Children and Crime in India: Causes, Narratives and Interventions

PALGRAVE ADVANCES IN CRIMINOLOGY
AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE IN ASIA
Children and Crime

in India
Causes, Narratives
and Interventions
Saju Parackal
Rita Panicker
Palgrave Advances in Criminology
and Criminal Justice in Asia
Series Editors
Bill Hebenton
Criminology & Criminal Justice
University of Manchester
Manchester, UK
Susyan Jou
School of Criminology
National Taipei University
Taipei, Taiwan
Lennon Y. C. Chang
School of Social Sciences
Monash University
Melbourne, Australia
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Saju Parackal • Rita Panicker
Children and Crime

in India
Causes, Narratives and Interventions
Saju Parackal Rita Panicker
Butterflies Butterflies
New Delhi, India New Delhi, India
Palgrave Advances in Criminology and Criminal Justice in Asia

ISBN 978-3-030-16588-8 ISBN 978-3-030-16589-5 (eBook)
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Preface
The book—Children and Crime in India—is being published at a time

when the nation is seriously contemplating the strengthening of its
Juvenile Justice System in order to prevent children from getting on the
wrong side of the law.
Research has shown that the breaking of rules is part of the growth and
development of children. Even under normal circumstances, most teens
push family and societal boundaries. They retort, break rules, have fights
and sometimes steal as they navigate into adulthood. Data show that
most adolescent criminal behaviour is specific to adolescence period and
will not continue into adulthood. Most adolescents will outgrow deviant
behaviour, in much the same way as a toddler outgrows temper tantrums.
The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) statistics of 2014 records
that 482,30 children were apprehended during this period, accounting
for 1.2% of the overall crimes in India, which has remained broadly
steady for the past three years (NCRB, 2014). This is almost half the rate
of those arrested in the UK and the USA. Given such a low level of par-
ticipation of children in offences, they should not be viewed as creating a
moral panic in society, as reflected in newspapers, videos and television.
The central question that this book tries to answer is: What really
pushes or pulls these children into the wrong side of the law? There is
general agreement that behaviour, including anti-social and deviant
behaviour, is the result of a complex interplay of individual and
v
vi Preface
environmental factors, beginning during foetal development and con-

tinuing throughout life (Bock & Goode, 1996). It is generally perceived
and recognized that the more risk factors a child or adolescent experi-
ences, the higher their propensity for deviant behaviour. However, many
children reach adulthood without any involvement in serious deviant or
anti-social behavior, even in the face of multiple risks.
Failure to fulfil the roles expected of the family, school and community
plays a pivotal role in diverting children from law-abiding lives. Many
teenagers lack the presence of positive role models. Parents will often
defend their children, even after their sons or daughters have been found
guilty of serious crimes, by saying, “It’s not possible that my kid could
have done such a terrible thing.” Parents may tend to overlook what is
going on with their children because of their absorption in their own
busy lives. This undoubtedly has a negative impact on the life of a young
child, in particular the way they act on a daily basis. Values, attitudes and
beliefs learned from one’s environment also determines his or her behav-
iour. Most of the children in the detention centres are from a background
of abject poverty and vulnerabilities, and may have learned, or come to
believe, that aggression is a legitimate method to resolve various interper-
sonal problems and conflicts encountered in life.
Research on the peculiarities of adolescence describes that their brains
are like cars without brakes. They are rebellious, reckless, short-term-
oriented, and tragically susceptible to peer pressure. They tend to roam in
groups, display attitudes of gang culture, and they may engage in extreme
behaviours that they might never have undertaken on their own. This
phenomenon is the result of what has been called a “diffusion of respon-
sibility.” In a crowd, individuals often abandon restraint and give vent to
impulses because no one feels a sense of individually responsibility. They
are impetuous and poor judges of many things that adults consider wor-
thy of measured judgment. Neuroscientists rationalize this behaviour by
stating that their brains are not completely developed, and their impulse
control mechanisms are not fully developed.
The stories of children cited in the book explain that environmental
factors, particularly family, school, peers and community, play a crucial
role in their engagement with deviant behaviour. It makes an appeal that
children should be viewed not as a dangerous threat but as the most
Preface vii
v aluable resource of the country. The punitive strategy may not be the
best and appropriate option; there should instead be a focus on restor-
ative justice, which has been found to be effective and beneficial to chil-
dren. Furthermore, a strengthening of families by promoting harmony in
the family and enhancing parenting skills would lay the foundation for
any preventive measures that ensures children do not get into deviant
behaviours.
The chapters in the book have been divided into four distinct sections.
The first section, which contains Chap. 1—the introductory chapter, sets
the stage of the study by describing the context and methodology adopted
for the study. The second section, consisting of three chapters (Chaps. 2,
3 and 4), explains in detail the push and pull factors that influence them
and lead them to be in conflict with the law. The third section, Chap. 5,
examines the juvenile justice system and explores what approaches work
in terms of treating the children involved in crimes and what is effective
in preventing reoffending. The final section—Chap. 6—summarizes the
main conclusions of the study and identifies future directions for viewing
and treating children as persons.
New Delhi, India Rita Panicker

Saju Parackal
Reference
Bock, G.R., & Goode, J.A., eds. (1996). Genetics of criminal and antisocial
behavior. Chichester: Wiley.
Acknowledgements
Writing these words of gratitude is the greatest thing that we can do at

the end of this long journey. Reaching this point was not easy. There were
stages in the process of this research when we were excited and stressed.
Nevertheless, we were able to overcome these and to endure in our effort
with the encouragement of many who have, either directly or indirectly,
extended their support to us. We thank each and every one of them who
journeyed with us all along this endeavour, either visibly or invisibly.
We sincerely thank our publishers Palgrave Macmillan and our funders
ChildHope, Comic Relief and Misereor, without whose support this
endeavour would not have been possible.
We are deeply indebted to the Department of Social Justice, Kerala,
the Department of Social Defence, Tamil Nadu, Mr Arun Mathur,
Chairperson, Ms Mamta Sahai, Member State Commissions for
Protection of Child Rights, Delhi and State Commission for Protection
of Child Rights, Orissa for granting us the required permission for under-
taking the study among children and officials in various juvenile justice
institutions. We remember, with the utmost gratitude, superintendents
and officials of various juvenile justice institutions, probation officers and
juvenile justice members of the four states under study, who were a great
source of inspiration and support in undertaking our research. Their
experiential inputs made significant contributions at the various stages of
our study.
ix
x Acknowledgements
We also thank Mr S. Kannayiram, Probation Officer (Retd), Tamil

Nadu, Mr Subrat Kumar Sahoo, Programme Officer, Open Learning
System, Orissa and Mr Rajeesh. S, Researcher, Butterflies Delhi who
interacted and interviewed the children and collected the information
and stories behind the children’s lives in juvenile justice institutions. A
special note of thanks should be extended to Ms Josephine Taylor for her
support in helping us get this book out and Mr Sujay Joseph for his sup-
port in copy-editing.
Finally, we cannot conclude our acknowledgements without thanking
the children (whose names and identities have been changed) in various
detention centres in the states under study, who confided in us and shared
their life experiences and stories with us which formed the central body
of knowledge for this study. We have the children’s permission to tell
their stories.
Rita Panicker
Saju Parackal
Contents
1
The Context 1
2 The Socio-economic Profile of Children in Conflict with

the Law 21
3 The Nature of Offences and Culpability 47
4 Factors Predisposing Children to Offences 93
5 The Juvenile Justice System: A Pathway for the Restoration

of Children in Conflict with the Law199
6 Summary and Conclusions233
Glossary243
Index247
xi
Abbreviations
BSCC Butterflies School of Culinary and Catering

CCL Children in Conflict with Law
CCPR Covenant on Civil Political Rights
CNCP Children in Need of Care and Protection
CRC Committee on the Rights of the Child
CWC Child Welfare Committee
DCPCR Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights
DDA Delhi Development Authority
ECHO Empowerment of Children and Human Rights Organization
FFT Functional Family Therapy
HSBP FIR Harmful Sexual Behaviour Project First Information Report
IPC Indian Penal Code
IRCS Intensive Rehabilitative Custody and Supervision
JJB Juvenile Justice Board
MTFC Multi-Dimensional Treatment Foster Care
NCRB National Crime Records Bureau
NCT National Capital Territory
NLU National Law University
OH Observation home
OJJDP Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
PMS Probation and Mediation Service
PO Probation officer
SC Scheduled Caste
xiii
xiv Abbreviations
SH Special home
SLL Special Local Laws
UNCRC United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child
YCJA Youth Criminal Justice Act
YJA Youth Justice Act
YRO Youth Rehabilitation Order
List of Tables
Table 2.1 Age-wise distribution of children in detention centres 23

Table 2.2 Place of residence 26
Table 2.3 Educational status of children 28
Table 2.4 Education of the parents 32
Table 2.5 Parental custody 35
Table 2.6 Marital status of parents 36
Table 3.1 Nature of offences—state-wise 51
Table 3.2 Distribution of major IPC crimes by children as per NCRB
report in states under study 53
Table 3.3 Motive for the commission of offences 73
Table 3.4 Age of first commission of offence 77
Table 3.5 Recidivism among the children in detention centres 79
Table 4.1 Parental involvement in children’s lives 104
Table 4.2 Parental conflict & disciplining 110
Table 4.3 Family disruptions 136
xv
1
The Context
Children are life’s precious gifts, to be treasured and carefully nurtured:

‘They are persons who are going to carry on what you have started. They
are going to sit where you are sitting and when you are gone, attend to
those things you think are important. The fate of humanity is in their
hands’ (Abraham Lincoln). Subsequently, every nation and every family
wants their children to be prepared for the future. And no parent or soci-
ety wishes them to be fearful, shy, inconsiderate or objectionable; they
want them to be happy, secure and reach their full potential. In the pro-
cess of their growth, however, many children acquire undesirable charac-
teristics and fail to achieve a sense of security and an attitude of respect
for either themselves or others. In many cases, the parents love them and
try to provide their best for their growth and development. Paradoxically
enough, however, the more they are cared for, the more suffering and
despair are given by them (Musa, 2010). Moreover, due to the rapid pace
of development of science and technology, enormous changes are occur-
ring in every sphere of society, particularly in relation to the family as an
institution. Consequently, regardless of their gender, social origin and
country of residence, children are subject not only to individual risks but
also new individual opportunities—of which some are beneficial and
© The Author(s) 2019 1

S. Parackal, R. Panicker, Children and Crime in India, Palgrave Advances in
Criminology and Criminal Justice in Asia,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-16589-5_1
2 S. Parackal and R. Panicker
some potentially harmful. Children often take advantage of illegal oppor-

tunities and commit offences against others or endanger their lives by
becoming addicts to unhealthy habits (Crisan, 2005).
Juvenile delinquency is, therefore, a fact and a growing concern both
nationally and globally. Of late, the media has been reporting about an
increased engagement in the sphere of delinquency of children. From
minor acts of abuse, fights and theft, they are now involved in serious
offences like rape, armed robbery and murder, suggesting that there is
something radically wrong with societal dynamics. The rate of such acts
by children destroying their childhood has made it a subject of heated
debate in different fields such as psychology, sociology, law and medicine
and it has been referred to differently by various fields. Such individuals
may be labelled as “children with deviation of conduct” (medical descrip-
tion), “non-adapted young” (sociological term), “problem children”
(psycho-educational classification) and “infant delinquents” (jurid-
ical term).
The term Juvenile delinquency is derived from two Latin words: ‘iuve-
nilis’ (meaning ‘young’) and ‘delinquentia’ (meaning ‘fault, crime’). Yet
this concept is understood and explained differently by various authors.
Sadler (1992) states that some people regard that any boy or girl as delin-
quent who wears tight jeans, leather jackets or unusual clothes, has a
strange haircut or uses a particular type of street slang. Coleman (1996),
on the other hand, suggested that juvenile delinquents are boys or girls
who have shown a pattern of breaking the law, whether or not they have
come to trial. He pointed out accurately that the term delinquent is inap-
propriate to describe a person who, for one reason or another, breaks a
rule only once and unintentionally. According to Reckless (1956), it
applies to the “violation of criminal code and/or pursuit of certain pat-
terns of behaviour disapproved of children and young adolescents.” Thus,
by and large juvenile delinquency refers to a large variety of disapproved
behaviour carried out by teenagers and adolescents and for which some
kind of punishment or corrective measure is justified in the public inter-
est. Mitterauer (1993), in the light of the above view, stated that some
acts considered as offences for juveniles are not classified as offences if
committed by adults. Such acts are status offence and include truancy
from schools, drinking alcohol, gambling.
1 The Context 3
In India, every person below the age of 18 is classified as a child. The

age of criminality, however, starts from the child’s seventh year, one of the
lowest ages in the world. Those below this age even if they commit an
offence and are covered legally by the term delinquency are not labelled
as delinquents; rather, they are labelled as problem children because it is
felt that at this stage they are not sufficiently mature to distinguish
between legal and illegal acts and between right and wrong. An offence or
crime should be viewed not merely as an act of breaching the laws of the
state; it is also the violation of the sanctity of one human being by another
and can be seen as a destruction of the social fabric (UNICEF, 2003).
Thus, both age and behavioural infractions prohibited in the statutes are
important aspects of the concept of juvenile delinquency.
The increase in juvenile delinquency at the global level, as recorded in
official and unofficial sources, has rung alarm bells in the society, evoking
the conscience of the international community to address the issue with
the necessary urgency as they do not presumably have the same intent as
that of an adult. Consequently, a series of discussions, deliberations and
debates paved the way for the declaration of several international stan-
dards that contain provisions on alternatives to the deprivation of liberty
in the field of juvenile justice. There are at least 15 different international
human rights instruments and related guidelines, dating from 1955 to
2009, containing a staggering total of 77 articles, rules, guidelines or
provisions which support diversion and alternatives for children who are
in conflict with the law. Of these, 77 articles and provisions: ten are
legally binding on states which have ratified the relevant instruments [of
which four are from the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the
Child (UNCRC)—Articles 37(b), 40.1, 40.3 (b) and 40.2 (iv).
According to Articles 37 and 40 of the United Nations Convention on
the Rights of the Child (1989), children in conflict with the law have the
right to treatment that promotes their sense of dignity and worth, takes
into account their age and aims to reintegrate them into society. In addi-
tion, placing children in conflict with the law in a closed facility should be
a measure of last resort, to be avoided whenever possible. This convention
prohibits the imposition of the death penalty and sentences of life impris-
onment for offences committed by persons under the age of 18. Similarly,
the General Comment Number 10 (GC10) on “Children’s Rights in
Juvenile Justice”, the 1990 United Nations Guidelines for the Prevention of
Juvenile Delinquency (“The Riyadh Guidelines”), the 1990 United

Nations Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of their Liberty
(“The Havana Rules”) and the UN Guidelines for Action on Children in
the Criminal Justice System promote the use of alternatives to the depri-
vation of liberty and emphasize that detention of children who are alleged
as, accused of or recognized as having infringed the law should be directed
towards a restorative purpose and deprivation should always be a measure
of last resort (Meuwese, 2003).
In line with international standards, most State parties have recognized
that the child is to be ‘treated’ and rehabilitated and that the procedure
and the disposition are, therefore, to be ‘clinical’ rather than ‘punitive’. In
the case of a child, the apparent rigidities, technicalities and harshness in
both substantiative and procedural law are to be considered extraneous to
his treatment. Accordingly, most of the nations have modified their jus-
tice systems to guarantee the rights of children as set forth in the interna-
tional instruments and guidelines. India, as a signatory to most of the
aforementioned international instruments, has obligated itself to work
towards ensuring all the rights enshrined therein to all its children. In
tune with this approach, the nation has formulated and enacted a specific
piece of exclusive legislation—the Juvenile Justice Act in 2000 and later
amended in 2006—to treat children in need of care and protection and
children in conflict with the law. This Act, which forms the central legis-
lation for children in India, advocates strongly for the importance of the
restoration and rehabilitation of the so-called Children in Conflict with
Law (CCL). This presumes that putting children behind bars and sepa-
rating them from their families and communities has a seriously damag-
ing impact on their physical, mental and social development.
Most of these child offenders require help from the social welfare sys-
tem rather than the juvenile justice system. Nevertheless, some require
being sent to detention centres such as observation homes, special homes
and after-care homes, where they can be helped to become good citizens.
However, this approach should only be adopted as the last resort. In
India, crimes are usually classified into crimes under the Indian Penal
Code (IPC) and crimes under the Special and Local Laws (SLL). The
National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) is the only available national
resource to understand the magnitude of juvenile delinquency in India.
1 The Context 5
According to the NCRB report of 2014, the number of total crimes by

juveniles (IPC + SLL) has increased from 43,506 in 2013 to 48,230 in
2014, showing an overall increase of 10.9%. While the IPC crimes by
juveniles recorded a 5.7% increase in 2014 over the previous year, it was
21.8% in SLL crimes during the same period. Crimes committed by
children under the Indian Penal Code increased, with a reported registra-
tion of 33,526 cases in 2014 (NCRB, 2014) compared with 31,725 in
2013. Nevertheless, in 2013 and 2014 the share of IPC crimes by chil-
dren to total IPC crimes remained constant at 1.2%. Adolescent crimes
under the SLL, on the other hand, increased from 4136 in 2013 to
5039 in 2014 (ibid.).
There are substantial gender differences in respect of the number of
crimes committed by children in India. In 2014, of the 48,320 children
apprehended, 46,638 were boys and 1,592 were girls, meaning that girls
accounted for just 3.3% of the total number of children apprehended in
India in 2014 (ibid.). The official statistics on juvenile delinquency sug-
gest a relatively low level in a developing country like India, where almost
42% of its population are below 18 years of age. The National Crime
Records Bureau reports, however, indicate a marginal increase in offences
by children. Yet media reports highlight a spurt in the commission of
crimes/offences by juveniles. However, the increasing rate of apprehen-
sion does not necessarily mean that crime had grown as the apprehension
rate can be influenced by a variety of factors: changes in policy, in police
practices, the growth of the child population and in the number of
offenders arrested per offence. Moreover, NCRB reports are found to be
based on the First Information Report (FIR) registered, which is only at
an allegation stage and that children are often found to be innocent of
the offences.
The involvement of children in offences seems to have serious socio-
economic implications. Approximately 52.9% of children in conflict
with law had either never attended school or had education only up to
the primary level. Moreover, a large proportion of children (55.6%)
belong to poor families (those with an annual income up to Rs. 25,000/;
NCRB, 2014). Most of these children, whether they be petty offenders
or serious offenders, are children who face challenges in terms of their
care and protection and in their relationships with their families,
communities and society. Their lives, choices and opportunities are

affected to a great extent by the communities being increasingly frag-
mented through urbanization, chronic poverty, social and interpersonal
violence and increased pressure from external influences such as commer-
cialization and materialism. Yet the majority of these children are treated
as if they are all committing serious and violent offences and are often put
through the criminal justice system that is designed for those who pose a
real and serious risk to the public. People perceive that these children get
what they deserve and have very little concern about their unique devel-
opmental stage features like impulsiveness, risk taking, hyperactivity,
their lack of future orientation, impaired decision making and immature
status and their susceptibility to the surroundings which result in impaired
decision making. By being put through the criminal justice system, chil-
dren are exposed to situations and environments that are inherently vio-
lent and that remove them from the social and familial environment that
is supposed to ‘socialize’ them. Their rights to development, protection
and participation are violated although they are expected to learn about
responsibility in the artificial environment of detention where others
make choices for them, imposed rules to define their everyday living and
decide their every move and where all the challenges they faced in the real
world are temporarily removed, but not dealt with. Once they emerge
from their period of detention they are back into the same context and
environment that led to their offending in the first place. Thus, their
contact with the criminal justice system can be detrimental to their devel-
opment because of the repressive and punitive nature of the system
(Martin & Williams, 2005).
All international standards and national legislations on the administra-
tion of juvenile justice have as their overarching aim the social integration
and guarantee for the respect of their rights. The achievement of such an
objective demands an in-depth analysis of the status of children in con-
flict with the law, focusing on why they resort to offences in order to
effectively implement the laws on juvenile justice and the welfare system.
The development and designing of any measures to curb the incidence of
children’s involvement offences essentially requires the introduction of
prevention measures. Such offence control will never succeed without
unfolding the root causes that prompted him/her to commit such acts.
1 The Context 7
Nevertheless, probing the real reasons for the involvement of children in

offences and protecting their childhood years was not a high priority on
either the political or the justice agenda.
Researchers and personnel working for child welfare have sought for
generations to explain why juveniles engage in criminal deviance. Is their
behaviour a matter of individual choice? Can our understanding of biol-
ogy and psychology explain delinquency? To what extent do environ-
mental factors influence juvenile deviance? Are juvenile delinquents likely
to become adult criminals?
Yet there is very little evidence-based data in this regard. It is generally
perceived that there may be a myriad of causes and reasons for the law-
breaking behaviour of children in India. Most of the literature consider a
range of socio-economic and psychological reasons. Poverty, broken
homes, family tensions, emotional abuse, rural–urban migration, a break-
down in social values and joint family systems, atrocities and abuses by
parents or guardians, a faulty educational system and the influence of
cinema and TV. All of this can then be exacerbated by the unhealthy liv-
ing conditions of slums and such other conditions contributes to the
explanation of the phenomena of offences by children.
Over the years, a large number of theories have been developed to
attempt to identify and explain the causes of juvenile and criminal devi-
ance. The earliest in this regard was the attempt to explain through the
then-accepted notion that both natural and supernatural forces affect
human fortunes and behaviour. Later came the classical theorists, whose
studies focused on individual responsibility for delinquency and crimi-
nality. Their approach was grounded in free will theories of causation,
which apply rationalism to explain each criminal’s individual decision to
break the law. The biological explanations that followed stated the effects
of congenital traits on human behaviour through the theories of physiog-
nomy, phrenology and atavism. According to these, persons with biologi-
cal inferiority tend to behave in a deviant manner. The biological inquiry
continues unabated, with new fields of inquiry such as DNA research
providing new bases to explore the causes of delinquency and criminality.
The explanations by social sciences such as psychology and sociology that
succeeded the above gave a rich diversity to theories of causation.
Psychological explanations are grounded in several research traditions,
such as psychoanalysis, conditioning and psychopathology. These theo-

