyperactivity, Does not stay in seat, Runs and climbs excessively, Can’t play quietly, Constantly on the go, Talks excessively, Impulsiveness, Talks out of turn, Can’t await turn, Interrupts, Inattentiveness, Does not pay attention, Can’t sustain attention, Doesn’t listen in a one-on-one talk, Doesn’t complete work, Has difficulty organizing, Avoids mental effort, Loses things necessary for completing tasks, Easily Distracted .

The first of the drugs and probably the best known is Ritalin. The idea behind this is to stimulate the parts of the brain that control self regulation of behavior, impulses and attention. Ritalin has helped many children lead a normal life.  It allows them to be able to concentrate, relax and enjoy life. Between 60% and 90% of patients have shown improvement while on this drug. Research will also continue as to how ADHD and other biological disorders relate to juvenile delinquency, and how this can be directly combated.

THE FAMILY:

Parents should communicate with the children. Through the art and skills of communication love of children can be earned and Parent’s having children with this feeling of inadequacy should be working hard to help their children to overcome this obstacle.

1.) Parents' first obligation is to understand the child misbehavior through observation or communication.

2.)Accept it without alarm and severity.

3.) Measures should be taken such taking such a child as soon as possible to child psychologist.

4.) Child should not be punished if the problem is serious otherwise it will lead to more aggressive attitude and if the commited crime is just minor one child should be punished.

5.)It is always better to teach the child what is right and what is wrong
 rather than waiting for him to do something wrong.

THE GOVERNMENT:

There is no doubt that juvenile delinquency is an incredible problem in Pakistan. As the juvenile delinquency rate continues to rise, action must be taken.  As a nation, we must do all that we can to combat criminal behavior, especially in our youth!

Although we may mean well, our families, public school systems, and private organizations are unfortunately not always trained and equipped hand-to-hand to combat against juvenile delinquency, so to speak.  It is here that the governmental agencies and programs come into play. Firstly, the the court system of Juvenile should come in pratice and not only exist in ordinance. Then the case workers must first gain a trust and friendship with the confined child.  This is accomplished in several ways.  Meeting the child's basic needs is sometimes the fastest way to gain trust, and food is often the main instrument used.  Many juvenile delinquents are hungry, and hunger pains can make even the most peaceful of children cranky and defensive.  As the caseworker feeds their hungering stomachs, one of the many internal noises is silenced in the child.  This can give the caseworker a new opportunity to communicate with the child and build trust. Once trust is finally gained, the caseworker spends her time training these children to react differently to life situations than they ever have before.

Statistics:

-Child prisoners who numbered over 3,700 at the end of 1997 are among the more conspicuous victims of this administrative and judicial neglect.


- February 1998 a total of 3,433 juvenile prisoners were found in fifty-one prisons throughout Pakistan, and estimated that there were a further 300 children in prisons in the interior of Sindh province, for which data was then unavailable.


-There were twenty-six juvenile females in Pakistan's prisons-excluding those in the interior of Sindh province-at the end of 1997, according to data collected from the provincial prisons departments.


What makes the situation more critical is that out of Pakistan’s population of 165 million almost half or 49% are under the age of 18 years while 22 % are adolescent(10-18 years). Five out of seven children are denied the right of the identity by means of registration at birth and hence are not even counted as citizens and the count continues to go up every year.

CONCLUSION:

While the Pakistani Government and the some NGO’s are fighting this war to prevent juvenile delinquency as much as possible, it still needs more soldiers.  Without people who truly care for the next generation the government can do nothing. They want YOU!