ries refer to the engagement of people in offences through difference in
IQ and personality disorders like the psychopaths, sociopaths and anti-
social personalities. Sociological theories such as social disorganization
theory, social control theory, strain/anomie theory, labelling theory, ratio-
nal choice theory and social learning theory show that no person is born
as a criminal; rather, they are shaped into a criminal/delinquent through
his/her interaction and relationship with the environment. Sociological
approaches examine the effects of social structures and processes on the
behaviour of individuals and groups of people. Societal conditions theo-
retically affect people’s collective perceptions of the availability of oppor-
tunities and the intensity of deprivations, meaning that delinquency and
offence are reactions to certain types of environments. Critical theory is
counter-intuitive because it challenges orthodox theories of criminal cau-
sation. In essence, they lay the blame for delinquency and offence on
socio-economic and political inequalities. However, in isolation none of
the theories could explain the why of criminal/delinquent involvement.
A mixture or combination of different theories could shed light to the
offending behaviour of people/children to a great extent.
In addition to the theoretical explanations to the causes for the involve-
ment of children in criminal activities, various studies have posited vary-
ing causes for the engagement of children in deviant behaviour. According
to Charlesworth (2000), parental disciplinary styles can have an impact
on child behaviour. Parry-Jones and Queloz (1991) state that it is widely
accepted that urban areas are associated with higher rates of psychosocial
problems, including juvenile delinquency, problem families, adult crimi-
nality and adult psychiatric disorder. Furthermore, the nature of the rela-
tionship between features of the environment and the mental health of
individuals is an extremely complex subject. Harvey and Fine (2004)
examined the narratives of children whose parents were divorced and
found that some of these children carried emotions of anger and rage
within themselves which later led them to being out of control and to
commit criminal acts (p. 34).
Most of the above explanations and reasons suggest that deviance is pri-
marily an environmental and social problem. No child is born as either a
law-abiding or a deviant child; often he/she develops into one through his/
1 The Context 9
her association and interaction with others. Thus, children in conflict with
the law are not a specific type of human being born with any innate, physi-
cal, mental or emotional characteristics. They, like any other children, want
to love, to be loved and to have their need for security and recognition satis-
fied. Denial of these basic needs leads to maladjustment, resulting in aggres-
sive, non-conforming and deviant behaviour. Further, their adolescent
development stage is marked by drastic physical, emotional, psychological
and cognitive changes, making him adventurous, less future-oriented,
impulsive and susceptible to peer influences. Thus, the deviant behaviour
of children is, to a certain extent, a normative part of their growth and
development which does not persist when they grow to be adults. Most
become law-abiding as they get older and only a minor percentage grow to
be persistent or habitual offenders, which might be mostly due to the inter-
play of a variety of individual and social factors and conditions.
It is quite dismaying to note that while a lot has been spoken about
child welfare and child protection, little effort has been made to penetrate
into this phenomenon of offences by children and unearth the factors
that push or pull children into it in order to check the same. Apart from
the theories and general literature available, there is a serious dearth of
empirical and evidence-based information on the phenomenon. In order
to be effective and efficient in achieving its overarching aim of restorative
and rehabilitation of children in conflict with the law, the Juvenile Justice
System should identify the push and pull factors that predispose children
to being in conflict with the law. It is within this context that this national
study on children in conflict with the law was undertaken by Butterflies—
one of the pioneering organizations in India committed to the rights-
based development of children, with an intent to explore into the various
factors that lead children onto the wrong side of the law facilitating
appropriate development and designing of strategies to prevent offences
by children and also to make the juvenile justice system more proactive
and efficient ensuring justice to them. Moreover, it ventures to unveil the
gaps in the parenting skills, community control and responsiveness of
schools to the aggressive and deviant behaviour of children, implying the
necessity for a check on offensive behaviours of children and thereby
promote the development of children as productive citizens—the future
of the nation.
1.1 Objectives
To explore the factors that predisposes children to being in conflict with
the law in India. The specific objectives of this book are as follows:
• To gather quantitative and qualitative data on the profile of children in

conflict with law in the four states of India.
• To establish trends in offences committed by children.
• To identify and describe the factors that predispose children to being
in conflict with the law.
• To facilitate stakeholder discussion and collect practical and strategic
recommendations and suggestions to prevent children falling into
conflict with the law.
1.2 Research Areas

The Union of India comprises of 29 states and 7 union territories. In this
study, we selected four states, using purposive sampling method to con-
sider various characteristics, such as the representation of various parts of
the nation, socio-demographic characteristics, magnitude and specific
features of children in conflict with the law (cosmopolitan nature, geo-
graphical location, increased involvement in serious offence), etc. Further,
the positive attitude of the concerned authorities of the states under study
also influenced the selection of these states. Thus, Delhi (north), Odisha
(east), Tamil Nadu and Kerala (south) were selected for the study.
1.2.1 Profile of the Areas
1.2.1.1 Union Territory of Delhi
The Union Territory of Delhi covering an area of 1484 sq. km. lies on the
Northern part of India, with a population of 16.3 million people (2011).
It borders the Indian states of Haryana on the north, west and south and
Uttar Pradesh (UP) to the east. The density of population per sq. km. is
1 The Context 11
about 11,297 and this figure is alarming as it is a much higher density

than any other state. The literacy rate in the state is about 86%, a figure
that has always been high due to the city being the country’s capital and
home to some of the country’s most important educational institutions.
The sex ratio in Delhi leaves a lot to be desired as it is among the worst in
the country, at 866 women for 1000 men. The NCT has 11 districts and
5 municipal corporations and is the largest commercial centre in
the north.
The Department of Women and Child Development of the
Government of Delhi is the nodal agency for providing services to women
and children. The department implements and monitors the execution of
the Juvenile Justice Act in its territory. Delhi Juvenile Justice Care and
Protection Rules 2002 have been notified on August 19, 2002 u/s 68 of
this Act. The NCT has already created Special Juvenile Police Units in
each of the 11 police districts and railways and IGI Airport units to co-
ordinate and improve the police treatment of children. Three observation
homes (two for boys and one for girls), one special home (for boys) and
three Juvenile Justice Boards are set up under the Juvenile Justice Act to
handle the cases related to children in conflict with the law. Similarly, to
handle the cases of those children in need of care and protection, NCT
has constituted 6 child welfare committees and has identified 27 NGOs
to set up shelter homes that function as drop-in-centres cum night shel-
ters for children in need of urgent support who are brought to such
homes. Further, seven Children’s Homes are created across the NCT
either by district or by group of districts for the reception of the child in
need of care and protection during the processing of any inquiry and
subsequently for their care, treatment, education, training, development
and rehabilitation.
1.2.1.2 Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu, which covers an area of 130,058 sq. km., lies in the south-
ern part of the Indian peninsula and is bounded by the Eastern Ghats to
the north, the Nilgiri, the Anamalai Hills, and Kerala to the west, by the
Bay of Bengal to the east, the Gulf of Mannar, the Palk Strait to the south
east, and by the Indian Ocean to the south. According the 2011 Census,
the state is inhabited by a population of 72 million, of which 9.82% are
children below six years of age. It is the seventh most densely populated
state in India, with 555 persons per sq. km. Administratively, the state is
divided into 32 districts. It has 10 City Corporations, 125 municipalities,
529 town panchayats and 12,524 village panchayats. The state literacy
rate has grown, reaching a figure of 80.3% in 2011. Tamil Nadu has his-
torically been an agricultural state and is one of the leading producers of
agricultural products in India. It is the second-largest contributor to
India’s GDP. Services contribute to 45% of the economic activity in the
state, followed by manufacturing (34%) and agriculture (21%). In 2008,
Tamil Nadu was India’s fifth-largest producer of rice. The Cauvery delta
region is known as the Rice Bowl of South India. The state is also one of
the highly industrialized states in India.
The Department of Social Defence of the Government of Tamil Nadu
is responsible for the provision of developmental services to children
found in difficult circumstances and for the girls and women who are in
moral danger and in need of care and rehabilitation. It also works towards
the convergence of all its units for enabling better implementation of
governmental services for children. The department is also providing
institutional and non-institutional services for the rehabilitation of the
children entering the institutions, in addition to involving the Non-
Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in all of the programmes to ensure
protection of the rights of the children and their overall development.
The institutions under the control of the department provide care, train-
ing (educational and vocational) and rehabilitation to the children who
are neglected and children in conflict with law coming under the provi-
sions of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2000.
The state has also constituted 18 child welfare committees and 8 Juvenile
Justice Boards to deal with the cases of children in need of care and pro-
tection and children in conflict with law. Similarly, in accordance with
the provisions of the JJ Act, eight observation homes (six by the govern-
ment and two by NGOs) and two special homes (one for boys and one
for girls) are also established in the state. Moreover, three after-care orga-
nizations are functioning to provide rehabilitation to the discharged chil-
dren of children’s homes/special homes for boys and girls. 31 children’s
1 The Context 13
homes (11 by the government and 20 by NGOs) are also established to

cater exclusively to the needs of children who require care and protection
as ordered by Child Welfare Committees.
1.2.1.3 Kerala
The state of Kerala, which is located at the extreme southern tip of the
Indian subcontinent, is spread over an area of 38863 sq. km., accommo-
dating a population of 33.3 million, with a density of 819 persons per sq.
km. Children below six years of age constitute 10.1% of the state’s total
population. The state has the highest Human Development Index
(0.790—HDR 2011), literacy rate (93.9) and life expectancy (74 years).
For administrative purposes, the state has been divided into 14 districts.
Consequent to the 74th Amendment to the Constitution of India, the
local self-government institutions are to function as the third tier of gov-
ernment and they are constituted of 14 District Panchayats, 152 Block
Panchayats, 978 Grama Panchayats, 60 Municipalities, and 5
Corporations. The agriculture and service sector includes tourism, public
administration, banking and finance, transportation, and communica-
tions forms a major part of the GSDP.
The Social Justice Department of the Government of Kerala is the
department responsible for implementing various schemes related to
women and children. It is responsible for administering the services
intended to provide needed care and protection to women, children,
physically and mentally challenged, destitute, orphans, aged, the infirm
and social deviants like children in need of care and protection, children
in conflict with the law and young, first-time, short-term offenders. The
department is also responsible for the overall implementation and super-
vision of the implementation of the Juvenile Justice Act. In line with the
Juvenile Justice Act, the state has established Juvenile Justice Boards and
Child Welfare Committees in all of the revenue districts of the states as
per the norms set out in the Act. Special Juvenile Police Units have also
been established in most of the districts with the superintendent of
police of the district operating as the nodal officer in each district. At the
state level, an officer at the rank of deputy inspector general is the nodal
officer. A selection committee has been constituted at the state level to

recruit suitable persons to the board and committees at the district level.
The state has also 14 observations (13 for boys and 1 for girls) and 2
special homes to deal with children in conflict with the law. To shelter
children in need of care and protection, the state has recognised eight
juvenile homes—six for boys and two for girls.
1.2.1.4 Odisha
The state of Odisha, formerly known as Orissa, is located in the north-

eastern part of the country. It is bounded by the states of Jharkhand and
West Bengal to the north and north east, by the Bay of Bengal to the
east, and by the states of Andhra Pradesh to the south and Chhattisgarh
to the west. It is spread over an area of 60110 square miles and is inhab-
ited by a population of 41947358 (2011 census), of which 21,201,678
(50.54%) are male and 20,745,680 (49.46%) are female; that is, there
are 978 females per 1000 males. The population density is 269 per sq.
km. Odisha is the 9th-largest state by area in India, and the 11th-largest
by population. According to the 2011 Census, the literacy rate is 73%,
with 82% of males and 64% of females being literate. The dominant
ethnic group is the Oriya people, and Oriya is the official language.
Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes constitute almost two-fifths of
the population of Odisha. The tribal peoples are divided into three lin-
guistic groups: the speakers of Munda languages of the Austroasiatic
language family; the speakers of various languages of the Dravidian
family; and the speakers of Oriya (or Odia), which is an Indo-Aryan
language. Hindus make up the overwhelming majority of the popula-
tion of Odisha, with Muslims being the largest religious minority
group. Other linguistic minorities in the state include Bengali, Hindi,
Telugu and Santali. The state has a birth rate of 23.2 per 1,000 people
per year, a death rate of 9.1 per 1,000 people per year, an infant mortal-
ity rate of 65 per 1000 live births and a maternal mortality rate of 358
per 1,000,000 live births. Odisha has a Human Development Index of
0.579 in 2004. The state has been divided into 30 administrative dis-
tricts, with the collector at their head.
1 The Context 15
In the state of Odisha, the Department of Women and Child

Development is the nodal agency for the implementation of the Juvenile
Justice Act. This department has constituted ten JJBs for handling the
cases of children in conflict with the law. In accordance with the 2000
Act, the department has established three observation homes and three
special homes for boys and one observation home for girls. In contrast to
the other states, each observation home in the state has a number of them
set apart as a special home where children who are under trial and found
guilty mingle together. Similarly, to address the issues of children in need
of care and protection, the state has formed 30 child welfare committees.
1.3 Research Methodology

The present research makes use of qualitative, explorative, descriptive
and contextual methods of research through unstructured and struc-
tured interviews which were carried out with various stakeholders.
Being a party to the UNCRC, the country has established a separate
legislation titled Juvenile Justice Act 2000 to deal with cases of children
in conflict with law and children in need of care and protection. Under
the Act, all states are to establish different structures such as Juvenile
Justice Boards, observation homes, special homes and after-care homes
for dealing with cases related to children in conflict with law. The
research areas under study have already set up a number of such institu-
tions across their geographical area though inadequate in number in a
few states.
The population of the study consisted of two groups. Group 1—
Children who are apprehended and detained at various observation and
special homes in the selected states; and Group 2—Other stakeholders
such as parents of the children in observation and special homes, the law
enforcement authority, the superintendent of the homes and teachers/
counsellors of prestigious schools in the selected states. The inclusion of
teachers/counsellors of prestigious schools was conceived to capture the
phenomenon of risk and violent behaviour by children in a more com-
prehensive manner. Often, children who are apprehended and detained
are those in the lower classes of society, giving a picture that juvenile
offending/deviances are the monopoly of the children from lower socio-

economic status. Nevertheless, many reports and secondary reviews con-
tradict such assumptions. The sample from Group 2, particularly from
the elite schools, gives evidence-based information to substantiate that all
children, irrespective of their socio-economic status, engage in deviant
behaviours.
1.3.1 Selection of Observation Homes and Schools
Both non-probability and probability sampling methods were used to

select the required sample from the population of the study. The former
was used in the selection of homes, while the latter was used for the
selection of respondents. Accordingly, the number of detention centres
covered from each state varied depending on the feasibility as well as
the permission granted by the government. Thus, 100% of the observa-
tion homes and special homes in Delhi (3OH + 1 SH) Tamil Nadu
(7 + 1) and Odisha (3 + 3) were covered. In Kerala, however, of the 14
observation homes in the state, the study covered only 4 observation
homes and the one available special home. Thus, a total of 18 observa-
tion homes, 6 special homes and 1 place of safety across the 4 states
were covered. Similarly, for the teachers/counsellors in the second cat-
egory, three Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) schools
functioning in the three regions of the respective states were also identi-
fied using a convenient sampling method. Thus, a total of 16 observa-
tion and 8 special homes and 15 schools (CBSE/ICSE) were covered by
the study.
1.3.2 Selection of the Respondents
For sample 1—From each of the selected observation and special homes
100% of the children in conflict with law (if less than 25) or 75% to
100% of the total inmates were selected using a simple random sampling
method and interviewed using a pre-tested interview schedule. A total of
605 children from the various detention centres, with a distribution of
1 The Context 17
182 from Delhi, 32 from Kerala, 284 from Tamil Nadu and 107 from
Odisha, were interviewed to elicit the required information.
For sample 2—the other stakeholders—20 parents of the children in
conflict with law (5 per state), 5 special juvenile police, 16 superinten-
dents of the observation and special homes (5 per state) and 15 teachers/
counsellors from the prestigious schools were contacted and relevant
information related to various aspects of the study were gathered. Thus, a
total of 661 face-to-face contacts/interviews were conducted to gather
information on the subject of study, consisting of 605 children in conflict
with the law, 20 parents of the CCL, 5 special juvenile police, 16 super-
intendents of the homes and 15 teachers/counsellors of schools.
1.4 Data Collection Methods

A variety of data collection techniques were employed to achieve each of
the stated objectives of the study. They included:
• Secondary literature review: The research proceeded based on the collec-

tion, compilation and review of secondary data related to the subject
from various sources like international, national and state-level reports,
data from various central and state government departments and juve-
nile justice institutions. This information formed an essential and inte-
gral part of the development of research instruments and for
establishing trends in the situation of CCL.
• Interviews with children in conflict with the law (those in observation
homes and special homes) using pre-tested interview schedules con-
sisting of a set of questions were carefully worded and arranged with
the intention of eliciting from each respondent maximum information
related to his personal life, offence/crime which he/she has committed
and the factors which prompted them to commit such acts.
• Key informant/stakeholder interviews using a separate interview guide
for each of the stakeholders. The guide included an outline of a set of
issues that are to be explored from each respondent related to the chil-
dren’s involvement in crime/offences.
1.5 Limitations of the Study

The research had certain limitations, with an unwillingness to disclose
the truth proving a major challenge experienced by the researchers.
Accordingly, the researchers had to merge the versions of the child and
those of the FIR to reach at some conclusion regarding various aspects
related to his/her involvement in the offence. Repeated visits and con-
tinuous interaction had to be employed to make them speak about their
experiences. The information presented in the report are self-reported by
the children based upon certain inferences. In spite of our best efforts to
address the matter objectively, it is likely that certain subjective aspects
might have found a berth in the analysis resulting from the self-reporting.
There is also the possibility of participant demoralization or disinterest
fearing misreporting and non-onfidentiality. There is also the possibility
that some questions produced a social desirability effect, whereby chil-
dren answered according to what they believed their interviewers wanted
to hear. However, on such occasions, an unstructured and informal
method of seeking information was resorted to using diversified ques-
tions. The limitations of the qualitative data are those common to quali-
tative examinations such as an admitted subjectivity in data collection
and interpretation. The qualitative data, although not generalizable, is a
most worthy enterprise given the richness of detail and novel insights that
could not be obtained by any alternative means of data collection.
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dissertation, Agora University, Romania.
1 The Context 19
Harvey, J. H., & Fine, M. A. (2004). Children of divorce: Stories of loss and
growth. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act of 2000. Retrieved from http://wcd.
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with the law—A policy analysis and examples of good practice. London, UK:
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Towards investing in prevention, stopping incarceration and meeting interna-
tional standards. Amsterdam: Defence for Children International.
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Cambridge, MA: Blackwell Publishers.
Musa, N. (2010). Causes and effects of juvenile delinquency among youths in
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Retrieved from www.ncrb.nic.in.
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cities. Geneva: University of Naples.
Reckless, W. C. (1956). Lessons to be learned from institutions for delinquent
youth in Europe. The British Journal of Delinquency, 7(1), 66–70.
Sadler, A. E. (1992). Juvenile crime. San Diego: Greenhaven Press.
United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). (2003). The state of the world’s chil-
dren 2003. New York, NY: UNICEF.
United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). (1989).
Retrieved from http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/pdf/crc.pdf.
United Nations Development Programme. (2011). Human Development Report
2011. Sustainability and equity for all: A better future for all. New York:
Palgrave Macmillan.
UN General Assembly. (1990). United Nations Guidelines for the Prevention of
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General Assembly, 14 December 1990, A/RES/45/112. Retrieved from
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2
The Socio-economic Profile of Children
in Conflict with the Law
Reports and statistics reveal that children from all parts of society are
lured into a range of different anti-social behaviours. However, one per-
tinent question that has been the driver of much research is: Who are
these children and why do they engage in such criminal acts? Efforts to
understand these questions have been going on for several decades and it
is likely to continue in future as the phenomenon is complex, and it
changes from time to time and from place to place. Over the course of
their studies, sociologists, criminologists and psychologists have offered a
wide range of explanations. Understanding them is essential to determin-
ing an individual’s culpability with regard to the offence they have com-
mitted. Theories and studies have reiterated time and again that the
involvement of children in offences and deviances is particularly due to
the influence of environmental factors and persons and situations with
which they associate. Unfortunately, the society has preconceptions about
them and makes little or no effort to comprehend them and the circum-
stances that may have led to the offence. Capturing the socio-economic
background characteristics of these children and adolescents is therefore
essential to shed light not only on their lives in general, but also the fac-
tors which lead them to be in conflict with the law.

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-16589-5_2
2.1 Social Profile

2.1.1 Age of the Children
Adolescence is a period in a child’s life that is characterized by hormonal

changes which result in physical changes and emotions wrought with
stress, assertion and curiosity about sex. At this stage adolescent boys and
girls take on additional responsibilities, experiment with new ways of
doing things, attempt to assert their autonomy and engage in a search for
identity. In this process, they are likely to make wrong choices because of
their immaturity. Thus, it is a normal aspect of the adolescent’s growth
and development to exhibit a certain amount of risk behaviour.
Confirming this point, the United Nations Guidelines for the Prevention
of Juvenile Delinquency (the Riyadh Guidelines)1 state that “youthful
behaviour or conduct that does not conform to overall social norms and
values is often part of the maturation and growth process and tends to
disappear spontaneously in most individuals with the transition to adult-
hood.” Involvement in non-conforming behaviour is exhibited by chil-
dren of all ages, some as a part of their experimental and explorative
nature, others due to personal deprivations or in their struggle against the
challenges of their particular developmental stage. The empirical study
results, which covered 605 children in various detention centres (observa-
tion homes, special homes and places of safety) in the four states of Delhi,
Tamil Nadu, Odisha and Kerala reveal that children aged 8–18 years are
involved in various deviant behaviours and are serving their detention
centres, with the average age of the child being 16 years.
It is apparent from the figures that the frequency of committing
offences increased as the children grew older. Well over 90% of those in
the detention centres were found to be either in their early or middle or
late adolescence. Those in their late adolescence (16–18 years) were rep-
resented in higher proportions with 76.9%, followed by those between
12–16 years with 19.5%. This pattern was repeated across all of the states.
1
The United Nations Guidelines for the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency, also known as the
Riyadh guidelines, were adopted and proclaimed by General Assembly Resolution 45/112 of 14
December 1990. The guidelines complement the Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration
of Juvenile Justice adopted in 1985. Its guidelines recognize children as human being and discuss a
positive and proactive approach to preventing the rise of crime in the youth population.
2 The Socio-economic Profile of Children in Conflict with the Law 23
Yet it is noted from the figures that a higher number of children from
Odisha and Delhi showed an early initiation i.e., by early and middle
adolescence (12–16 years) to commit offences with 24.3% & 22.6%,
respectively. A few in the detention centres were older than 18 years of
age, with some as old as 22. The majority of these are children serving
their sentence period in either a special home or a place of safety. Analysis
has also shown that the majority of children involved in serious and hei-
nous offences were mostly in their late adolescent years (above 16 years).
Thus, most (more than 80%) of those apprehended and detained for
murder, rape, fight and kidnapping were above the age of 16 years, denot-
ing that they have a late onset to deviance and that they are unlikely to
become habitual offenders if appropriate reformatory measures are taken.
The proportion of children aged below 12 years and serving at the deten-
tion centres were only 1.5%, indicating that India needs to take another
look at the age of criminality (seven years), which is one of the lowest in
the world and to consider raising it to the International Convention ref-
erence of 12 years. The finding is also confirmed by the National Crimes
Records Bureau figures, which depicts a higher representation (66.3%) of
those aged 16–18 years among those children who are in conflict with
law (NCRB, 2014) (Table 2.1).
Table 2.1 Age-wise distribution of children in detention centres

Less than Above
States 12 years 12–16 years 16–18 years 18 years Total
Delhi 5 41 131 5 182
2.7% 22.5% 72.0% 2.7% 100.0%
55.6% 34.7% 28.2% 38.5% 30.1%
Kerala 0 6 26 0 32
0.0% 18.8% 81.3% 0.0% 100.0%
0.0% 5.1% 5.6% 0.0% 5.3%
Tamil 3 45 232 4 284
Nadu 1.1% 15.8% 81.7% 1.4% 100.0%
33.3% 38.1% 49.9% 30.8% 46.9%
Odisha 1 26 76 4 107
0.9% 24.3% 71.0% 3.7% 100.0%
11.1% 22.0% 16.3% 30.8% 17.7%
Total 9 118 465 13 605
1.5% 19.5% 76.9% 2.1% 100.0%
100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
The media interest in the involvement of adolescents in deviant behav-

iours, especially by those in their period of late adolescence, should be
viewed not in relation to their choices but to their particular develop-
mental stage which is characterized by uncontrolled emotions, impulsive-
ness, aggressiveness, risk taking and impaired decision making. Moffit
(1993), confirming that deviant behaviour is by and large part of the
growth process, states that ‘all children in their adolescence are likely to
commit at least one offending behaviour during their adolescence.’ Most
of their offending behaviours are thus the effect of their drastic physiolog-
ical, emotional and psychological changes and the problems and chal-
lenges they face at this stage in relation to their identity crisis, search for
autonomy and hormonal changes as they enter puberty. These unique
features of adolescents that indicate their immature status tend to decline
as they grow and mature, something which is reflected in their decreased
level of participation in aggressive and law-breaking behaviour by the
time they reach adulthood. An earlier study on the subject stated that ‘the
prevalence of involvement in deviance typically rises from adolescence,
reaches a peak in the late teenage years and then begins to decline’
(Farrington, 1986) is confirmed in the current findings of the study.
Thus, the majority of the deviant and offending acts of adolescents are
the direct result of their particular developmental stage and tend to turn
their back on offending as they reach adulthood.
2.1.2 Gender
Across the globe, research has found that deviant behaviour is a predomi-
nantly male phenomenon. This overrepresentation of males in offences
by children is one of the most robust and stable findings in the literature
(Freeman, 1996). The variability in the number of Juvenile Justice insti-
tutions set up for boys and girls itself sheds light on the difference in the
rate of offences committed by both genders. While there were 13, 8, 3
and 3 each government-run observation homes2 for boys in the state of
Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Delhi and Odisha, respectively, there was only one
Observation homes are institutions where children spend time during their trial period.
2
observation home each for the girls in these states. Furthermore, the
number of girls in each of these homes was found to be relatively low.
Their representation in the study was only two (out of 605), even after
taking 100% of the children from these homes. In Kerala, Tamil Nadu
and Odisha, there were none at all; in Delhi there were only two. The
Report of Crime Records 2014 substantiate there are more boys as of the
48,260 children apprehended, only 1568 (3.3%) were girls. It showed a
decrease of 1% over the previous year (NCRB, 2014).
The literature contains a range of explanations as to why the majority
of children in conflict with the law are male. Many of them reflect on the
patriarchal nature of Indian society. Emphasizing patriarchal values, tradi-
tion grants more freedom to boys than it does to girls. From a young age,
aggressive behaviour by boys tends to be condoned by both parents and
family members. In our interviews with the boys, they stated, ‘our aggres-
sive behaviour was seen as being bold and courageous.’ In later childhood,
boys show higher rates of conduct problems than girls (Farrington, 1987).
Girls may engage in criminal activities, but boys commit more serious
offences, such as aggravated assault, robbery, and murder (Quinsey,
Skilling, Lalumiere, & Craig, 2004). Moreover, females are more con-
cerned with creating and maintaining close bonds and relationships with
other people, leading to lower rates of property and violent offences.
Conversely, males are concerned with material success, leading to higher
rates of property and violent offences. They are more likely to be less toler-
ant, facilitating their greater involvement in conflicts. In relation to goals,
females were more likely to be self-destructive when they fail to achieve
goals, while males turned towards violent behaviour and offences (Agnew
& Brezina, 1997). The low levels of female involvement in offences or
deviant acts are primarily the result of their different gender roles, the
social control of girls, their restricted access to many aspects of public life,
and the coping strategies that girls are forced to adopt in different contexts.
2.1.3 Place of Residence
Children’s involvement in non-conforming/unlawful behaviour is not

restricted to any particular region, although its extent varies from one
to another. The current study trends show that of the 605 children in
various detention centres, the majority of them (56.4%) were residing in

the urban areas at the time that they committed their offences. Rural
representation has been found to be slightly higher in Tamil Nadu, with
54.8% (Table 2.2). Interstate migration was also a major phenomenon in
Delhi as compared to other states. 56.1% of the children in various
detention centres of Delhi were from other states/countries, particularly
those adjacent to the city. Among them, the states of Uttar Pradesh and
Bihar were represented at a higher rate, with 24.7% and 12.1%, respec-
tively. The other states that were represented included: Rajasthan (4.4%),
Uttarakhand & Jharkhand (5.5%), and Haryana (2.7%). The rest had
migrated from Nepal, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Bengal and
Odisha. Although they had migrated from other states, many of these
children—and even their families—had been residing in the outskirts or
on the streets of Delhi. Enhanced survival means or work opportunities
are reported to be the attractions for migration to the capital city of
Delhi. In contrast to interstate migration in Delhi, the other states in the
study reported intrastate migration.
Correlating with those who are involved in heinous offences (murder
and rape), it is found that urban areas are represented higher than the
rural areas. 50 of the 76 murder cases and 42 of 76 the rape cases in the
sample were reported from the urban areas. Migrated adolescents gener-
Table 2.2 Place of residence

States Urban Rural Total
Delhi 107 75 182
58.8% 41.2% 100.0%
31.9% 27.8% 30.1%
Kerala 29 3 32
90.6% 9.4% 100.0%
8.7% 1.1% 5.3%
Tamil Nadu 136 148 284
47.9% 52.1% 100.0%
40.6% 54.8% 46.9%
Odisha 63 44 107
58.9% 41.1% 100.0%
18.8% 16.3% 17.7%
Total 335 270 605
55.4% 44.6% 100.0%
100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
ally live on the margins of society and they often seek comfort in their
own environment and culture. The interactions with them revealed that
many had migrated to the particular cities along with their families or
alone in search of livelihood options. A significant number of them live
on the streets. These children are generally subject to less supervision
since their parents are wage earners, seeking work on a daily basis, which
means they are out of the house from early morning to late in the eve-
ning. Conversely, children are also engaged either in their parents’ activi-
ties or in other independent jobs, risking their likely association with
peers or adults involved in criminal activities in the area. The data, how-
ever, highlight that children from all geographical area indulge in offences,
a higher prevalence is found to be in the urban areas. It is also inferred
from the analysis that the offences committed in urban areas are much
more severe in nature than those in the rural areas. Delhi had the highest
number of children who are involved in murder and rape compared to
other states.
However, the Delhi phenomenon is not to be taken as constituting a
national trend since its capital status and cosmopolitan nature is quite
unique and specific compared to other cities in the country.
2.1.4 Education of the Child and Their Parents
Poor educational achievement, a low level of interest in education, having

never attended formal school or dropping out of school are all among the
common factors of children found in the various detention centres in this
study. The educational status of the children reveals that while 16.8%
were deprived of any formal schooling, 50.8% reported to have achieved
either lower primary3 or upper primary4 level of education, indicating a
decline after that. Of the others, 22.4% were had attended education to
high school and the rest had achieved the level of higher secondary educa-
tion. The states of Delhi and Odisha had a greater representation of chil-
dren without any formal schooling with 20.4% and 18.7%, respectively.
Lower primary in India is from 1st to 5th grade schooling (age of entry 6 years–11 years).
3
Upper primary is from 6th to 8th grade (12–14 years).

4
Table 2.3 Educational status of children

Educational status Delhi Kerala Tamil Nadu Odisha Total
No formal schooling 38 1 40 20 99
38.4% 1.0% 40.4% 20.2% 100.0%
20.9% 3.1% 14.1% 18.7% 16.4%
Primary (1–5 classes) 53 1 41 15 110
48.2% 0.9% 37.3% 13.6% 100.0%
29.1% 3.1% 14.4% 14.0% 18.2%
Upper primary (6–8 classes) 44 5 116 32 197
22.3% 2.5% 58.9% 16.2% 100.0%
24.2% 15.6% 40.8% 29.9% 32.6%
High school (9–10) 30 16 64 28 138
21.7% 11.6% 46.4% 20.3% 100.0%
16.5% 50.0% 22.5% 26.2% 22.8%
Higher secondary 17 9 23 12 61
27.9% 14.8% 37.7% 19.7% 100.0%
9.3% 28.1% 8.1% 11.2% 10.1%
Total 182 32 284 107 605
30.1% 5.3% 46.9% 17.7% 100.0%
100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
Kerala reported the least. It is also observed that 69.7% and 56.2% of the
children involved in serious offences of murder and rape had either never
been to school or had an educational status below upper primary levels,
indicating they did not have the opportunity to value education or the
discipline to appreciate the consequences of their actions (Table 2.3).
Dropping out of school is found to be a pervasive phenomenon among
children involved in deviance and offence. Data highlight that of the 605
children under study, only 166 (27.4%) were studying at the time of their
apprehension. The rest had been either been out of school or had been
dropped out of school at some point of time due to various factors such
as the lack of interest, school not being interesting, an economic crisis in
the family or some other familial disruption. Tamil Nadu followed by
Delhi reported a higher number of children, dropping out of school with
63.7% and 55.5%, respectively. Studies carried out on academic perfor-
mance and delinquency have found that a low intelligence quotient (IQ)
directly increases the risk of involvement in deviance because it limits a
person’s ability to appreciate the consequences of their actions. It has also
been proven that the association between low IQ and involvement in
offences stems from the fact that those with a low IQ generally do more
poorly at school and that children with lower levels of academic perfor-
mance are more likely to exhibit behavioural problems, likely to offend
frequently, more likely to commit more serious offences and more likely
to persist in their offences (Stouthamer-Loeber, Moffit, & Lynam, 1999).
A lower Intelligent Quotient (IQ) reduces the chances of academic
success at school and this failure in academic achievement, in turn,
increases the likelihood of delinquent acts (Diaz, Belena, & Baguena,
1994). Similarly, research studies by Culberton, Ferel, and Gabby (1989)
and Moffitt, Gabrielli, and Mednick (1981), which investigated the asso-
ciation between IQ and delinquency, have found that delinquent boys
have lower levels of functioning intelligence. A lack or absence of school-
ing, therefore, is found to have a bearing on their bent towards deviant
ways of behaviour. By its very objective, education aims to create respon-
sible citizens who understand basic social values. It also assists him/her in
delineating right from wrong. Subsequently, the marginalization of chil-
dren from this basic right may produce a negative influence on his or her
behaviour, making him or her vulnerable to being lured by others to
offending and unlawful acts in unison with other children who are vic-
tims of such marginalization. The findings go in line with the NCRB
report of 2013, which found that 52.9% of the children in the study were
classified as having either never having been to school or having only a
primary level of education. This does not mean that children with a
higher level of education do not get on the wrong side of the law. A rapid
assessment of the cases received by the counsellors in a few elite schools
in the geographical area of the study revealed that the children in these
schools were involved in unlawful acts such as theft, violence, sexual vio-
lence and substance abuse. Nevertheless, such cases are either never
reported to the police station or never get as far as adjudication. Such
incidents are often settled between the perpetrator and the victim.
Generally, it is those children who are on the lowest rungs of the social
and economic ladder who come to the adjudication process. Capturing
this invisibility phenomenon, Donald Black (1976) theorized that the
law is harsher on those who are most marginalized from mainstream soci-
ety and its institutions. The findings show, therefore, that not all children
who break the law are punished, but those who receive the most severe
punishment are those without the social, political or fiscal capital with
which to escape the law.
It is clear from the above that a low level of educational status results
in a poor understanding of acceptable and unacceptable behaviour; of
what is right and wrong is quite pervasive across the children serving the
detention centres in various states. It fails their reasoning to a large extent,
causing easy attraction to offences that are serious and non-serious.
Deprivation of this basic right to education, therefore, requires to be
addressed while the nation deliberates or has discourses on the prevention
of offences by children. The situation demands added attention as the
country pledges itself to give free and compulsory education to all chil-
dren below the age of 14 years.
The educational status of parents seems to have a bearing on the edu-
cational status of children as the majority of the parents of the afore-
mentioned children have parents with either no formal education or
just a basic level of education. According to the results, 43.8% of the
fathers and 51.1% of the mothers of these children had no formal
schooling. The state of Delhi followed by Odisha and Tamil Nadu
reported a higher representation in this category, with 54.9%. Among,
those who had formal education, 24.8% fathers & 25.3% mothers were
either with primary or upper primary level of education (Table 4.4).
Parents with higher secondary education or above were in the minority.
The overall findings indicated that the low overall educational status of
the children was closely linked to the educational status of their parents
as the parents were unable to inspire or motivate their children for edu-
cation. They did not have familial bonding with their children. However,
one needs to state that there are a significant number of poor parents
with whom Butterflies works within Delhi and Uttarakhand whose
aspirations for their children are that they become educated, and should
acquire a professional skill that would help them get better and
stable jobs.
In contrast, highly educated parents send their children to privileged
schools. These tend to be less violent and less aggressive, meaning that
aggressive behaviour and truancy are more often associated with children
from less educated homes (Gottfredson & Gottfredson, 1985).
Contradicting this result, Ojo (1987) and Weis (1982), who conducted a
study of the association between education and deviant behaviour among
children, have found that a higher level of such behaviour is exhibited by
children from middle-class families or from a high socio-economic group.
The present study confirms that children from all educational groups
commit offences and that it is not the monopoly of the less-educated
groups. Notwithstanding, the children of educated parents are to an
extent protected against the contact with the justice system fearing defa-
mation of the family. Substantiating this finding, Christie (1999) noted
that the highly educated ones spend more time working in offices and
establishment and have little time for their children, making it more
likely that they will fall into the trap of deviant groups. An Australian-
based study (Gilmore, 1999) has noted that rich parents are more aggres-
sive, violent and disharmonious. Consequently, their children are more
associated with school failure, deviant peer rejection and inadequate
behaviour management. Thus, delinquency cannot be regarded as solely
the preserve of poor homes.
A lack of education is likely to result in inadequate parenting, poor
guidance and supervision of the children which will make them vulner-
able to risk behaviours. It is found that in the case of most of the parents
of children in detention centres, they were mostly concerned about the
physical and material requirements of children and they ignored the cog-
nitive and emotional needs that are essential for the optimal develop-
ment of the children and the proper appreciation of life situations.
Reading this finding along with the educational status of children makes
things clearer as the study finds that children of those parents with low
educational status are found to be either currently out of school or to
have dropped out of school long back. A low level of education alone
may not be a predictive factor for deviance, but low education is likely
to result in lower survival means and subsequent economic stress and
inadequate parenting. Thus, low educational status leading to inadequate
parenting is likely to lead to children drifting into unlawful acts as par-
ents fail to supervise and guide them due to the above handicaps
(Table 2.4).
Table 2.4 Education of the parents

Delhi Kerala Tamil Nadu Odisha Total
Education of fathers
54.9% 25.0% 37.0% 48.6% 43.8%
Primary (1–5 classes) 26 11 28 27 92
14.3% 34.4% 9.9% 25.2% 15.2%
5.5% 15.6% 10.6% 12.1% 9.6%
High school (9–10) 15 5 27 6 53
8.2% 15.6% 9.5% 5.6% 8.8%
6.6% 0.0% 2.8% 2.8% 3.8%
Graduation 9 1 5 0 15
4.9% 3.1% 1.8% 0.0% 2.5%
Post-graduation 1 0 0 0 1
0.5% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.2%
Others 0 0 17 4 21
0.0% 0.0% 6.0% 3.7% 3.5%
Died/Don’t know 9 2 64 2 77
4.9% 6.3% 22.5% 1.9% 12.7%
Education of mothers
70.9% 25.0% 42.6% 47.7% 51.1%
Primary (1–5 classes) 12 11 31 32 86
6.6% 34.4% 10.9% 29.9% 14.2%
4.9% 25.0% 14.4% 8.4% 11.1%
High school (9–10) 12 4 21 7 44
6.6% 12.5% 7.4% 6.5% 7.3%
3.3% 0.0% 2.8% 3.7% 3.0%
Graduation 3 1 2 0 6
1.6% 3.1% 0.7% 0.0% 1.0%
Post-graduation 1 0 0 2 3
0.5% 0.0% 0.0% 1.9% 0.5%
Others 0 0 15 1 16
0.0% 0.0% 5.3% 0.9% 2.7%
Died/Don’t know 10 0 45 1 56
5.5% 0.0% 15.8% 0.9% 9.3%
Total 182 32 284 107 605
100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
2.1.5 Religion and Caste
The children involved in offences were not restricted to any one religion
or caste/ethnicity; often, they would reflect the overall population in
each community. In all of the states in the study, the majority of the
population belonged to the Hindu religion, followed by Muslim and
Christian communities. Corresponding to the overall population size in
each religion, 76.4% of the children in study were from a Hindu reli-
gious background, followed by 15.9% from the Muslim and 7.4% from
the Christian communities. All states in the study (with the exception of
Kerala) reported a higher representation from the Hindu religion. In
Kerala, however, there were more from the Muslim community than
from any other religious communities. Attributing magnitude of devi-
ance by children to any one community will be misleading, as the popu-
lation size of the communities varied extensively from one state
to another.
Nevertheless, data showed a strong link between deviance and the
caste affiliation of the children. It is found that out of the 442 chil-
dren who knew about their caste, 90% (out of 442) belonged to lower
castes, highlighting that the vulnerabilities experienced by the mar-
ginalized communities may, and can be, instrumental in the involve-
ment of children in offences. More than a quarter (26.9%), on the
other hand, were either ignorant about their caste or did not want to
divulge it. Among those who did not know about the caste, Delhi fol-
lowed by Tamil Nadu recorded higher rates, with 44% and 27%,
respectively.
However, it would be misleading to make an inference from the above
that children from higher castes are not involved in offences or unlawful
acts. As stated earlier, they may well have a low presence in the detention
centres because most of these children’s cases are settled before they even
reach the police station. The non-reporting of cases is because of concern
about the damage to the family’s reputation.
2.1.6 Custody of Children
Caring relationships, positive and high expectations, and opportunities

for meaningful participation create a protective environment for chil-
dren. Underlining the same international treaties and national legisla-
tions related to children exhorts and clearly articulates that children be
brought up in families where they experience parental love, care, warmth,
protection and support which are essential for their optimal develop-
ment. However, in the case of the 605 children serving in the various
detention centres under study, it was found that only 58.5% enjoyed, at
least to a certain extent, this protective environment of both the parents
with a distribution of 62.6% in Delhi, 37.5% in Kerala, 50% in Tamil
Nadu and 80.4% in Odisha. Among the rest, almost a quarter (24.1%)
were living with either of the parents—18% with the mother and 6.1%
with the father. Children with single parent families in the sample were
found higher in Kerala (50%) followed by Tamil Nadu and Delhi with
26.8% and 21.4% respectively. Absence of parental custody either due to
the demise of parents or desertion was reported by 14.2%. Of this, 7.9%
were living with relatives and 1.2% with their peers or adults. The rest
(5.1%) were living on the streets on their own. The data depicted that
almost half of the children were either denied of a family or had a dis-
rupted family and it is very likely that such disruptions affect the normal
behaviour of children (Table 2.5).
It is inferred from the interaction with the children in detention cen-
tres that because of either the absence of parents or conditions of eco-
nomic hardship, most of these children do not receive adequate parental
care, support and supervision, and that this might have had a strong
association with their deviance. Although it would be incorrect to state
that disruption will inevitably result in deviation, it can be rightly viewed
as a strong risk factor for deviance.
2.1.7 Family Background
Cohesive families offer the most conducive environment space for the
proper growth and development of children. In such families, parents
Table 2.5 Parental custody

Tamil
Parental custody Delhi Kerala Nadu Odisha Total
Living with both parents 114 12 142 86 354
62.6% 37.5% 50.0% 80.4% 58.5%
Living with mother only 29 12 55 13 109
15.9% 37.5% 19.4% 12.1% 18.0%
Father only 10 4 21 2 37
5.5% 12.5% 7.4% 1.9% 6.1%
Mother and stepfather 1 1 8 2 12
0.5% 3.1% 2.8% 1.9% 2.0%
Father and stepmother 2 1 4 0 7
1.1% 3.1% 1.4% 0.0% 1.2%
With relatives 10 0 35 3 48
5.5% 0.0% 12.3% 2.8% 7.9%
With non-relatives 5 0 2 0 7
2.7% 0.0% 0.7% 0.0% 1.2%
Living with friends in the 11 2 17 1 31
street 6.0% 6.3% 6.0% 0.9% 5.1%
Total 182 32 284 107 605
100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
play the pivotal role of instilling in them a set of norms, values, beliefs
and ideals. Their failure to accomplish this task may result in serious con-
sequences for the individual. Earlier research studies confirm that chil-
dren raised in supportive, affectionate and accepting homes are less likely
to become deviant. Children rejected by parents are among the most
likely to become delinquent. The relationship between parents has a pow-
erful effect on every young child.
The marital status of the parents of the children in detention centres
considered in this regard highlighted that two-thirds (66.6%) were mar-
ried and living together. The rest (33.4%) hailed from families character-
ized by one or other disruptions, i.e., the death of one or both parents, a
step parent, separated parent and abandoned children. Of this, 21.9%
had lost either one or both of their parents. 10.2%, on the other hand,
were married but separated and 1.4% were ignorant about the where-
abouts of their parents or were abandoned. Tamil Nadu reported a com-
paratively lower number of parents (57%) who were married and living
together. In congruence, the number of families separated or those with
Table 2.6 Marital status of parents

Tamil
Marital status Delhi Kerala Nadu Odisha Total
Married and living together 131 21 162 88 402
72.0% 65.6% 57.0% 82.2% 66.4%
Married but separated 9 5 46 2 62
4.9% 15.6% 16.2% 1.9% 10.2%
Married but both deceased 4 0 10 2 16
2.2% 0.0% 3.5% 1.9% 2.6%
Married but father/mother 37 4 61 15 117
deceased 20.3% 12.5% 21.5% 14.0% 19.3%
Others 1 2 5 0 8
0.5% 6.3% 1.8% 0.0% 1.4%
Total 182 32 284 107 605
100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
the absence of one or both parents was higher in Tamil Nadu than in the
other states in this study (Table 2.6).
It is also observed that a comparatively higher number of children
residing in a special home (47.6%) hailed from any one of the disrupted
situation of the families. The corresponding figures for those in an obser-
vation home and place of safety were 32.1% and 22.1%, respectively.
Similarly, among those involved in murder and rape cases, 20% and 24%
of the children were from one or other type of disrupted family. It could
thus be inferred from the figures that 33% of the children serving in the
detention centres hailed from disrupted family situations in which they
were denied either the critical and nurturing parenting from the father or
mother or the absence of both parents that in a way that paved their
growth or maturation into deviance.
Previous studies have repeatedly highlighted the significance of cohe-
sive families for the proper growth and development of children. They
also prove that disruption to family life troubles the children to a great
extent. A single mother from an economically poor background is gener-
ally less able to attend to all of her child’s needs as quickly or as fully as
she could, as the daily struggle is simply to feed and clothe her children.
The daily stress of just surviving and not going hungry tends to affect the
mother’s emotional attachment to her child and in turn reduces the
child’s lifelong capacity for emotional attachment to others and empathy
for others. According to Rolf Loeber, professor of Psychiatry at the

University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, “A close and intense rela-
tionship between a boy and his father prevents hostility and inappropri-
ate aggressiveness.” Similarly, what a child receives from his relationship
with his father is substantially different from those derived from his rela-
tionship with his mother. Within the family structure, the father contrib-
utes a sense of paternal authority and discipline, which is conveyed
through his involved presence. This is reiterated by Sheldon and Eleanor
Glueck of Harvard University, who comments that in a well-functioning
family, the very presence of the father embodies authority, which is con-
veyed through his daily involvement in family life. This paternal author-
ity is critical to the prevention of psychopathology and delinquency.
Moreover, it is also articulated by a study carried out by Jill Leslie
Rosenbaum, a professor of criminology from California, that the rates of
emotional and behavioural problems of children are more than double in
stepfamilies. Family disruptions tend to build a tension between the rela-
tionship of parents and adolescents which may, in turn, lead to patterns
of deviant behaviour. Reinforcing this pattern, Deković, Janssens, and
Van As (2003) describes that the quality of parent–adolescent relation-
ships explains adolescent anti-social behaviour. The quality of a relation-
ship is a constellation of attitudes towards the child that are communicated
to the child in the long history of the relationships (Darling & Steinberg,
1993). The negative quality of relationships between adolescents and
their parents born out of family disruption is expected to be instrumental
to higher levels of externalizing problems, such as disturbing others, ver-
bal and physical aggression, and acts of violence (Nelson, Rutherford, &
Wolford, 1996). Research has also found that the relationships between
adolescents with anti-social behaviour and their parents are characterized
by a lack of intimacy, mutuality, and by more blaming and anger (Deković
et al., 2003).
Evidently, in the case of 33.4% of children, a likelihood to drift into
deviance due to the absence of either one or both parents or due to the
strain in the marital relationship of parents is much higher. In the case of
others, the study did not delve into the quality of relationship between
the parents. Yet, inferring from the anecdotes of children, it could be
derived that even in families where both parents lived together, tensions
in the relationship were quite common either as a result of economic

strain or due to the unwelcome habits such as alcoholism, drug use etc.,
of the male partners. Thus, a strain in marital relationships could be
instrumental in causing children to drift into crime, since such tensions
result in the inadequate supervision of children that may attract them to
deviant peers and gradually be part of the deviant acts by such groups.
2.2 Economic Profile

It is generally believed that children involved in offences often come from
poverty-stricken homes or communities (Talaimanu, 2006). Several stud-
ies have also reiterated that poverty is one of the factors invariably linked
to children’s vulnerability and one of the tipping factors pushing them to
the chances of offending. Although the present findings may seem to go
well in line with the above belief and assumption, there is ample evidence
to prove that it is not the monopoly of those who are at the lower rungs
of the society. A data set gathered from the counsellors of a few elite
schools in the geographical area of study highlights that children in these
schools, most of whom come from high- and middle-income groups, are
involved in very similar types of offences to those found in the detention
centres. Yet they are invisible in the adjudication process. Accordingly,
only those who are marginalized come into the picture of all analysis and
they are met with the harshest punishments. The data profile of the chil-
dren in detention centres highlights that they hail from poor family back-
grounds, which are characterized by comparatively poor housing
conditions, low incomes and low occupational status.
It is highlighted from the children’s self-reporting that a lack of ade-
quate housing conditions was a common feature of children in detention
centres, as 39.2% were denied of a house of their own with a higher
number reporting from Tamil Nadu followed by Delhi with 47.5% and
42.3% respectively. Among those owning a house, the majority were
deprived of an adequate dwelling place as they were living either in
Thungis/streets or in Kachha houses, including tents. The rest (36.4%)
had tiled or concrete houses. Among those involved in the heinous
offences of murder and rape 25% and 16.4% of the children, respectively,
were deprived of a proper housing condition which is, in itself, a risk fac-
tor for their deviance. The lower economic profile of these children is
further unravelled by their ownership of land, which revealed that most
of them (62%) were deprived of land ownership. And for those who
reported land ownership, it was minimal ranging from 0.008–0.02 ha.
Deprivation of land and a house threw many of the children and their
families on to the streets, making them vulnerable to various risks includ-
ing the grey market of smuggling, bootlegging and gang war. A lack of
opportunity and inequality, which may be considered structural imbal-
ances, could therefore be central factors for pushing children to the wrong
side of the law. When people lack resources and access and are pushed
around, something shapes within, making the person act on an impulse
of anger and daring to achieve the goals in life, i.e., comfort, leisure, sta-
tus, and wealth (Merton’s Strain theory). Moreover, life on the street is
doubly vulnerable to children in conflict with the law as they are likely to
encounter questions of whether their very livelihood and place of
stay is legal.
2.2.1 T
he Occupational Status of Parents
and Juveniles
There was uniformity in the occupational pattern of the parents of these

children in detention centres, particularly their fathers, that further verify
the poverty status of the families from whence these children hail.
Majority of the fathers were engaged either in labour or service-oriented
occupations rather than salaried jobs. The salaried employees were only a
handful. The trend was found to be similar across all states under study.
The labour and service sectors in which they were engaged included a
range of occupations: construction workers, woodcutters, gardeners,
cleaners or sweepers, carpenters, tailors, drivers, barbers, chair weavers,
electricians and potters. These families could not fend for themselves on
the sole income of fathers. Mothers as well as children were engaged in
various occupations raised additional income to the families. The data
revealed that 47.7% of mothers worked, with the majority of them doing
menial jobs such as domestic workers, roadside helpers, eateries and scrap
pickers, whereas a significantly small number worked as vegetable ven-

dors or tailors in private companies.
Children were unable to articulate how much their parents earned
every day or month as there was very little discussion of financial matters
at home. Yet they were sure that the income earned was meagre and the
requirements of the family could not be satisfied with the income earned,
causing uneasiness and disruptions in the family. Most of the tensions at
home between parents and children were around the issue of finances.
2.2.2 The Employment of Children
The poverty status of these families is reconfirmed by the fact that a num-
ber of these children who were denied formal schooling were engaged in
various types of work to earn an additional income for the family to
overcome their economic stress. Results from the empirical survey high-
lighted that 63.2% of them were engaged in work. Tamil Nadu (73.2%)
and Delhi (62.3%) followed by Odisha (53.1%) had a higher number of
children who were working. Kerala, on the other hand, reported the least.
A co-relation with the nature of the offences showed that among the
children engaged in serious offences of murder and rape 55% and 64%
each were working along with adults. These children socialized with their
adult co-workers.
Children who worked at an early age with adult workers are likely to
be influenced by the sub culture of adult workers. Adults have exploited
their immature, impulsive and adventurous nature to involve them in
unlawful activities. Adolescents, by virtue of their developmental charac-
teristics, are not likely to appreciate the consequences of his or her actions.
The incomes earned by children were used both for personal use, such as
watching movies, buying food, cigarettes and alcohol as well as for family
requirements. However, a major portion of their earnings was spent for
their own needs. Interestingly, parents were ignorant of the earning of
their children as long as a certain agreed amount was shared with them.
Parents did not inquire about the whereabouts of their children nor did
they suspect their child was consuming alcohol or other substances. These
working children were not supervised by their parents or other adult
family members. Family bonding was sparse, with limited interactions

among family members. The children had their own social network,
which acted as a surrogate family. Their identification and belonging was
with this group.
Although literature and studies (Farrington, 1992; Fischer, 1984; Ellis,
1998) highlight a strong association between family size and deviance,
with the arguments of causing economic distress and lack of supervision,
the present study findings denote a lesser or insignificant co-relation
between the family size and offences committed. Most of the families of
children in detention centres across the states under study had fewer than
six members, including their parents and, at times, their grandparents.
Family size also depicted a wide variance across the four states under
study. While Delhi recorded higher number of households (61.2%) with
6 and above members, it was only 21.3% in Tamil Nadu and 3% in
Kerala. The nuclear family, however, is reported to be the norm in Kerala
and Tamil Nadu as most of the households had only 4–5 members each.
Further, if family size is considered to be a very strong predictor of devi-
ance, then in the past when the joint family system was the norm, it
should have resulted in more crimes, but history proves otherwise. It is
generally presumed that in large families, the other siblings themselves
can act as safety nets. Under such circumstances, it is hard to make a
conclusion about the influence of family size on children drawing them
to risk behaviour and to commit offences.
An overview of the children in detention centres depicted that the
majority of children were in their late adolescence of 16–18 years, with
low education level and from families characterized by less educated
parents, unskilled and skilled workers, low income, poor housing and
their neighbourhood. More than three-fifths of the children were work-
ing to support their families. It is evident from the socio-economic sta-
tus of the families that all of the children were invariably victims of
multiple deprivations. The well-being of children was compromised due
to their parents’ deprived and marginalized socio-economic status.
Nevertheless, it cannot be concluded that all who experience depriva-
tion will be involved in offences as there are populations who experience
deprivations but live law-abiding lives. It may, however, form a risk fac-
tor for deviance.
2.3 Poverty and Offending

The socio-economic status of the family is widely considered to be a seri-
ous factor in children’s drift into the path of deviance or offences. There
are several propagandists (researchers and writers) who advocate a strong
association or link between the two and articulate poverty as an invariable
cause for deviance or risk behaviour by children. The data from the
empirical study, as outlined in the preceding pages, also reveal that almost
all of those involved in offences and serve at the detention centres hail
from low-income families. It is generally perceived that children growing
up in poverty or in low-income families are more likely to face a multi-
tude of difficulties and problems and become victims of manifold depri-
vations. Among those serving the detention centres in the four states in
our study almost three-quarters were at a low level of education, they
came from inadequate housing facilities, poor economic backgrounds
marked by low employment profiles and income; and more than three-
fifths of the children were working. It is generally assumed that economic
disadvantage, in one way or another, motivates the individuals affected
by that disadvantage to come into conflict with the law. The general strain
theory explains or proves it by premising that when people are encoun-
tered with stress and deprivation, it leads to negative emotions such as
anger and depression and, occasionally, to deviant behaviour. All of these
may lead one to conclude that deviance and offending behaviour of chil-
dren is the monopoly of those from the low-income families.
However, evidences and experiences strongly contest such a premise
and propose that poverty is only one among the several risk factors that
may lead to deviance. The arrest and incarceration data illustrate that
males from the lower classes are the most likely group to be arrested and
convicted of violent offences. However, it is important to point out that
official arrest and incarceration data do not capture the full extent of who
commits an offence, only who is caught and convicted. The data elicited
from the counsellors of a few elite schools existing in the geographical area
of the study tell that a good number of children in those schools are
reported to have been involved in various types of offences such as theft,
physical assault, sexual harassment and substance abuse, but are protected
from the contact with the justice system through settlements, negotiations
and compromises to avoid family defamation. Such cases thus never reach
the adjudication process. The non-reporting of their cases is also quite
common among them. Further, the absence of children from middle- and
high-income groups in the detention centres does not refer to their disen-
gagement with offences; rather, it meant that they escaped from the justice
system through negotiations and mediations. The unbalanced legal sys-
tem has developed more delicate ways of dealing with the elite, resulting
in lower arrest rates among these demographic groups. Further, all inter-
pretations and analysis of NCRB data either undermine or ignore the
percentage which represent the middle- and high-income groups project-
ing the view that marginalized communities are prone to deviance.
According to the NCRB report for 2014, around 22% of those involved
in offences are from middle- or high-income groups.
Ultimately, if it were to be accepted that economic conditions are a
causal factor for offence, then it will invariably get worse, as a higher
proportion of the population are in the lower economic class. According
to the latest Rangarajan Report (2014), one in every three Indians lives
below the poverty line, indicating that majority of the Indians are not
earning enough to maintain a decent standard of living. If the argument
cited above is held, then the number of children involved in unlawful acts
would have been several times higher than the current significantly low
numbers. Moreover, rural areas which have a high concentration of poor
households should be represented with a high volume of juvenile devi-
ances. But the facts and figures prove otherwise. It indicates that there is
a large portion of children who are poor, but still choose to live a life of
high moral standards and to adhere to societal norms. Similarly, one child
from a family may get into trouble with the law, while other siblings may
not even though their circumstances were the same. As such, poverty can-
not be a lone explanatory variable for offence.
It reveals that although deviance is an issue that is prevalent in all
socio-economic classes, all of the available data indicate that it is dispro-
portionately targeted in society. In the Juvenile Justice System, children
from the lower classes are more likely to be incarcerated, charged, con-
victed and sentenced than those from the elite class. The very system that
aims to diminish offences and protecting communities has become a
crippling mechanism used to target and further oppress the poor. This
has been proven by the inconsistency in offences pursued, differences

with regard to police treatment, and the disproportionate rate of minor-
ity incarceration. This prejudiced societal attitude leads to the double
victimization of these children. The evidences and experiences thus
strongly contest the premise that poverty is the root cause of all offences
and proposes that poverty is only one among the several risk factors that
may lead to deviance.
Children raised in poverty have parents who may not have the time
to spend with their children and teach them the values of right and
wrong. It is also shown that children from poor houses are less closely
monitored or supervised by their parents, meaning that they are more
likely to be lured into groups which are deviant and thereby involve
themselves in committing offences. Similarly, in the case of children
from middle- and high-income groups, parents may spend more time
outside the home either in the office or in other places, disregarding the
supervision or monitoring of children, which ultimately may leave the
child to do whatever he or she likes. In certain other cases, the child-
centred nature of parents, especially in the present context of the nuclear
family situation (with one or two children), may prompt parents to
ignore even the aggressive and unacceptable behaviour of their children
which, in turn, encourages the children to involve in more severe
offences. Thus, behaviour resulting in conflict with the law affects chil-
dren from all classes of society. But it is only those from the lower eco-
nomic strata usually enter the adjudication process and subsequent
detention.
Therefore, prior to attributing different names such as murderer, rap-
ist, thief and criminal to these children, and advocating for harsher pun-
ishment, it is essential to take a close look at their background
characteristics to see if these children or families had access to entitle-
ments provided by the government in its parens patriae role to protect
children whose families are unable to provide an adequate safety net. It is
evident from the discourse on the socio-economic characteristics that
children who are victims of neglect, abuse and economic constraints
experience more risks and vulnerabilities and are prone to be dragged
into deviance and offences. To prevent such a drift into deviance, it is
necessary for the state to support these children to grow and self-actualize
a life of dignity. However, the Indian state has been unable to fulfil this
role adequately, leaving millions of children to live in miserable condi-
tions. Given the huge deprivations and challenges faced by these young
and vulnerable children, any effective measure to address the issue of
deviance and offences by children should take into account the impor-
tance of strengthening the family and community, along with reforming
and modernizing the state’s child protection policies.
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3
The Nature of Offences and Culpability
Adolescence is a venerable and unstable time of adjustment which a child

moves through on their journey into adulthood (Casey, Getz, & Galvan,
2008). During adolescence, there are examinable changes at various points
in life. These changes occur physically as the adolescent goes through
puberty, as well as psychological changes where high emotional reactivity
emerges, and social development is at its height (Casey et al., 2008). The
teenage brain, in the words of Laurence Steinberg mentioned above, is like
a car with a good accelerator but a weak brake: With powerful impulses
under inadequate control, the likely result is a crash. This period of
adolescence is filled with intellectual and emotional changes in addition to
other major biological and physical changes. It is a time of discovery of self
and of the individual’s relationship to the wider world. It is also a period
of increased vulnerability when risky behaviours emerge as young people
attempt to navigate an increasingly complex world. Adolescents are more
likely than adults or children to engage in risky behaviour that can
subsequently lead to death or illness by drink driving, carrying weapons,
using illegal drugs, and engaging in unprotected sex, which can lead, in
turn, to sexually transmitted illnesses and teenage pregnancies (Eaton
et al., 2006). Along with these obvious physical changes, more complex and

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-16589-5_3
hidden changes occur in terms of an adolescent’s attitude, outlook and

self-identity. For many adolescents, life is a painful tug of war, filled with
mixed messages and conflicting demands from parents, teachers, friends,
family and oneself. Growing up—negotiating a path between indepen-
dence and reliance on others—is a tough business. Specific to these char-
acteristics, during their formative years most children are likely to be
involved in some kind of deviant behaviour. Hence, explanations of devi-
ant behaviour which focus on individual development must reconcile its
apparent normative nature, at least for some types of offences, with the
fact that most adolescents desist from delinquent behaviour without any
intervention as they mature into adulthood. It is generally referred that
they start to offend at around 13 years of age and end this phase of their
lives by the age of 24. This process is so well defined that law breaking is
considered a normal aspect of youth development (Moffitt, 1993).
Secondary sources reveal that of all the children apprehended for vari-
ous offences, only a very small number are apprehended for violent or
aggressive offences and that only a tiny percentage go on to be persistent
and habitual offenders. As seen earlier, most teenagers or adolescents tend
to show some kind of anti-social, aggressive and risk-taking behaviour
during adolescence; hence it is essential to identify such behaviour at the
earliest possible point and to take precautions so that they do not develop
into life-course-persistent offenders. The phenomenon of committing
offences is so complex that, in spite of the numerous earlier studies, it still
finds a place in the research realm as it varies from place to place.
Understanding about the extent and nature of offences committed by
children in the Indian scenario and for that matter elsewhere in the world
is essential to plan appropriate measures to prevent the maturation of
children into habitual offenders.
3.1 Deviance and Crime/Offence

Although these two terms may appear similar, these two terms can
describe widely different things. Deviance is a term that has been used
widely to mean any behaviour that diverges from a social norm. In this
respect, it can be used to refer to some forms of “rule-breaking” b ehaviour.
This concept relates to all forms of rule breaking—the breaking of formal

social rules—or such things as wearing inappropriate clothing for a given
social situation, failing to produce homework at school or being cheeky
to a parent, teacher and so forth—more or less the breaking of relatively
informal social rules. It can also include criminal behaviour, adventure
behaviour and odd behaviour. Thus, “All crime by definition is a deviant
behaviour, but not all forms of deviance are criminal” (Law lexicon).
Crime, on the other hand, refers to any act or behaviour that harms oth-
ers and society. Every society has a system of written rules and regulations to
deal with people who deviate from normal, accepted behaviour. This involves
a standard model of decision making where individuals choose between
criminal activity and legal activity on the basis of the expected utility from
those acts. Those who violate these rules are treated as criminals and sub-
jected to the appropriate punishment. Crime differs from social norms in
the sense that there is no legal standing for norms and a person violating
them cannot be punished by law. It is only when he has committed a crime
that violates a written law that a person can be arrested and interrogated by
law-enforcing authorities and later tried in a court of law (ibid.).
When someone violates penal laws, it becomes an offence. If the act or
behaviour is not mentioned in law, then no offence has been committed.
This violation is of such a nature that it brings harm to the society and
makes the culprit liable to serve a sentence in prison with a possible
financial penalty. A crime is always a violation of law.
The difference between crime and offence may be regarded mainly in
three aspects: (a) The offence is often a minor one, whereas the term
crime never excludes felonies. (b) The laws are fundamentally divided
into two—as public laws and civil laws—one can see that the term crime
is an exclusively public law term by its nature; a crime is a criminal wrong.
(c) An offence is punishable by law only if it is cognizable. It means that
offence must violate some penal laws to be tried in a court of law. Whereas
offence in many jurisdictions may also be subject of civil law. Any damag-
ing act that is against public duties may be considered a crime, whether
or not it is defined so by applicable laws, whereas calling it an offence
requires a clear provision with an exact definition in law. In the case of
children, taking into account their lesser cognitive, socio- emotional
development and subsequent immature status, violations of law are con-
sidered in terms of offences rather than crimes.
3.2 Extent and Nature of Offences

Children involve themselves in a wide range of offences—both serious
and non-serious. Nevertheless, the majority are engaged in compara-
tively petty crimes, particularly in relation to property. The global
trend also shows that offences against property surpass all other forms
of law-breaking. Empirical survey findings derived from 605 children
across various detention centres in the four states in our study reflect
global trends, as 57.4% of the children were apprehended and detained
for offences against property, including shoplifting, theft, robbery and
dacoit. The trend was similar across all of the nation’s states, which
included even the states considered for the study. Serious offences such
as murder and rape as self-reported by the children were only a rela-
tively minor group, constituting 12.6% and 12.1% of each of the
sample population covered. The other offences in which children were
engaged included: fight or scuffle (4.1%); attempt to murder (2.3%);
riot or communal violence (3%); kidnapping (2.6%), and other
offences such as the violation of Special and Local Law (SLL) acts,
teasing and sodomy (4.9%) The trend in the nature of crimes was
found to be quite uniform across all of the states under study. Riot or
communal violence was reported only in the state of Tamil Nadu,
indicating that the ‘untouchability’ issue is very much part of the social
realities of the dalit1 communities. It still lives in the minds of caste
Hindus. However, heinous and serious offences such as rape and mur-
der were seen to be higher in Delhi and Odisha than in other states. It
was also observed that in Odisha, a higher number of rape cases were
reported from Balasore district, which borders the West Bengal state.
This finding opens a new area of research that requires to be under-
taken to find the reasons for an increase in such cases in Balasore dis-
trict (Table 3.1).
The annual report of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB)
also shows that children involved in property offences outpace all other
1
Dalit: person belonging to the lower caste. The word “Dalit” comes from the Sanskrit root ‘dal-’
meaning “broken or oppressed.” It applies to members of those menial castes which have born the
stigma of “untouchability.” Dalits fall outside the traditional four-caste system (NCDHR).
Table 3.1 Nature of offences—state-wise

Offences Delhi Kerala Tamil Nadu Odisha Total
Offences against 104 20 182 41 347
property 30.0% 5.8% 52.4% 11.8% 100.0%
57.1% 62.5% 64.1% 38.3% 57.4%
Murder 33 5 12 26 76
43.4% 6.6% 15.8% 34.2% 100.0%
18.1% 15.6% 4.2% 24.3% 12.6%
Fight 9 4 12 0 25
36.0% 16.0% 48.0% 0.0% 100.0%
4.9% 12.5% 4.2% 0.0% 4.1%
Rape 23 3 10 37 73
31.5% 4.1% 13.7% 50.7% 100.0%
12.6% 9.4% 3.5% 34.6% 12.1%
Kidnapping 3 – 12 1 16
18.8% – 75.0% 6.3% 100.0%
1.6% – 4.2% .9% 2.6%
Cyber crime 1 – 3 – 4
25.0% – 75.0% – 100.0%
0.5% – 1.1% – 0.7%
Riot – – 18 – 18
– – 100.0% – 100.0%
– – 6.3% – 3.0%
Attempt to murder 7 – 7 – 14
50.0% – 50.0% – 100.0%
3.8% – 2.5% – 2.3%
Others 2 – 28 2 32
6.3% – 87.5% 6.3% 100.0%
1.1% – 9.9% 1.9% 5.3%
Total 182 32 284 107 605
30.1% 5.3% 46.9% 17.7% 100.0%
100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
crimes. According to its 2014 report, 10,287 children (30% of the total
juvenile apprehended for IPC crimes in the country -33) were appre-
hended for theft, robbery and burglary. By contrast, children involved in
the serious offences of murder and rape constituted only a very small
proportion of the total apprehended cases, with 841 juveniles appre-
hended for murder and 1989 for rape under IPC, accounting for only
2.4% and 5.4% of the total number of murders and rape and 2.5% and
5.9% of the total number of juvenile crimes in 2014 (NCRB, 2014). The
increase seen in the number of serious offences is seen not only with
respect to juveniles; a similar trend of increase in crimes committed

against women is seen among the general population. The year 2014 has
seen a 9% increase regarding rape, and an 18% increase in the recording
of cases regarding the kidnapping and abduction of women and girls.
Thus, it would be wrong to conclude that the pattern of juvenile crime in
relation to the overall pattern of crime in the country has altered in any
significant manner. It is also to be expected that the highest age-group
will make the largest contribution to the largest to the total of crime com-
mitted by children.
The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) statistics for 2014 in
relation to the states under study shows that the trends in offences in all
of these states (with the exception of Delhi) have shown a decline in mur-
der cases compared with the previous year. In Delhi, it showed a marginal
increase, from 48 to 51. However, with regard to rape cases, while Kerala
marked a slight increase, the other states recorded declines. Nevertheless,
quoting NCRB data to cite an increase or decline in crimes by children
should be used cautiously (Table 3.2).
Statistics from NCRB 2014 portray a prima facie increase in the crimes
by children. However, a deeper analysis proves that it is a hypothecated
picture as their share to overall Indian Penal Code (IPC) crimes revolved
around 1.0% to 1.2% in the last four years, indicating that constitute
only a very small number of cases. Moreover, NCRB data are based on
the First Information Report (FIR), which merely concerns information
regarding the occurrence of an offence and not of those who are found
guilty. The realistic figure of involvement in juvenile offences, including
serious ones, needs to be based on the completion of the investigation,
the filing of a final report by the police before the court and the pro-
nouncement of judgement. Substantiating the same, the NCRB data on
disposal of cases has shown that in 2014, 3509 were acquitted of those
charges, indicating that they were not convicted of the offence. It denotes
that those children adjudged guilty of the offences are likely to fall short
of those who are apprehended in due course, indicating that the pro-
jected NCRB data are far from the true figure. Further, several figures
reported in the NCRB statistics 2015 question the accuracy and quality
of data to show an increase of crimes by children. Figures from 2015
show that 48 children were apprehended for ‘breach of trust’ and five
Table 3.2 Distribution of major IPC crimes by children as per NCRB report in states under study
Delhi Kerala Tamil Nadu Odisha Total (all India)
Nature of crimes 2012 2013 2012 2013 2012 2013 2012 2013 2012 2013
Murder 60a (6%) 48a 12a 7 (0.7%) 62a 55 40 32 (4%) 990 1007
(4.76%) (1.2%) (6.2%) (5.4%) (6.5%)
Rape 57 (4.8%) 137 25 32 27 32 21 91 1175 1884
(7.3%) (2.1%) (1.7%) (2.3%) (1.7%) (1.8%) (4.8%) (4.8%)
Kidnapping 18 (2.3%) 56 (5%) 10 6 (0.5%) 12 17 0 15 789 1121
(1.3%) (1.5%) (1.5%) (1.3%)
Property 532 (5.8%) 653 174 271 619 671 251 348 9094 10310
offencesb (6.3%) (1.9%) (2.6%) (6.8%) (2.7%) (6.5%) (3.4%)
Total cognizable 1144 1590 526 723 1443 1436 639 903 27936 31725
crimes Under (4.1%) (4.3%) (1.9%) (2.3%) (5.1%) (4.5%) (2.3%) (2.8%)
IPC (all India)
Source: NCRB report 2012, 2013
a
Row percentage
b
Property offences (theft, burglary, robbery and dacoity)
3 The Nature of Offences and Culpability
53
children under the ‘Essential Commodities Act 1955’.2 Now, in both of

these cases, a person below 18 years cannot be booked because as per
Indian Penal Code section 4053 children below 18 years are ineligible to
sign a contract and in the latter case only licensed vendors can be booked
and no child below 18 years is allowed to be a licensed vendor. Moreover,
in several of the registered cases, it is quite difficult to believe if a child
below 12 years could perform those acts and it is doubtful whether they
are really in conflict with the law or whether they were victims who had
been wrongly documented as offenders. These discrepancies highlight the
lack of clarity in documenting a child as an offender. Concerns are also
raised regarding the underreporting of cases due to political pressure and
states failing to furnish data as states that furnished data are projected as
juvenile crime hubs. The above indicates that the nation is yet to develop
a proper mechanism to ensure appropriate data-gathering methods to pro-
vide flawless and unbiased data on crimes committed by children (Asha
Mukundan, 2016). Statistics also indicate that the incidence of juvenile
crime in India increased from 0.9 in 1999 and 2000 to 1.6 in 2001 when
the age of juvenility was raised to 18 years. These figures thereafter have
retained their stable proportionality, fluctuating between 1.7 in 2005 and
2.7 in 2014. With the advent of the Protection of Children from Sexual
Offences (POCSO) Act in 2012, sexual activity which had previously
been treated as consensual was criminalized, resulting in a significant surge
in reporting of rape and kidnapping/abduction cases against women.
Both the empirical and NCRB data thus indicate that children involved
in offences and deviances account for only a miniscule amount (1.2% of
all crimes committed in India) when compared with the crime involve-
ment of children in countries like the USA and the UK. In England and
2
The Essential Commodities Act 1955 is an act of the Parliament of India which was established to
ensure the delivery of certain commodities or products, the supply of which, if obstructed owing to
hoarding or black marketing, would affect the normal life of the people. This includes foodstuff,
drugs, fuel, etc.
3
IPC-405 Criminal breach of trust.—Whoever, being in any manner entrusted with property, or
with any dominion over property, dishonestly misappropriates or converts to his own use that
property, or dishonestly uses or disposes of that property in violation of any direction of law pre-
scribing the mode in which such trust is to be discharged, or of any legal contract, express or
implied, which he has made touching the discharge of such trust, or wilfully suffers any other
person so to do, commits a “criminal breach of trust”.
Wales, 94,960 young people aged 10–17 years were arrested in 2014,
constituting 10% of all arrests (Youth Justice Statistics, 2012/13).
Similarly, juvenile courts in the USA handled 1.1 million juvenile cases
during the year 2013 (Youth Justice Board/Ministry of Justice, USA).
The self-reporting of children in the empirical study also highlights
that many children are apprehended and detained on false charges. 6.8%
of children in the empirical study plead their innocence in this respect,
citing that they were booked on false charges lodged by either neighbours
or others. In addition, the verbatim accounts from the children state that
most of the rape cases (42 out of 76) were accusations as complaints were
lodged against them as revenge for the normal friendship that the child
had with girls or that they had consensual sex, but that later the girls’
parents had not consented to such a relationship lodged a complaint
against the boy for rape, leading to his apprehension. Substantiating the
same, there are several media reports and studies which states that not all
children who are accused are found guilty. One report says that out of the
1,636 rape cases registered in Delhi last year, 96% involved were acquain-
tances. Another study of all rape cases decided by High Courts and the
Supreme Court over the last 25 years revealed that in 90% of cases, the
victim knew the offender. Another recent study of rape cases in Delhi’s
district courts by The Hindu (Mainstream English paper) showed that the
largest category of cases (40% of all cases that went to full trial) dealt with
elopement and consensual sex between young couples,4 and the girl’s par-
ents filing rape charges against the boy (Mukherjee, 2012). While these
are the facts, it seems quite absurd to hear people lament the increase in
serious/heinous crimes by children after having made false allegations
and charge-sheeted against them. The FIR against Kishore explicates how
small instances of deviance are turned into serious/heinous offences con-
tributing to the so-called increase in the same.
Kishore, a boy of 16 who was allegedly detained for rape, laments on his fate:
‘Had this not been for their false accusation, I would have been a great support
to my family particularly my mother.’
The Hindu, “Young Love Often Reported as Rape in our ‘Cruel Society’”, 31 July 2014.
4
He hails from a Hindu nuclear family in Jharkhand. He has both parents

and a younger brother. They live in a small terraced house given by the govern-
ment under the social housing programme for the poor. One day while his
father was cleaning the terrace, he slipped and fell down from the terrace, caus-
ing a head injury. Since then his father is mentally unstable. Kishore was 15
years old when one day his father went out of the house while all others were at
work. He has not returned. It is now two years since he left home. They lodged
a missing person report at the police station but until now they were unable to
trace his whereabouts. Kishore’s father was a good driver and the income he
derived from driving was the only means of livelihood for the family. His
mother is a homemaker. The accident of father and his later disappearance was
a great blow to the family, particularly Kishore. He had to leave school as the
entire burden of looking after the family fell on his shoulders. He therefore
moved to Delhi to work at a roadside restaurant (Dhaba) owned by his uncle.
His mother also began to work as a household worker in a few houses in
Jharkhand. His younger brother continued his studies.
Kishore had studied up to the 8th grade. Academically, he was not too bright
and repeated two grades. However, he managed to be regular at school and had
no problem either with teachers or other school mates. Narrating about his
school years he speaks reluctantly. ‘As I was not good in studies the teachers usu-
ally ignored me. The only attraction to school was the mid-day meal and the
company of a few friends who were also poor in studies.’ But, he swears, ‘we
never created any problem to anyone.’ ‘Accident of father was just one reason
for my dropping out of school. I am sure I would have discontinued my studies
even otherwise, if not in the 8th grade, in the next year as neither school nor
academics ever fascinated me. Even after having 8 years of education, I am
still quite ignorant of the basics of most of the subjects taught’, he adds. The
family and school did not motivate and inspire him to study. While the unedu-
cated and poor parents in the family failed to inspire him on the one hand,
school let him down by humiliating him in different ways that he was a duffer.
He was made to sit separately with other weak students by the class teacher. The
last straw was when his father left home it further accelerated his fallout from
education.
Once he left school, he moved to Delhi along with his uncle in search of a
better life. In Delhi, his uncle placed him in one of the grocery shops as a sales-
man. The shopkeeper was an acquaintant of his uncle, which helped secure the
job. Kishore was committed to the work and earned the trust of all. The shop-
keeper was also very happy with Kishore as he was found him trustworthy and
hard-working. He therefore gave him full freedom in the shop.
Incident that changed the course of his life
He stayed with his uncle in a small room in one of the old two-storied build-
ings in the city. The bathroom and the toilet were on the terrace. On the second
floor lived a family of four, parents and two children (one boy and one girl).
Kishore and his uncle had to cross the doors of this family to go to the terrace
for bathing and washing. Neither his uncle nor Kishore had any strong rela-
tionship with the family living on the second floor: they left early in the morn-
ing for work and came back late in the evening. One fine morning it so
happened that as Kishore was going to the terrace for his bath, he came across
the door of the family of the second floor and the girl, who was around 15 years
of age, made some comments about him. It seemed to him that she was teasing
him. Angered at this, he stopped and advanced towards her to beat her. When
she ran inside the house he also rushed in and beat her. There was no other
person in the family as her parents had gone to the temple along with her
younger brother. He slashed her and went out. She, in turn, shouted at him
weeping, ‘I will teach you a lesson and that you will regret for what you have
done.’ Ignoring her angry words he went to the terrace, had his bath, dressed
and went to work.
When her parents returned from the temple, they found her crying. When
they inquired, she told her mother that Kishore had come in and attempted to
rape her. The mother, believing it to be true, informed her husband. He was
furious at the incident and rushed to Kishore’s uncle, where he had a heated
exchange of words with his uncle, who was still in the room.
Kishore, on the other hand, had not told anything about the incident to his
uncle and hence the uncle responded that he would ask him. However, the
father of the girl was so angry that he said ‘I will show you what I can do.’
Later, the father went to the police station and lodged a complaint against
Kishore, alleging that he had raped his daughter.
The police, based on the complaint received from the girl’s family, appre-
hended Kishore from the shop and took him to the police station. When they
questioned him about the incident, he narrated what had happened and swore
that he had not raped or seduced her in any way. The police did not believe his
version of events and booked him for rape. Interestingly, the report contains no
medical details. Later, he was produced before one of the Juvenile Justice Board
members and was detained in the observation home while he awaited trial.
At the observation home, he passes most of his time watching television, play-
ing indoor games or chatting with his friends. Although the timetable of the
home shows rehabilitative and restorative measures such as vocational training
and counselling, he was least interested in them as he states, ‘the trades in which
training is given is neither demand-based nor as per my taste. Similarly, I don’t
if know if it is counselling or not, one person comes and chats with me occasion-
ally and they ask me several questions to which I answer some and other I keep
silent as I am doubtful of its purpose.’ His self-report infers that the rehabilita-
tive measures provided often reflected a criteria fulfilment than a road map for
their rehabilitation. It often mirrored that an adolescent like Kishore leaves the
observation home on bail with the same or even worse traits than those with
which he entered it. It indicates the failure of the purpose for which the Juvenile
Justice institution was established. So much so that when on bail they are more
likely to get into the wrong side of the law.
This is not a unique case; rather, it represents the situation of many of

the children in detention centres who are falsely charge-sheeted because
of the influence of the victims or his or her family on the police. How can
one justify such acts and say that children endanger the fabric of society?
Are we not victimizing them further? The deprivations have made them
voiceless and the society exploits and victimizes them further as they are
powerless to react.
The story of Krishnapal represents yet another example of how children are
victimized or falsely charge-sheeted for rape. ‘I eloped with Rajani to Bangalore
as her parents objected to our relationship. I married her secretly in front of a
deity in a temple in Bangalore and we lived together in a hotel for about two
weeks. But on returning to my family with her, I was apprehended and charged
for kidnapping and raping her on a complaint lodged by girl’s parents’, states
Krishnapal, a boy of 17 years in the observation home.
Narrating the incident he says, ‘I was studying in 12th grade when the inci-
dent took place. It was a co-educational school and I was quite good in studies.
Being good in studies many students including Rajni (name changed) used to
approach me very often to ask doubts or to seek clarifications on certain lessons.
In the beginning it was just meetings to discuss studies. Gradually, she began to
spend more time with me, and we were attracted to each other. She is beautiful.
Yet we maintained a distance in our relationship. As time passed by, our rela-
tionship grew stronger and we could not live a day without being together. Both
of us were from the same community. Rajni was staying with her grandmother
and maternal uncle as her mother had remarried after her father abandoned
her. Her grandmother and uncle were very strict with her. When they
heard about our relationship from a few school mates in the neighbourhood,
they scolded and warned her. But ‘we were in love and had become intimate’,
says Krishnapal. Angry with the continued relationship between them, one day
her uncle slapped her and stopped her from going to school. She was not allowed
to leave her house. She could not contact Krishnapal as she was denied accessi-
bility to either mobile or land phone. Krishnapal, on the other hand, had a
cellphone but could not contact her as he did not know her landline. One day
it so happened that she got a chance to dodge the eyes of her grandmother and
uncle and go out of the house. Seeing this as an opportunity, she called
Krishnapal from a public telephone booth and narrated her situation and asked
him to take her with him. He did not think twice he borrowed Rs.5000/- from
one of his close friends and eloped with her to Bangalore.
On reaching Bangalore she insisted he marry her. The couple went to a
nearby temple and got married by him tying a yellow colour thread around her
neck. No priest solemnized this union. In their minds it was legal as they had
got married in a temple before a deity. They stayed in a hotel for a week. By the
weekend they had no money, so Krishnapal telephoned his friend and explained
the situation. The friend borrowed money from his friends and sent it through
a postal money order. Krishnapal realized that he could not go on like this and
therefore telephoned his mother and narrated the entire story. They were asked
to return home and given assurances that they would formally solemnize their
marriage. Relieved at the positive response of the parents, they returned. Rajni’s
family were informed about their return to the village. Meanwhile the girl’s
family had filed a complaint against Krishnapal, alleging kidnapping. The
police apprehended and took custody of Krishnapal the moment he reached
home. They narrated the entire story to police officials. However, the police,
under pressure from the girl’s family, booked him on charges of kidnapping and
rape. As the girl was a minor, she was allowed to go with the grandmother. But
she refused to go with the grandmother, her mother was called and asked to take
her. The boy was apprehended and sent to the observation home.
Krishnapal belongs to a dalit5 family and he has an elder brother. His par-
ents are agricultural labourers and earn about Rs.8000/- per month. His older
brother runs a tea shop. He was quite happy with his life at home: ‘My parents
were very affectionate and caring towards me. They wanted me to study well
and get a good job. My brother also encouraged me. Though father used to
consume alcohol occasionally, he never created any problems in the family.’
Lower caste of the Hindu religion—varna system.

5
Krishnapal was studying in a private school and was good at his studies. At
the time of the incident he was studying in the 11th grade. As reported by him,
‘I was the top ranker in the class. I used to win several prizes in various compe-
titions. I was also fond of reading books particularly novels, and books on gen-
eral knowledge.’ He was also reported to be a regular in school and a well-behaved
boy.
Narrating his experience with the juvenile justice system, he says, ‘the police
neither mishandled nor used any abusive language against me. I do not know
if they believed our narrations. But they were considerate to us. I believe that I
have been charged under IPC 3766 only because of the pressure from Rajni’s
parents.’ With regard to the latest developments in the case, he states, ‘Rajni’s
mother and grandmother are communicating with my parents now to settle the
matter amicably. I am optimistic that the issue will be settled and I will be able
to lead a happy family life with Rajni.’
In the observation home he receives adequate support to pursue his

studies. He is provided with books and occasional assistance in his stud-
ies. This is not the case for all children, as he comments: ‘the observation
home does not provide any regular and systematic educational and voca-
tional programmes. But they extend support and assistance to those who
wanted to pursue their studies. Recreation facilities at the home were
limited to caroms and chess. Outdoor games or any other recreational
activities were absent at the institution.’
Shahanaz, another boy in an observation home, asks angrily: ‘When will chil-
dren like me get justice? It is true that I tried to pull the gold chain my aunt had
around her neck but I never killed her. Yet I am accused and detained for the
same. The police beat me up and forced me to accept the allegation.’
Everything was quite normal and usual for him until the day in December
2013 when he went to his aunt’s house to purchase provisions for her family.
6
IPC 376. Punishment for rape—(1) Whoever, except in the cases provided for by sub-section (2),
commits rape shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which shall not
be less than seven years but which may be for life or for a term which may extend to ten years and
shall also be liable to fine unless the women raped is his own wife and is not under twelve years of
age, in which cases, he shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which
may extend to two years or with fine or with both: Provided that the court may, for adequate and
special reasons to be mentioned in the judgment, impose a sentence of imprisonment for a term of
less than seven years.
Late in the night on that day he was arrested for allegedly raping and murder-
ing his aunt. He was kept in the police station lock-up for several days, beaten
up and later produced before the JJB, sent to the observation home of his home
district but fearing public outrage was shifted to the observation home in a
neighbouring district. When we met him he was in detention for three months
with trial still in progress.
Shahanaz’s story
17-year-old Shahanaz comes from a lower middle-class Muslim family. He has

two younger sisters who are studying in elementary and high school, respectively.
His father is a bus driver in the State Transport Corporation and his mother is
a homemaker. A close-knit family, they led a normal quiet life until the day his
father had a stroke that paralysed him down one side of his body. Financially,
they were under considerable stress, to such an extent that relatives and friends
loaned them money; Shahanaz’s uncle working in Dubai sent small amounts of
money and on humanitarian grounds the State Transport Corporation pro-
vided them with some financial support. In spite of the changes in their for-
tunes, the mother and father did their best to make their children’s lives as
normal as possible and there was no tension or conflict. Shahanaz, even though
he was the eldest child, continued his schooling and was not compelled to drop
out of school and work.
He was studying in a government higher secondary school and was an aver-
age student. He had studied in the same school for ten years. He was regular in
his school attendance, he had no behavioural problems and as a teacher men-
tioned “he was a well-mannered boy”. His mother attended parents’ meetings
and there were no complaints against her son. Shahanaz was not inspired by
studies and therefore did not have any academic aspirations, except to get
through his higher secondary examination and then do a technical skills train-
ing course so that he could get a job in one of the Middle Eastern countries. He
had a number of friends in school and they spent most of their free time in
school, playing cricket. He also enjoyed going for motor bike rides with his
friends. Recalling his friendship in the school he says, ‘I had many friends in
school and most of them were from quite well to do families. They used to spend
large sums of money eating out in fine dining restaurants. They took me to cafes
and restaurants. I could never afford to give anything in return especially at this
moment as my family could not afford to do so due to the economic stress.’ Most
of his friends came to school on motorbikes, while he came on bicycle. He longed
for a motorbike and pestered his father to buy him a bike when he was working.
But now that his father is bedridden, he has put off his desire. Nevertheless, he
often borrowed his friend’s motorbike to go for a spin. It was one such instance
that changed the entire course of his life.
Narrating his story of how he got booked for rape and murder, he said, ‘One
day I borrowed the bike of one of my classmates to go for a spin to the city and
that action of mine caused me and my family the second blow which ultimately
led me to be behind bars.’ He went on to narrate the incident which led to his
apprehension, police custody and life in the observation home. He says: “I bor-
rowed my friend’s motor bike and went for a ride and then kept it at home for
one day. The next day a friend of mine borrowed the bike and went to the city.
On the way, he met with a minor accident and damaged the bike. To repair the
bike we needed Rs.4000/; we did not have the money. His friend too came from
a poor family. They were at their wits’ end, and none of their relatives or friends
were willing to loan then the money. The next day after the accident, my aunt
called me over to her house and requested me to buy some household provisions.
My aunt lives alone in a fairly large house, her husband (Shahanaz’s uncle)
works in Dubai and is doing well financially. I got my aunt the provisions and
as I was about to leave, I noticed the gold chain my aunt was wearing. The
thought of repairing the bike weighing heavily on my mind, on an impulse and
without thinking I tried to snatch the chain. My aunt started yelling and crying
out loud. I was scared of what I had done, I pushed her and ran away. I did not
know what happened to her thereafter. But later in the evening I came to know
that she is dead. I am sure that she would not have died by my push as she had
not fallen down.” However, the First Information Report (FIR) version told
quite a different story from what he narrated. According to the FIR, Shahanaz
had raped his aunt. When she shouted, he put his hands over her mouth and
nose so that no sound could be heard outside. In the event, she died struggling
for breath. The report states that “she was raped and strangled to death.” He
denies the charge in the FIR and asserts that these are mere allegations insti-
gated against him by the male friend of his aunt. He says it is a conspiracy
against him. He continues: “I pushed her in the kitchen and how come that she
lay dead in the bedroom? Someone else might have come after I had gone and
that person might have killed her either intentionally or by chance.” At this
point he also mentioned that his aunt was in a relationship with a person from
the neighbourhood. To quote Shahanaz: “My aunt was in a relationship and
this man used to frequent the house quite often and sometimes used to spend the
night at her place. The people in the area knew about it and someone informed
my uncle. My uncle was contemplating divorcing my aunt. I believe he (the
boyfriend) might have been the murderer and in order to save himself he might
have given money to others in the area to point fingers at me as they had seen
me going to my aunt’s place in the morning of her death.”
In their investigation the police gathered information from the neighbour-
hood residents. Some of the residents mentioned that they had seen Shahanaz
entering his aunt’s house that same morning. The police visited his home in the
evening and took him away to the police station, saying it was a precautionary
measure as the residents of the neighbourhood suspected him of being the mur-
derer and his life was in danger as they were out for vengeance. Believing the
words of the policemen, Shahanaz went with them, but then he says, “It was a
trap.” He substantiates it with what happened at the police station. He says; “I
was kept in the police custody for two days and was beaten brutally. They
repeatedly asked how and why I did the act. I repeatedly told them that ‘I did
not do it’. But they were not willing to accept and they forcefully made me sign
on the paper where they had written their own version. I really feel angry at the
whole system.”
On fearing agitation and anger by the people he was shifted from the obser-
vation home of his native district to another district. Shahanaz says, “My uncle
i.e., husband of the lady who died, knows that I have not done the act and that
is why he came to meet me and tried to take me out on bail.” He was supposedly
not given bail because of the fear that the people might attack him. He contin-
ues: “Uncle has assured me that I will get the bail and once that happens I
would be sent to a distant relative’s house and when the anger of the people have
dissipated he can either continue his studies or get a job. It makes me want to
cry when I think of what my parents and sisters must be going through.”
We are not quite sure which version to believe. But the interaction
with the caretakers of the observation home suggests that his version
might have more truth than the second one. They were of the opinion
that an impartial investigation was missing in the incident. It was a high-
profile and widely publicized case in both the print and electronic media.
The wardens also mentioned that the media hype could have messed up
the case. There is even some speculation about political interference. It is
difficult to adjudge the truth and culpability without a proper
investigation. As of now, the incident clearly unravels several gaps which
need to be filled in through an impartial and genuine investigation.
At the observation home he resides along with seven others who have
been accused of murder, rape and theft. With regard to his experience of
the system, he says: “I was handcuffed, kept in the police station lock-up
for two days and beaten up badly. Now I am in a locked-up room along
with seven others. We are provided food four times a day; allowed to
watch TV through the window for several hours; sleep or sit idle the rest
of the time. We have nothing else to do as there are no other activities.”
He continues, “We all eat, sleep and have recreation in the same room
locked and secluded from the rest of the building through two gates. The
care takers are security persons to ensure that we do not escape. It is just
a jail for us and I want to get out of the place as early as possible or I may
become mad because of loneliness and seclusion.” Shahanaz’s words chal-
lenge the very stated objects of the act i.e.,—”providing for the proper
care, protection and treatment by catering to their development needs,
and by adopting a child-friendly approach in the adjudication and dispo-
sition of matters in the best interest of children and for their ultimate
rehabilitation’ and ‘re-socialization’.” Although the act mentions recre-
ation, educational, vocational programmes, therapies and mental health
programmes for the smooth mainstreaming of these children in the juve-
nile justice institutions, they are completely neglected, as seen from
Shahanaz’s account. This case raises questions regarding the competence
of the investigation team in charge of the alleged crime, which focus not
only on establishing guilt but on identifying the motives and the root
causes that have played a role in the commission of the crime.
Shahanaz is hopeful about his future: “My uncle will take me out on
bail as he knows that I have not committed the offence and will find me
a job. I want to support my family as I am the only son of my parents and
sisters. My parents and my uncle believe my innocence.”
It is evident from the narrations and statistics that the number of rape
cases, as seen in the empirical study and the national statistics, are in most
cases consensual sex and in some cases false charges levied upon them by
people who are influential. It is unfortunate that the children against
whom the allegations have been made are invariably already victims of
multiple vulnerabilities in the family and society. It further ostracizes and
stigmatizes them in the society. In the cases of children proved to have
committed rape or murder, if they are provided with adequate behaviour
modification sessions and life skills education are likely to be reformed.
The empirical findings about recidivism also show that only a very minor
group of those involved in serious offences have been recidivists. Most of
them were first-time offenders, suggesting that they can be reformed and
rehabilitated. Unfortunately, quoting and misinterpreting the NCRB
data of certain heinous offences involving children, the media and a small
segment of the public creates a moral panic within society, suggesting
that offences by children are increasing disproportionately or at an
alarming rate.
Nevertheless, from the facts and figures cited above, it can be con-
cluded that the assumption that offences, particularly serious offences
involving children, are increasing disproportionately or that Indian soci-
ety is under threat from juveniles and that they endanger the fabrics of
society is baseless and inauthentic.
3.3 Culpability and Blameworthiness

The involvement of children in all types of offences, particularly in seri-
ous and heinous ones such as murder and rape, pose the pertinent ques-
tion: are the children involved in offences as culpable or blameworthy as
adults? The blameworthiness of the person depends upon the circum-
stances of the crime and the person who commits it. According to legal
discourses, a person may be either less culpable than other criminals—or
not culpable at all—because he inadvertently (rather than purposely)
causes the harm, because he is subject to some endogenous deficiency or
incapacity that impairs his decision making (such as mental illness), or
because he acts in response to extraordinary external pressures. Less-
blameworthy offenders deserve a lesser punishment, and some persons
who cause criminal harm may merit no punishment at all (Scott &
Steinberg, 2008).
The empirical findings of the study upholding the views of develop-
mental psychologists and neuroscientists, re-establish that they differ
from adults in terms of their intent, thinking, reasoning, self-regulation
and future orientation, all of which impair their decision making and
subsequently mitigate their culpability and blameworthiness.
3.3.1 Intent/Motive
The intent of the offence of children differs greatly from that of adults.
The following words of Satya, a boy who committed a murder, gives a
vivid self-explanation. He says, with tears in his eyes, that ‘I never
intended to kill him. It is true that I hit him with a stone when he attacked
me and tried to take away the money which I earned through the sweat
of my brow. To my bad luck the hit resulted in his death and I am
here now.’
When we met 16-year-old Satya he came across as a responsible young teenager.

He has five siblings, four brothers and one sister all younger than him. The
parents migrated to Delhi from a remote village in Uttar Pradesh (a northern
state of India) about 17 years ago. Satya was born in Delhi. They live in a
rented house in one of the poorer neighbourhoods of Delhi. Both his parents had
no formal schooling. His father worked as a casual worker in the construction
industry. There was a steady income, but it was not enough for the large family
and for his father’s addiction to alcohol. Satya mentioned in passing that
although his father was addicted to drinking he did not create any tensions in
the family. Satya did not chase drugs, and he kept a safe distance from boys who
were doing drugs. He spoke about his family: ‘parents never bothered about us.
They were preoccupied with their work. They never tried to understand what
and how each of us were doing. Poverty made them to focus more on earning
their livelihood.’ ‘When the economic problems became acute in the family I
was forced to join the labour force at the age of 10 along with my father,’ adds
Satya. Later, his father secured him an errand boy’s job in a real estate office. He
earned Rs.7000/- per month. Major portion of his salary he gave it to his
mother to meet the expenses of the family. His siblings were studying in school.
Satya was not sent to school by his parents, but Satya tutored himself with
the help of his siblings and learnt to read but not write.
Narrating the incident that led to his detention Satya says, ‘Instead of going
to school I began to assist my father in his casual labour from an early age. I
worked in a real estate office about one kilometre from home as a cleaning and
messenger boy earning about Rs.5-7000 per month. The office starts at 8:00
a.m. and closes by 7:00 p.m. I go to the office at about 7.30 a.m. and return by
7.30 p.m. I walk to the office every day. On the way I have to cross a barren
park which is frequented by substance users and gamblers. On several evenings,
an acquaintance who is always under the influence of drugs used to stop me
when I reach the barren park and demand money in a threatening tone. He
belonged to my village and was about 27 years old, but was not related to me.
On many occasions, I used to give him small amounts of money to avoid a fight
and quarrel. One evening while returning from work, he stopped me again and
demanded money. This time I had about Rs.300/- with me, which I had kept
to give my mother for buying provisions. I refused to give him the money.
Angered at this, he clutched my throat and tried to take the money from my
pants pocket. But, somehow I managed to get out of his clutches. But he started
to beat me brutally. In the beginning I tried to defend myself with my fists but
when I could not withstand his beating anymore I pulled myself away from him
and took a stone and hit him in rage and ran away. Later, I came to know that
he died. I did not intent to kill him but just wanted to escape from his clutches.’
Satya, however, did not disclose the incident to anyone. Four days after the
incident, he was apprehended by police on certain information received from
the people in the park. Upon questioning, he confessed and told the police offi-
cials what had happened. He had no complaints regarding his experience with
police: ‘They did not beat me or use any filthy language but told me what they
will do if I did not tell the truth. Anticipating a traumatic torture I disclosed
the entire incident. I was then sent to Tihar (adult) jail as my physique made
them to think I was an adult even though I told them I was sixteen years of age.
I stayed with adult criminals for one and a half months.’ ‘Living in the jail was
a nightmare for me,’ as he comments, ‘there are frequent fights between all
inmates. In such fights they beat me too. They abused me sexually and physi-
cally. It is horrifying to be there.’ Later, on confirming his age, he was produced
before the JJB and was transferred to the observation home. Comparing his life
at the observation home to that of Tihar jail, he says, ‘It is far better to be in the
observation home than in the jail.’ Asked how he spends his time in the observa-
tion home he remarked, ‘I spend most of my time sitting alone thinking about
my family and fate. There are educational and vocational programmes in the
observation home. However, it was not mandatory to attend these classes and
therefore I did not attend any of them. I usually idle away my time. There are
some recreational facilities like opportunities for playing cricket, football, and
caroms. I used to play occasionally.’ However, he had a negative response to
behaviour modification interventions. According to him, there were no serious
counselling sessions, group sessions or any kind of mental health programmes
which are essential for their reintegration into society.
The narratives of Satya explicate that his act was one of self-defence.
His case also illustrates the lack of available forensic facilities to determine
the age of the child. His excerpts clearly pinpoint the negligence in hear-
ing him and inquiring about the same to arrive at a conclusion before
sending him to an adult prison. Such instances are not rare; these are
children who belong to socially and economically marginalized sections
of society.
In another case, an 18-year-old boy, Pradeep, who was serving his sentence in
a special home in Odisha for having found guilty of murder, stated: ‘I like to
forget that day when I had a conflict with Shekar (name & identity changed),
the monitor of the hostel. In the heat of our fight, I took a stone and threw it at
him that resulted in his death. It was an accidental death. Who will believe my
words as he lost his life? It is my fate.’
Life at home
Pradeep comes from a well-to-do nuclear family. His father is a businessman

and owns several acres of farmland. His mother is a headmistress in one of the
village schools. Pradeep has a younger brother. As often observed in Indian vil-
lages, the wealthiest person in a village is voted by the villagers to the post of
Sarpanch (village Head) and his father was voted as village Head for three
terms. The wealthy control the power dynamics in the village. The family kept
to themselves and the parents would not allow their two sons to socialize with
other kids in the village. Recalling his father, Pardeep states: ‘Father was lovable
and concerned about my well-being but he was a strict disciplinarian. He never
allowed us to go out and mingle with other children in the neighbourhood. He
feared that I will get into bad company. He used to beat us if he saw us playing
with other children in the neighbourhood.’ ‘But’, he continues, ‘I used to go out
and play or go out with a few others in the community when father was away
at work.’ There is also a class and caste bias here, as his father considered others
to be of a lower class and caste and he did not want his children socializing with
them. One day, his father spotted him taking beer with some of the village boys.
That day his father lost his temper, beat him up and sent him out of the house.
He spent the night in the outhouse. Later, he went and apologized to his father
and the matter was resolved. Pradeep continued to meet his friends on the sly.
His mother did not interfere with his father’s strict disciplinary methods of
bringing up the children. The family said their evening prayers religiously and
always ate dinner together. His narrations elucidate that he had a caring, but
at the same time a very strict disciplinary life at home. The restrictions at home
resulted in Pradeep breaking most of them by having a social life of which his
parents were unaware. His underlying anger with his father for not respecting
his views and freedom resulted in him wanting to break rules and get into fights
with his classmates on trivial matters.
School & hostel life
Pradeep was schooled in an English-medium residential school, but his parents

visited him as often as they possibly could. Remembering his life in the school
and hostel, he stated: ‘I had no problem either with school or hostel. I had a
good relationship with teachers, hostel warden and students.’ At the same time,
he contradicts himself and admits, ‘I had frequent quarrels and fights with
other children in the hostel on issues like who sat where in the dining hall, who
used the shower first, and while playing sports. Most often the warden had to
intervene to settle the issue.’
He was not inspired by the teachers: “Many of the classes were boring as the
teachers resorted to mere lecturing. It was just the transfer of bookish knowledge.
In many of the classes I never used to listen as it was really boring. But I was
able to pass in all the subjects due to the assistance I received from the hostel
warden and other students in the hostel.” Most of the children belonged to
middle-class families.
The incident that changed his life
The incident that changed the course of his life occurred when he was studying
in the 7th grade in 2006. Shekar was the prefect of his dormitory. Pradeep and
Shekar had frequent fights and arguments about discipline and obeying rules.
According to Pradeep, they always patched up and were also good friends.
Narrating the incident that led to the fight and the subsequent death of Shekar,
he says, ‘I had borrowed Rs.200 from him for my personal use and had told him
that I would repay it the moment I received money from my father. On the day
of the incident we had a quarrel in the morning and I threw food at him. The
other children separated us and calmed us down.” He did not tell us what had
triggered the confrontation on this occasion. Continuing the conversation, he
said, “Later in the evening after our games we sat on the grounds relaxing, chat-
ting and waiting for our turn to go for showers. At one point all the boys had
left and we were alone. Shekar asked me to return the money I had borrowed
from him. I mentioned I had not received my money from home and therefore
could not pay it immediately, but would return it the moment I received it. He
was adamant that I return it immediately, we argued and Shekar became
abusive, calling me and my parents dirty names. I got enraged, I took a stone
and threw it at him, and it hit his head. I then ran away scared that he would
thrash me. I locked myself in the bathroom and hid there for some time. When
I walked into the dormitory I could not find him; neither was he in the study
room. The warden, noticing the absence of Shekar, sent two boys to search for
him. They found him lying on the ground, and he did not respond to their calls.
Shekar was dead. There were no wound marks or bleeding; he was taken to the
hospital where the post mortem report stated that he died of a head injury and
internal bleeding. The police registered a case and questioned all the children
but none was able to give any explanations, as no one was a witness to the
incident. The investigating authorities asked the school to shut down the hostel
and gave instruction that all children and their parents will have to report to
the police station when called for questioning. I also went home.”
“Many students were called in for questioning. One of the boys mentioned to
the investigating officer about the morning altercation I had with Shekar and
a couple of them mentioned they had seen us sitting in the playground. I was
called to the police station along with my father. At the first instance of their
questioning I confessed what had happened as I feared being beaten up by
them. The police officer apprehended me and I was produced before one of the
Juvenile Justice Board member and was sent to the observation home. I
remained there for 21 days until I was granted bail and went home.”
Life on bail
He stayed at home and continued his studies through the open school system. He
did not want to go back to his school as he was afraid how he would be treated
by everyone. He completed his high school examination through the National
Institute of Open Schooling. His father wanted him to do higher secondary, but
he was unprepared to face his schoolmates. Those two years between the 10th
and 12th grades he helped his father in his business. The constant pressure from
his father to do a professional course made him accept admission into a techni-
cal school and he completed a diploma course in engineering in 2012. While in
the technical school, he had a number of friends with whom he spent time
drinking and his father gave him a handsome allowance. There were times
when he ran out of money, however, and he would steal it from his father’s wal-
let. Meanwhile, the trial for the offence that took place in 2006 was concluded
eight years later, in June 2014. He was found guilty of the offence, sentenced to
three years’ punishment and sent to the special home. His father meanwhile
filed an appeal in the high court.
His experiences in the observation home during his trial period were unre-
markable. According to Pradeep, there was hardly any supervision and the
majority of the time they spent watching television, playing indoor games or just
sleeping. Fights were a common occurrence and Pradeep admitted that he also
fought with the other boys. There were children of all ages and children, from
those who had committed petty theft to those who had committed serious crimes.
He mentioned there was no case work or counselling sessions nor any group
work.
His experiences int the special home were different, however. There is a rou-
tine and fixed timing for everything. There was also discipline: the breaking of
rules would result in punishment, and they were monitored. There were sessions
on moral education and yoga, but he did not mention counselling sessions or
any other mental health therapy or behaviour modification therapies.
His parents visit him on a regular basis. Whenever they visit him, his mother
cries. ‘This breaks my heart, as I know how much she loves me’, Pradeep says
softly. Regarding his future he says, ‘Once I get out from here, I will stay with
my father assist him in the family business’.
This case illustrates what can go awry when parents are overly strict. It
offers an instance of where the child’s early demonstration of violence and
behavioural problems were not taken seriously and addressed. The deten-
tion centres where reformation and rehabilitation are to take place do not
have professional services to bring about behavioural changes and
reformation in these children. Furthermore, coming from a wealthy fam-
ily he spent less than a month in the observation home and was able to
stay at home until sentencing. The trial took eight years to complete, yet
within that period the teenager was given no professional help to under-
stand that his action was unacceptable and is punishable. Furthermore,
he did not undergo any anger management therapy.
In both the above cases it is evident that the acts committed by them
were not carried out in a preconceived or premeditated manner. It was an
immediate response to a provocation that resulted in the offence, appre-
hension and, later, detention. These are not just two isolated instances in
which children became involved in deviance accidently, but they are
t ypical of many other cases of children charged with murder (IPC 302),
fights or other offences and enter the observation and special homes in
various states of the country. A crime basically involves a rational choice
that comprises decision making considering factors such as: (i) the intent/
motive; (ii) the expected gains from crime relative to earnings from legal
work; (iii) the chance (risk) of being caught and convicted; (iv) the extent
of punishment; and (v) the opportunities in legal activities. Adolescents
differ from adults in all these aspects. The intent of their offences varies
from adults primarily due to their unique development stage and charac-
teristics of the person who commits it such as not thinking of the conse-
quences of the action, sensitivity to immediate rewards, peer pressure, a
lack of self-control and impulsiveness.
Empirical findings reveal that of the 605 children in the study, for the
majority there was no predetermined reason for the act. In 77.7% of
cases, it was the result of their developmental/age-specific features, such
as provocation, peer influence, immediate rewards, curiosity, exploration
and risk behaviour, which culminated in their acts or offences. It varied
from 62.8% in Odisha to 84.4% in Kerala, indicating that it was their
adolescent characteristics rather than a premeditation that pushed them
to commit an offence. Among others, in 3.6% it was either unintentional
or for self-deference. 12.6% of the children reported that they were falsely
accused and charge-sheeted. Even in the case of those reported to have a
motive such as revenge, communal violence and land disputes more than
their rational choice, they became part of the choices made by the adults
and under their influence children became part of the act and were
apprehended (Table 3.3). Hence, even here the influence of others is pre-
dominant than his or her predetermination. A similar trend is observed
across those serving at the various detention centres and those involved in
different types of offences.
If peer influence and the deprivations experienced in life were the
major factors luring children to involve in property-related offences, it
was provocations that played the major role with attacks to the person
such as murder and attempted murder. In the case of rape or sex-related
instances, several of the cases were mere allegations and in some cases of
consensual sex, they were charged with rape on the basis of complaints
from the girls’ parents.
Table 3.3 Motive for the commission of offences

Motive Delhi Kerala Tamil Nadu Odisha Total
Unintentional 5 0 1 7 13
38.5% 0.0% 7.7% 53.8% 100.0%
2.7% 0.0% 0.4% 6.5% 2.1%
Self-defence 7 0 1 0 8
87.5% 0.0% 12.5% 0.0% 100.0%
3.8% 0.0% 0.4% 0.0% 1.3%
Age-specific features: peer 139 27 235 67 468
influence, provocation, 29.7% 5.8% 50.2% 14.3% 100.0%
immediate rewards, risk 76.4% 84.4% 82.7% 62.6% 77.4%
and explorative nature
Falsely accused 20 3 28 25 76
26.3% 3.9% 36.8% 32.9% 100.0%
11.0% 9.4% 9.9% 23.4% 12.6%
Revenge 11 2 12 8 33
33.3% 6.1% 36.4% 24.2% 100.0%
6.0% 6.3% 4.2% 7.5% 5.5%
Land dispute 0 0 2 0 2
0.0% 0.0% 100.0% 0.0% 100.0%
0.0% 0.0% 0.7% 0.0% 0.3%
Communal 0 0 5 0 5
0.0% 0.0% 100.0% 0.0% 100.0%
0.0% 0.0% 1.8% 0.0% 0.8%
Total 182 32 284 107 605
30.1% 5.3% 46.9% 17.7% 100.0%
100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
The case of 17-year-old Manu illustrates how young boys are falsely implicated
of sexual violence and rape based on the allegations of girls’ parents.
‘Smita and I were good friends. We spent hours having conversations with
each other. We liked each other’s company but were not into a serious relation-
ship. I was apprehended by the police on a false charge filed by Smita’s father
that I had raped her’, says Manu. When we met him he was in an observation
home awaiting trial.
Manu is the only child of his parents, Savithri and Arul Raj, a working and
backward caste rural family from Tamil Nadu (South India). Both his parents
are daily wage labourers and they live in their own small thatched house. The
income earned from their unpredictable daily casual labour was just sufficient
to meet the family’s daily expenses. The parents had aspirations for their son, as
they wanted to see him educated and in a white-collar job. Savithri and Arul
Raj believed education to be a way out of generational poverty and they did
their best to give him all it takes for his well-being. Manu was enrolled in a
nearby government school and was studying at the time of his apprehension. It
was a co-educational school. He was an average student, who was in regular
attendance. He was successful in all subjects and had no conflicts with either his
teachers or his schoolmates. Teachers spoke well of him. His mother used to come
and meet his teachers occasionally to inquire about him.
While narrating about school life, he commented, “Teachers generally taught
from their books and we were asked to memorize most of the things. It was
mostly a lecture and black board method that was adopted by most teachers.”
“Things, however, changed in my life when I entered the 8th class”. While
studying in the 8th grade, he became friends with a girl who belonged to a
higher caste. This all began with Smita approaching Manu to help with her
studies; gradually, she began to depend upon him for most of the things and they
became good friends. They spent most of their free time together. Speaking of the
relationship, Manu stated, ‘She was simple, lovable, very understanding and
was quiet. We had nothing between us but a true friendship. But we used to
spend lot of time together which others perceived it differently, they imagined we
were in a relationship.’
Their relationship gradually became the talk of the school and several
rumours were spread against them. The teachers spoke to them about the
rumours and advised them for their own good to avoid such meetings and con-
centrate on studies. However, they continued to spend time together, which
gradually began to have an effect on their studies. Meanwhile some of the stu-
dents from the girl’s village told her mother about the rumours and Manu’s
friendship with Smita. The parents were furious to learn about the friendship
and all the more so when they learnt that Manu came from a backward caste.
Smita’s father removed her from school, beat her and locked her in a room for
several days. He also threatened Manu and his parents that if he continued to
meet Smita he would have them sent to prison. The principal and teachers of
the school advised the parents to send Smita to school. The parents consented,
but on the strict condition that she would not meet Manu. The adolescents did
not take the threats of the parents seriously and risked meeting and spending
time together.
A week after Smita rejoined the school, the police apprehended Manu on
charges of rape based on a complaint lodged by the girl’s father that Manu had
raped his daughter.
Manu’s experiences at the observation home were similar to children in
observation homes in other states. He spoke of idling his time as there were no
activities, he said, ‘We were 35 of us locked up in a dormitory. We slept, ate and

played in the hall. We got out of the dormitory only for two things: one to see
our parents or relatives if they ever come or when we are produced before the
JJB. The rest of the time we are inside. TV and caroms are the only recreation
we have. No other activity takes place in the home. I therefore spend most of the
time either watching TV or resting.’
This is not an isolated case. Empirical evidence suggests that of the 76

rape cases, only 34 are self-reported as rape. In the remaining cases, it was
either a false accusation to teach the boy and his parents a lesson by the
girls’ parents or consensual sex wherein both had agreed but later based
on the complaints lodged by the parents or relatives of the child are
apprehended and detained.
It is evident from the survey findings and the narratives of the children
that the offending behaviours of adolescents are primarily the result of
the effect of a sudden impulsive reaction or provocations rather than a
premeditated and malicious act of offence which rationalizes for their
lower level of culpability and blameworthiness and their subsequent
lesser punishments.
There are literature and scientific experiments in criminology, develop-
mental psychology and neuroscience which shed light on the fact that
children and adolescents have unique needs due to the fact that they are
growing, vulnerable and dependent upon adults and that they differ from
adults in terms of their emotional maturity, abilities to reason and under-
stand and the way they make decisions.
Their thinking and decision making differ greatly not only in terms of
their cognitive and mature judgement capacity which affects their culpa-
bility, but also in terms of their amenability to rehabilitation, in the nature
of their behaviours, in the circumstance motive of offences and in the
likelihood that they will reoffend. Developmental and psychological
research clarifies that decision making is a function of social, emotional as
well as cognitive processes, and a full account of youthful judgement
reflect the interaction of all of these influences (Steinberg & Cauffman,
1996). However, in adolescents, as neuroscientists confirm, the pre-frontal
cortex, which is the area of the brain responsible for important functions
such as planning, reasoning, organizing, judgement, and impulse control,
is the last part to mature, a process that is now known to be completed

only as late as the age of 25. Accordingly, even if adolescents attain cogni-
tive competencies that are equivalent to adult by the age of 16, the socio-
emotional capacities which influence adolescent judgement and decision
making continue to develop even after adolescence. This gap in the devel-
opment of cognitive and socio-emotional maturity creates a period of
heightened vulnerability to risk taking during middle and late adolescence
(Steinberg, 2008). As a result of this underdeveloped status of the faculties
of the brain as propelled by the neuroscientists, adolescents are often pres-
ent-oriented and tend to ignore, discount, or to not fully understand
future outcomes and implications; they are more susceptible to peer influ-
ence than are as adults and tend to focus more on rewards and less on risks
in making choices; they are less capable of anticipating future conse-
quences, and are more impulsive and volatile in their emotional responses.
Moreover, a substantial body of research suggests that young people
who begin their offending careers prior to 13 years of age are more likely
to become persistent, serious offenders during adolescence and beyond.
The Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study of 1,000
persons from New Zealand over a thirty-year time period, Moffitt (2004)
identified that early starters tend to offend more frequently with greater
behavioural diversity, and tend to last well into adulthood. This pattern is
hypothesized to be due, in part, to time-invariant neuropsychological
traits typically manifested in cognitive deficits, difficult temperament and
hyperactivity. The influences of these traits are exacerbated by other char-
acteristics of social contexts, such as poor parenting, disrupted social
bonds, or disadvantaged social circumstances (Piquero & Moffitt, 2005).
Analysis of the empirical data in line with these findings prove that
90.9% of the children across the states under study were late starters in
offending behaviour as their age of first commission of offence is reported
to be above 13 years of age. Only 9.1% were reported to be with early
onset of offending and deviant behaviours. The majority, i.e., 63.8%, had
been in their late adolescence when they got involved in offending acts,
indicating that majority are likely to desist or mature out of offences as
they grow into adulthood. Delhi, followed by Tamil Nadu, was repre-
sented with a comparatively larger number of early beginners in offences
with 9.9% and 9.2%, respectively. A greater number (13.2%) of children
involved in property-related offences is reported to have the initiation

into offending and anti-social behaviour at an early age. Among those
who were engaged with serious offences, the early onsetters (those below
the age of 13 years) were a very small number, with 4.8% indicating that
they are very unlikely to mature in terms of such behaviour and that they
become persistent and serious offenders. Nevertheless, it does not happen
automatically. They need to be supported and treated with adequate
rehabilitative and restorative measures. If they experience traumatic psy-
chological and physical experience in their encounter with the judicial
process they are likely to drift to recidivism. Hence, how they are treated
by the stakeholders of the justice system determines the future course of
his or her life to a great extent (Table 3.4).
Those with an early onset are less likely to desist from such behaviour
as the repeated practice during the formative period of life is likely to
stabilize and continue over time. It also robs his or her many opportuni-
ties to learn and practice pro-social behaviours; leads to disturbances in
social relationships, disruption in classrooms; likely to have criminal vic-
timization; start using illicit substances at a young age; high risk of
depression and criminal victimization. The late onset of anti-social behav-
iour and non- or low-recidivist rate, on the other hand, indicate that
these children in detention centres are less likely to develop into habitual
and persistent offenders if adequate remedial and rehabilitative interven-
tions are made. Retributive justice which inflict harsher punishment to
Table 3.4 Age of first commission of offence

Age of first commission Delhi Kerala Tamil Nadu Odisha Total
Less than 13 years 18 2 26 9 55
32.7% 3.6% 47.3% 16.4% 100.0%
9.9% 6.3% 9.2% 8.4% 9.1%
13–16 years 101 23 152 57 333
30.3% 6.9% 45.6% 17.1% 100.0%
55.5% 71.9% 53.5% 53.3% 55.0%
Above 16 years 63 7 106 41 217
29.0% 3.2% 48.8% 18.9% 100.0%
34.6% 21.9% 37.3% 38.3% 35.9%
Total 182 32 284 107 605
30.1% 5.3% 46.9% 17.7% 100.0%
100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
children and bring them into contact with adult prisoners are more likely
to generate cumulative and cascading negative consequences for a per-
son’s life adversely affecting their lives and prompting them to be recidi-
vists rather than diverting from offending and anti-social behaviour.
Furthermore, it is found that 78.7% of the children in detention cen-
tres were found to be first-time offenders, with a higher representation
from Odisha and Delhi (97.2% and 86.8%, respectively). Tamil Nadu
and Kerala, on the other hand, reported higher number of recidivists
(with 33% and 25%, respectively). Children produced before CWC are
often taken on bail by their parents or relatives soon after the apprehen-
sion. However, they then return to the same unchanged circumstances,
i.e., vulnerabilities and deprivations, increasing their risk of being in con-
flict with the law. Among those involved in serious offences such as mur-
der and rape, 86.7% and 88%, were first-time offenders. The percentage
of recidivists was comparatively greater (25%) among those who were
involved in property-related cases, proving that those involved in serious
offences are more likely to be restored and rehabilitated than those
involved in property-related cases. In the former cases, they are likely to
reach the justice system only after having been involved in a series of
offences that were both petty and serious in nature. They might have
grown to be such a serious offender through a gradual maturation through
a series of petty offences. It is also learnt that a comparatively higher
number of children in special homes (31.7%) and places of safety (33.3%)
were recidivists than those in observation homes (19.7%) (Table 3.5).
It is inferred from the findings of the study that in the case of children
involved in property offences, most of them had begun to show their
deviance from a very early age. However, parents, teachers and other per-
sons immediate to him had often ignored such petty acts of thefts in their
early years, taking into account their age and immature status. In this
regard, the words of one of the probation officers is very relevant. He
states, ‘It is much easier to reform a child involved in rape or murder case
than those involved in property or theft cases.’ ‘A child’, as he says, ‘reaches
the justice system only when he/she has committed several of such acts. Parents
in general close their eyes to his first act, scolds him at the second, third and
fourth time, beats him at the fifth time and it goes for several cases until he
involves himself in a bigger property offence and reaches the juvenile justice
Table 3.5 Recidivism among the children in detention centres

States First-time Offenders Recidivists Total
Delhi 158 24 182
86.8% 13.2% 100.0%
Kerala 24 8 32
75.0% 25.0% 100.0%
Tamil Nadu 190 94 284
66.9% 33.1% 100.0%
Odisha 104 3 107
97.2% 2.8% 100.0%
Type of detention centres
OH 427 106 533
80.1% 19.9% 100.0%
SH 43 20 63
68.3% 31.7% 100.0%
Place of safety 6 3 9
66.7% 33.3% 100.0%
Total 476 129 605
78.7% 21.3% 100.0%
system. By then he might have become a persistent and habitual offender

making it difficult to reform.’ In contrast, those involved in rape or murder
cases become involved at a later stage and are mostly first-time offenders
and unlikely to mature into recidivists if appropriate behaviour modifica-
tion strategies are put in place.
Hence, in the case of early offenders, it is essential to attend to a wide
variety of warning signs, including overt acts such as bullying, unre-
strained anger, cruelty to animals or peoples, and not getting along with
others, frequent lying, theft, fire setting, problems in school, substance
abuse while at primary and elementary school, and should address them
with appropriate support services.
3.3.2 Future Orientation
The research evidence also suggests that, relative to adults, most adoles-
cents are less future-oriented and are more sensitive to rewards, espe-
cially to immediate rewards, a difference that may explain age differences
in terms of sensation seeking and risk taking (Galvan et al., 2007;
Steinberg et al., 2008). Results from the survey portrayed that almost
three-quarters (74.8%) of the children who were serving time in the

detention centres were quite unaware of the consequences of their acts,
indicating that they are less future-oriented. More than 90% of the
children from Kerala and Odisha were unaware of the consequences. In
contrast, 30% to 31% of the children from Tamil Nadu and Delhi
reported about their awareness of consequences. Among the different
types of detention centres, a comparatively higher number of children
(33%) in special homes were aware about the consequences of their
offences. It is also observed that an overwhelming majority of the chil-
dren involved in serious offences (81% to 92%) were also unaware of
the consequences of their acts. It is inferred from the above that, driven
by immediate rewards and other unique characteristics such as impul-
siveness, adventurism or risk taking and susceptibility to peer influence,
they tend to make bad choices. They are less likely than are adults to
think ahead before acting. In contrast, it is learnt that a comparatively
higher number of those involved in offences against property were
aware of the consequences of their acts. This could be primarily because
many of them might have already had experienced the consequences of
their acts earlier as it is mentioned that those involved in property-
related cases are likely to be recidivists and it is likely that they might
have passed through the detention centre on more than one occasion,
facilitating their knowledge about the consequences.
Adolescents and adults may, therefore, perceive risks similarly (in the
real world), but they evaluate rewards differently, especially when the
benefits of the risky decision are weighed against the costs. What distin-
guishes adolescents from adults in this regard is not the fact that teens are
less knowledgeable about risks, but rather that they attach greater value
to the rewards provided by risk taking (Steinberg, 2004).
The above became more evident through the life story of Raju, an 18-year-old
teenager who was apprehended and detained on murder charges.
Life at home
Raju comes from a broken, dysfunctional family in the central district of

Odisha, where he lived with his parents and two younger brothers. His father
was a notorious criminal in the area. Raju mentioned his father was in and out
of prisons: ‘My father was arrested 27 times but used to get bail by satisfying the
surety bond. He comes home only on rare days and whenever he comes he will
be fully drunk and used to beat my mother and even us.’ ‘It is better that he does
not turn up home”, adds Raju. His mother took care of all the children with the
income she earned by doing domestic work in several households. The situation
in the family was not conducive to the proper growth and development of chil-
dren as they were left to fend for themselves. There was no real concern for the
emotional well-being of the children.
Poverty and his father’s criminal life had a negative effect on his school life;
at the age of eight, Raju dropped out of school. He had to work to supplement
his mother’s income as his father was rarely at home due to his frequent arrests
and subsequent detention. Once Raju stopped going to school, he spent his time
doing odd jobs and when not working, he spent time with a group of young
adults who were involved in anti-social activities. He used to take money from
them to buy food and they offered him a small job in a nearby garage which
they owned. He earned about Rs.150/- per day. He worked at the garage for ten
years and while working there learned to drive. He was then offered a job
of a driver.
Involvement in offence
Raju drove the car of his young bosses and they generally travelled at night. In
the beginning, he did not know that this was a gang involved in crimes. Once
he started his job as their personal driver, however, he realized they were a gang
of professional thieves, burgling houses and shops and stealing money and jewel-
lery. He drove them to the houses or shops they had marked for that day’s opera-
tion. He normally parked the car at a distance from the selected house or shops
and the adults used to go and execute the plan. Raju sat in the car without
knowing what was happening. He was curious when they came back with cash,
gold and valuables and wanted to know what they did. The next time he was
asked to drive the car to a destination, he secretly followed them and witnessed
the burglary. In due course, he was inducted as a full member of the gang. He
was the youngest in the team, the young adults were between 25 and 35 years.
Raju was excited by the adventurous life, the easy flow of money, and living life
on the edge: ‘I found them leading a luxurious life with the money they robbed
from various houses and shops. I was attracted to them and I joined them with
an intent to earn money. I did not think of the consequences of my action or
about my future.’ Gradually, Raju started taking substances with the others
such as alcohol and drugs, “I take drugs like cones, nitrogen ten tablet every day
with others. It gives me extra energy to do the adventurous things like them.”
The incident that led to his current apprehension occurred on 5 April 2014,
the Odisha New Year’s Day. He narrates the incident: “On that day I and three
others in the gang robbed a house and stole about Rs.20000/- and 12 carats of
gold. One of the friends, however, could not participate in the operation on that
day due to certain unavoidable reasons. Nevertheless, he demanded a share of
the money ‘earned’ by us. He threatened us that if we did not give him his share
he would inform the police. We were not ready to share the money with him as
he did not participate in the robbery, according to us he was not justified in
asking for a share. When he persisted with his demand, we pretended to agree
to give him the money next day. As we had no intention of parting with the
money we decided to kill him that night. We beat him to death while he was
sleeping, when we were sure he was dead we put his body in a sack and dumped
it in a desolate, less frequented area. Two days later his body was discovered by
some local people and the police was informed.”
On investigating the case, based on some clues from local people, Raju was
apprehended for questioning by the police. After the use of some harsher
questioning techniques, Raju disclosed everything about the incident. Later,
based on the information he gave, his friends were also arrested and sent to the
adult prison. He was produced before the JJB and sent to the observation home,
where he involves himself with all the home’s mandatory activities. A strict time
schedule was maintained in the home, with a specific time allotted for each
activity. Time was devoted for studies, moral education, work, recreation and
rest. However, the opportunities for vocational training, behaviour modifica-
tion therapies, counselling were almost absent.
The life of Raju highlights the general way in which children think and
act. They often fail to think twice or evaluate the consequences of their
acts. Immediate gratification is their prime concern.
The less-developed status of their brain, however, does not absolve
them of the crime; rather, it explains for their involvement. This does not
mean that adolescents cannot make rational decisions or appreciate the
differences between right and wrong. But it does mean that, particularly
when confronted with stressful or emotional decisions, they are more
likely to act impulsively, on instinct, without fully understanding or con-
sidering the consequences of their actions (Fassler, 2003). Other social
science and behavioural science also shows that kids focus on short-term
payoffs rather than the long-term consequences of their actions and
engage in immature, emotional, risky, aggressive and impulsive behav-
iour between right and wrong. It does mean, however, that, particularly
when confronted with stressful or emotional circumstances, they are
more likely to drift into deviant acts.
3.3.3 Peer Influence
Adolescents’ lower levels of intent are also further established by the fact
that most of the offending done by them was a group activity, indicating
their susceptibility to peer pressure. The results from the study reveal that
61.2% of the offences were carried out in groups, with a distribution of
58% to 78% across various states. Among those residing in special homes
and observation Homes, 60% and 62% committed the offences in
groups, indicating the probability that peer pressure drove them to those
acts. Peer involvement in rape cases were comparatively lower (37.3%)
than was the case with murder, violence or property-related cases, where
62% to 65% were done in groups.
In 90% of the cases, the offences were committed along with friends,
re-establishing the influence of peers in the commission of unlawful acts.
In these cases, individual choice or thinking is often overridden by those
of the peers. More importantly, in order to show their allegiance to the
peer and to gratify their inner desire for approval, they will be coerced to
act against his or her will.
It should be noted that there is no scientific foundation for the belief
that children who commit sexual offences pose any danger of becoming
future sexual predators. Once detected, most adolescents who have
engaged in sexually abusive behaviour do not continue to do so. One
recent study found the recidivism rate to be as low as 1%, compared with
the recidivism rate for all other offences, which stood at around 40%.
Further, psychologists confirm that adolescence is a precarious period in
youths’ sexual development because of the interrelationship between sex-
ual development, cognitive development and emotional development. In
the period of mid to late adolescence, they feel the need to establish their
sexual identity by becoming comfortable with their body and sexual feel-
ing. At this age, adolescents very often lack the cognitive and emotional
maturity necessary to make wise and healthy decisions regarding their
sexuality and are ill-prepared to cope with the consequences of sexual
activity. That is why Freud considered the genital phase of adolescence as
such a time of tremendous stress and turmoil wherein the ‘ego’ is torn
between the strong impulses of the ‘id’ and the restrictions of the ‘super-
ego’. By the ages of 16 to 18 years, sexual activity increases and intensifies
for both boys and girls and their participation may become more intense
and varied as their sexual experience increases, a process which may, ulti-
mately, manifest itself in sexual violence.
Similarly, the law of homicide operates through a grading scheme under
which punishment for murder varies depending upon the actor’s blame-
worthiness. Thus, the actor who kills intentionally is deemed less culpable
if he does so without premeditation because his choice reveals less consid-
eration of the harmful consequences of his act, and the actor who negli-
gently causes another’s death is guilty of a less serious crime than one who
intends to kill. A person who kills in response to p rovocation or under
extreme emotional disturbance may be guilty only of manslaughter and
not of murder. Under the standard homicide doctrine, mitigating circum-
stances and mental states are translated into lower-grade offences that war-
rant less punishment. Similarly, the actor whose thinking is substantially
impaired or whose freedom is significantly constrained is less culpable
than the typical offender and deserves less punishment—how much less
depends on the extent of the impairment or coercion. Individuals in the
second group are ordinary persons whose criminal conduct is less culpable
because it is a response to extraordinary external circumstances: These
cases arise when the actor faces a difficult choice, and his response of
engaging in the criminal conduct is reasonable under the circumstances,
as measured by the likely response of an ordinary law-abiding person in
that situation. Thus, the under standard self-defence doctrine, a person
who kills a threatening assailant is excused from liability if a reasonable
person in his place would have felt that his life was in danger. Similarly, the
defences of duress, necessity and provocation are available to actors who
can explain their criminal conduct in terms of unusual external pressures
that constrained their ability to choose (ibid.)
It is in large part these developmental and cognitive differences that

have caused the US Supreme Court to conclude that juveniles are “cate-
gorically less culpable” than adults when they commit offences. “The real-
ity that juveniles still struggle to define their identity,” noted the US
Supreme Court in its 2005 Roper v. Simmons decision, “means it is less
supportable to conclude that even a heinous crime committed by a juve-
nile is evidence of irretrievably depraved character” (www.csustan.edu/cj/
jjustice). Both criminologists and development experts agree that “for
most teens, these risky or illegal behaviours are fleeting.” Only a relatively
small proportion of adolescents who experiment in risky or illegal activi-
ties develop entrenched patterns of problem behaviour that persist into
adulthood.
3.4 C
hildren in Conflict with the Law
and Treatment under the Adult Criminal
Justice System
Recent times have seen increased public clamour in society to provide
harsher punishment to children in conflict with the law, particularly
those involved in heinous and serious crimes. They are emotionally driven
by the proliferated, sensational and magnified reports of a few instances
of heinous offences committed by children. Through their sensationaliza-
tion of these criminal cases, the mass media demonize adolescents and
shift the public’s attention away from the real problem. Fuelled by preju-
dice and bias, they have a vested interest to persuade the general public
into believing wrongfully that adolescent and minorities are the major
cause of all deviant problems. In the course of this, the real causes go
unnoticed, which ultimately leads to more problems. If the real issues are
not addressed, then the whole purpose of the criminal justice system and
the juvenile justice system is meaningless.
The views and experience of the superintendents of the observation
and special homes also underlines our stand as they stated: “children who
are involved in murder or rape cases are much more easily amenable than
those involved in theft or other petty offences as the latter have become
habituated while the former have occurred either accidently or under

peer pressure. Moreover the former are scared of the seriousness of the
crime they have committed.”
The US Supreme Court has stated, in its 2005 Roper v. Simmons case,
that “it is less supportable to conclude that even a heinous crime commit-
ted by a juvenile is evidence of irretrievably depraved character.” Both
criminologists and development experts agree that “for most teens, these
risky or illegal behaviours are fleeting.”
The adversarial adult criminal justice system is a particularly inappro-
priate system for juveniles in conflict with law as they lack the capacity to
participate in trials like adults. The findings of a juvenile competence
study undertaken by the MacArthur Foundation in the USA reveals that:
“adolescents are more likely than young adults to make choices that
reflect a propensity to comply with authority figures, such as confessing
to the police rather than remaining silent or accepting a prosecutor’s offer
of a plea agreement. In addition, they are less likely to recognize the risks
inherent in the various choices they face or to consider the long-term,
and not merely the immediate, consequences of their legal decisions”
(www.adjj.org/).
The transfer of children to adult prisons has far-reaching implications
for the adolescent. It holds the possibility of harsher punishment (includ-
ing physical, sexual, or psychological victimization by other inmates) and
enduring developmental costs (Chung, Little, & Steinberg, 2005; Mulvey
& Schubert, 2012). It is likely that children who are transferred to adult
prison undergo a longer and harsher sentence than they might have expe-
rienced if they had remained in the juvenile justice system, possibly
because the mere knowledge that a youth was transferred may convey a
heightened level of risk to the judge, who may address it through the
imposition of a longer sentence.
Adolescents transferred into adult prisons may also be subject to physi-
cal, sexual and psychological victimization. As Mulvey and Schubert
(2012) note, “Doing the time for doing the crime might be seen as fair,
but doing much worse time because the crime was done while an adoles-
cent seems to tip the balance beyond even-handed justice” (p. 846).
Further, children/adolescents can also experience harmful disruptions
in their development during late adolescence and early adulthood.
Considerable evidence exists that prison and jail environments present

challenges to one’s sense of self and identity that even hardened criminals
find disorienting, upsetting and traumatic. During this period, adoles-
cents are in the process of identity formation, which may be adversely
affected. To fashion a sense of self (i.e., to figure out who one is in relation
to family and others, as well as what one’s future might hold), most ado-
lescents follow a pattern of individuating from parents, orienting towards
peers, and integrating components of attitudes and behaviour into an
autonomous self-identity (Collins & Steinberg, 2006). The likelihood of
receiving positive support for identity development from either peers or
adults in these settings seems low. Similarly, adolescents in the adult sys-
tem also often lose critical opportunities for learning in late adolescence.
It is also presumed that their transfer to the adult system will deprive
them of the right to privacy as well as the right to bail and that it will also
offend the principles of presumption of innocence, fresh start, dignity
and worth, safety, positive measures, non-waiver of rights, non-
stigmatizing semantics, equality and non-discrimination, and institu-
tionalization as a measure of last resort, all of which are regarded as
“fundamental” to the understanding, interpretation, implementation,
and application of the proposed bill.
The public outcry is premised on the prepositions that a harsher pen-
alty will deter adolescents from recidivism and deviances and that the
victims should get justice for the harm they suffered. However, there is no
evidence to suggest that harsher punishment or the transfer of adoles-
cents into the criminal system will deter them from deviances or recidi-
vism. There is instead strong evidence to suggest that they increase the
rates of recidivism. Jensen and Metsger (1994), using a time-series
approach, found a 13% increase in arrest rates for violent juvenile crime
in Idaho following the implementation of an automatic transfer statute.
Another study found that a New York statute which automatically sends
violent juvenile offenders to the adult courts had no deterrent effect on
overall juvenile crime, even though the law was widely applied and pub-
licized in the media. (Singer & McDowell, 1988; Singer, 1996) Similarly,
the estimated effects of transfers on future recidivism in a sample of
Florida juvenile transfer cases, as compared with non-transfer cases,
found that transferred youths had an increased likelihood of recidivism
and reoffended more quickly than their non-transferred counterparts

(Bishop, Frazier, Lanza-Kaduce, & Winner, 1996; Winner, Lanza-
Kaduce, Bishop, & Frazier, 1997).
In comparative studies by Jeffrey Fagan, associate professor at the
School of Criminal Justice, involving adolescents who appeared before
the adult criminal court in New York and those before the juvenile court,
revealed “that the New York kids treated as adult criminals were rear-
rested faster, more often, and for more serious crimes, and more often
were returned to prison.” Other studies have found that “young people
transferred to the adult criminal justice system have approximately 34%
more re-arrests for felony crimes than youth retained in the youth justice
system.” It is also found that 80% of the juveniles who are released from
adult prisons go on to commit more serious offences. Pushing juveniles
into adult prisons is likely to expose them to hardened criminals, who
will feed on their vulnerability and initiate them into a career path of seri-
ous crime. This will therefore only serve to put society at a higher risk and
increase the supply of young people into organized crime (Fagan, 1996).
Furthermore, juveniles incarcerated with adult populations may re-
enter the community more damaged than when they entered prison. The
exposure to prison violence and adult criminals requires a certain level of
adjustment if the adolescent is to cope with the prison experience. Most
juveniles will leave adult prison and re-enter society having been adversely
affected by their experiences while incarcerated. Juvenile programmes
aimed at rehabilitation help to ensure that juveniles re-enter society with
the best chance of turning their life around. This approach benefits both
the individual adolescent and the community.
Imagine, for example, what will happen if a 17-year-old boy and a
15-year-old girl are in a relationship. Should he then be tried as an adult,
the court will have no option but to sentence him to a minimum of ten
years in prison. Considering the time lag taken for the sentencing, it
could be inferred that by the time he gets released from the prison, much
of his productive life will be lost and he will subsequently find it difficult
to earn a decent living due to various factors like stigma, the lack of any
skills to earn a living, denial of education and the like. Moreover, there is
every chance that he will become a recidivist due to the influence of other
adult prisoners. He is likely to have been exploited physically and sexually
in the prison and such traumatization may disable him for the rest
of his life.
Further, the adoption of a waiver system as a deterrent, as practiced in
the USA for over two decades has proved a failure in achieving the aim.
Multiple studies in the USA conclude that it has in fact been ineffective in
addressing the juvenile crime rate, public safety and recidivism. Based on
a review of nine studies on the specific and general deterrence effect of
transfer laws, the Task Force on Community Preventive Services set up by
the US Centers for Disease Control concluded that: “…transfer policies
have generally resulted in increased arrest for subsequent crimes, including
violent crime, among juveniles who were transferred compared with those
retained in the juvenile justice system. To the extent that transfer policies
are implemented to reduce violent or other criminal behaviour, available
evidence indicates that they do more harm than good.” The USA has in
fact realized that this policy is erroneous. Several states have therefore
rejected the retributive approach based on an appreciation of the scientific
data on brain development and the failure of the transfer system. Since
2009, “at least 20 states have closed or downsized youth facilities or
reduced their reliance on incarceration. In many places, the money saved
is being redirected to programs that supervise and treat youths in their
communities. States that reduced juvenile confinement most dramatically
also saw the greatest decline in juvenile arrests for violent crimes.” In
December 2012, the US Attorney General’s National Task Force on
Children Exposed to Violence recommended that “no juvenile offender
should be viewed or treated as an adult” and that laws and regulations that
permit such treatment “must be replaced or abandoned.” Studies have also
concluded that incarceration may not be the most appropriate or effective
option, even for many of the most serious adolescent offenders; that longer
stays in juvenile facilities did not reduce reoffending and that they instead
increased the level of offending (Hahn et al., 2007: www.cdc.gov/mmwr).
The Pathways to Desistance Study concludes that “even adolescents
who have committed serious offences are not necessarily on track for
adult criminal careers.” They confirm that adolescence is a transient phase
and that “most young people grow out of delinquency on their own as
their brains mature provided they are spared the trauma and lasting
stigma of juvenile incarceration.” The study that collected comprehensive
data from 1354 serious offenders and their lives in late adolescence and
early adulthood found that offenders who receive community-based ser-
vices following incarceration are more likely to attend school, go to work,
and reduce offending (Mulvey, 2011). The empirical survey findings also
explicate that most of the serious and heinous offenders (86.7% of those
involved in murder cases and 88% rape cases) are first-time offenders and
that the involvement of many have been accidental mostly due to the
unsupervised and non-disciplined life they were accustomed to due to
the vulnerabilities of their families and parents. Inflicting harsher punish-
ment on them can only be more devastating than reforming.
There is absolutely no doubt that juveniles should be held responsible
and accountable for what they have done to the victims and to compen-
sate for the same. The juvenile justice system has the potential to provide
an enabling framework to promote justice with healing for the victim,
the community and the juvenile through restorative justice programmes.
The benefits of this approach are manifold. They address/serve the inter-
ests of victims, the community and juveniles themselves. Victims are
empowered to claim restitution from the offender; the community has
the opportunity to help (re)build community and mutual accountability;
and juveniles are enabled to reflect on and take responsibility for their
actions through a professionally designed personal transformation pro-
cess, and also the development of competencies that enable them to rein-
tegrate into the community as contributing citizens.
Children who commit serious offences do require rigorous structured
educative programmes and behaviour modification therapies to enable
them to understand the serious consequences of their action, and to
return to a law-abiding life. The focus should be on designing and deliv-
ering appropriate services for these juveniles by professionals during their
detention period by which they can indeed be reformed, rehabilitated
and resocialized.
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4
Factors Predisposing Children to
Offences
What many do not know, or do not care to acknowledge, is that these are
emotionally vulnerable children who struggle to hide their pain, anger
and fear through displays of either bravado or indifference. We observed
this when we met them at the detention centre. In the first 45 minutes to
an hour of each encounter they answered questions nonchalantly; as the
interviews progressed, however, the children tended to drop their guard
and they began to share their feeling of anger, sadness, fear and guilt. A
number of global studies have established the influence and linkage of the
socializing agencies—family, school and community—in drawing a child
into criminal behaviour. This chapter looks at the various factors that
predispose children to offences based on life histories narrated by the
children in conflict with law during the interviews with researchers at the
detention centres.
The term ‘cause’ is a very complex one and it is difficult to obtain a
succinct, broad and non-technical discussion of it from any published
source. It is generally conceived that if an event or condition ‘causes’
some effect, then the effect invariably follows that event or condition.
Such an explanation is unhelpful when dealing with an offence as the
factors or conditions regarded as causing deviant behaviour do not

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-16589-5_4
invariably lead to the same outcome. Instead they increase the risk of
such behaviour to a greater or lesser extent. A risk factor indicates the
likelihood that a young person will commit an offence (Weatherburn,
2001). These factors tend to fall into four major categories—family fac-
tors, school or work factors, associations with peers, and community
factors. The more risk factors exhibited by a child or young person, the
more likely they are to commit offences. In this study, hence the cause
should be understood in this sense rather than in the former, more
direct sense.
4.1 Familial Factors

Family is the central and primary socializing agency responsible for
instilling values, norms, beliefs and ideals in children. It has been
described as the workshop in which the personality of the child is
developed and the personalities of the parents make up to a very large
extent the emotional well-being of the child (Thorn, 1924). The failure
of families to accomplish this task may result, therefore, in serious con-
sequences for the individual as well as for society at large (Patchin,
2006). Family hence is the prime determinant of social behaviour, from
it comes youth indelibly stamped with high ideals and noble aspira-
tions, or with low aspirations and anti-social attitudes towards life.
Nurturing families instruct members on how to interact using func-
tional norms of behaviour, whereas the lack of a caring and protective
family environment leads members to interact in a dysfunctional man-
ner. Studies carried out carefully by many on this basic and most essen-
tial unit of social organization—the family—have agreed that in it lie
tremendous forces which determine the behaviour of youth. Glueck
and Glueck (1950, 1962) reported a significant relationship between
families and delinquency. Within the family, there are different factors
of varying degrees that have either a direct or an indirect influence on
the deviant behaviour of children. The present study has adopted the
four paradigms: neglect; conflict; deviant behaviours and attitudes; and
disruption, developed by Loeber and Stouthamer-Loeber (1986) to
analyze these factors.
4.1.1 Neglect
It is a stated fact that in their early and formative years of life children
need to be cared for and protected. Parents are expected to discharge this
role in the best interests of the child and make them grow and integrate
into the society as self-confident, law-abiding and productive citizens. It
seeks appropriate parenting involving adequate supervision, involve-
ment, relationship, communication and sharing between parents and
adolescents. Neglect or the failure to provide adequate parenting is likely
to risk children behaving in a deviant manner. Criminological work by
Smith in 2004 on ‘parenting and delinquency’ recognizes that most par-
ents who are ineffective, fail because of deep-seated reasons that they lack
adequate parenting skills that are hard to learn.
Parenting refers to what a parent does to provide the child with a safe,
secure, nurturant, loving, and supportive environment, one that allows
the offspring to have a happy and healthy youth; an experience that
allows the youth to develop the knowledge, values, attitudes, and behav-
iours necessary to become a well-adjusted adult, making a productive
contribution to self, family, community and society (Lerner, Castellino,
Terry, Villarruel, & McKinney, 1995). The literature on criminology
typically represents ‘bad’ parenting as ineffective, inept or dysfunctional
parenting and this is commonly depicted as a risk factor for unhealthy
social development; consequently, such families become incubators of
juvenile offences. There are three components to bad parenting: (a) the
failure to monitor or track the child’s behaviour; (b) the failure to recog-
nize deviant behaviour when it occurs; and (c) the erratic and excessive
punishments of deviant behaviour when it occurs (Gottfredson &
Hirschi, 1990). Conversely, the greater the level of involvement of a par-
ent in their child’s behaviour, the more a parent supervises a child, and
the more warmth and affection a parent shows to a child, the less likely
the child is to become involved in deviance. This implies that developing
strategies to address neglectful parenting could reduce the number of
children who become involved in delinquency. Hawkins, Farrington,
Loeber, and Elliott (1990) reaffirm this by suggesting that inadequate
parenting practices are among the most powerful predictors of early anti-
social behaviour.
The life of 17-year-old Salman (name and identity changed), who we encoun-
tered serving time in a special home in South India, is a classic instance of what
could happen to children who are not supervised by their immediate environ-
ment. As he remarked tearfully: “Had I been supervised adequately by my fam-
ily and school my life would have been different.’
Life at home
Salman was born and brought up in a Muslim family residing on the streets. He
has an older brother. His father was working as a porter in the city and his
mother as a domestic worker. The first blow came to his family when he was just
ten years old and his father deserted them. Thereafter, their mother was every-
thing to them, working from dawn to dusk to make ends meet. Narrating their
lives in the family Salman speaks, “My brother and I were most of the time left
to ourselves on the streets in our early days. We used to witness fights, hear abu-
sive language and observe other deviances on the streets where we lived. At times
we also became part of the conflict by taking sides with those from our area.
Nevertheless, we never became active members of these quarrels/fights.” Thus, the
area where they lived showed the particular nature of street life: conflicts, and
the use of alcohol and drugs. Meanwhile, a group of Christian missionaries were
carrying out developmental interventions in the community. They learnt of the
plight of Salman and his family. They advised the mother to enroll the children
in the free residential school run by them in the nearby village, which she did.
Since the time his father left them Salman had been living in the missionar-
ies’ residential school and remained there until the completion of his 9th grade.
His brother was also in the residential school, but he had dropped out after the
7th grade and began working as a construction worker to support his mother
and the family. Both he and his brother were average students. Narrating his
life at the hostel, he says: “The missionaries were very strict and wanted us to
maintain strict discipline both in the school and hostel. Though I used to hate
the strict discipline followed at the hostel I obeyed them since there was no other
option. Yet, few of us used to create problems both in school and hostel occasion-
ally. The hostel accommodated children from low, middle and high income
families. Those from higher economic status were having lot of valuable things
which students like my brother and I were denied. Attracted to several of their
valuables, I used to steal many of them in the hostel and school. On several
occasions when I was caught by the warden/teachers they excused me and at
times I received a scolding. Often, my family background and situation saved
me from dismissals from school and hostel.”
Salman continued his studies up to the 9th grade. As stated earlier, he was
an average student but he had never actually failed any of his classes. He had
begun to show his bent towards deviant behaviour from his years in the hostel,
occasionally stealing possessions from his hostel mates. Whenever he was caught,
however, he had managed to escape harsh punishment because of his immature
status and family situation. His mother would occasionally come and visit him
and he also used to go home on every holiday. During those visits and vacations,
he used to spend time with a group of youngsters aged 20–25 years in the local-
ity. They roamed around, had alcohol, drugs, tobacco and funded their lifestyle
by stealing. However, they were never apprehended by the police or public. He
also continued his offensive behaviour in the school and hostel; on two or three
occasions he was caught and warned by the hostel and school authorities.
However, he could not refrain from the habit, leading to his suspension from the
school when he was studying in the 9th grade. Later, he continued his studies
from his home and completed his 10th grade. His stay at home increased his
interaction and involvement with deviant groups. Every evening after school,
they met at a playground adjacent to his community. Such meetings usually
turned out to be a prelude for their aforementioned activities. In spite of these
distractions, however, he was able to pass his 10th grade examination. Later on,
because of the pressure from his mother and the Christian missionaries who
visited his community and family, he enrolled in higher secondary education.
But being caught using substance and being involved in severe fights under the
intoxication of drugs and alcohol, he was again suspended from the school. This
brought an end to his education. Neither his mother nor the school authorities
made any effort to get him out of his addictions. It is assumed that if the school
had managed to retain him by providing individual attention and treating his
addictions, he could have been saved from the clutches of the deviant groups
that lured him into serious offensive acts. The mother, who was incompetent to
monitor or supervise him due to her vulnerabilities, only made the situation
worse.
Although Salman was involved in deviant behaviour throughout his school
years, he was never apprehended nor corrected by anyone. This indirectly pro-
moted his continued involvement in offences which were, at times, of a serious
nature. His association with deviant groups in the community further
increased his deviant behaviour. The money earned through stealing was used
for alcohol, drugs and food. In August 2013, they drew up a plot to loot sev-
eral shops in the city. Salman was the youngest and the single juvenile in the
group. At midnight, they divided themselves into four groups and broke into
four shops. Through this operation, they stole silver ornaments, cash, suits,
mobiles and laptops worth about Rs.80,000/-. Although all his allies had
been involved in earlier major burglaries, this was Salman’s first operation on
such a scale and he was quite unaware of the need to take precautions. While
all the others kept themselves out of sight of CCTVs, Salman was caught in the
act. But he was quite unaware about it. However, the CCTV views led to his
apprehension on the second day of the incident. The footprint verification
confirmed his involvement in the offence. On questioning him, the police
gained information about the involvement of 11 others. However, they could
arrest only four of them who were sent to jail as they were adults; at the time
of the interview the rest were still at large. Salman was later produced before
the JJB and initially detained at the observation home; once he was proved
guilty he was transferred to the special home.
Experience with the Juvenile Justice System
Of his encounter with the juvenile justice system Salman says, ‘I was not
harassed much by the police as I confessed about my involvement as soon as they
started questioning me. Thereafter, they promptly produced me before the JJB
and then detained me at the observation home. I remained there for nine
months. It was indeed isolation from the world. There were no worth mention-
ing activities. Neither educational nor vocational nor recreational activities
were provided. The authorities of the home were more concerned about prevent-
ing our escape than anything else. During the first nine months neither my
mother nor brother ever came to visit me. Since no one came to bail me out,
after nine months I was sent to an NGO working for street and working chil-
dren to provide me with proper care and protection. However, my continued
use of drugs and subsequent aggressiveness was considered a threat to other
children in the institute. Hence, based on the request and suggestion of the
NGO, I was sent to Institute for Mental Health in Chennai for appropriate
psychiatric treatment. After six months of treatment I was transferred to a spe-
cial home for boys.’ The treatment at the mental health institute helped him to
give up alcoholism, drugs and tobacco and he wants to lead a normal life with
his mother and brother in future. The special home gave him an opportunity to
learn electrical work and he now wants to find a job in the electrical field and
live a decent life.
It is evident from the above case that multiple vulnerabilities from

family, school and community had their effect on Salman’s behaviour.
While his family and school failed to provide him with adequate levels of
care, support and supervision, his community provided him with a nega-
tive role model that drove him to such vices, which ultimately drew him
into criminal behaviour. The changes as seen now after his psychiatric
treatment do suggest that if appropriate intervention and supervision had
been provided to him the first time he had strayed, he would not have
ended up in a detention centre. Same is the case with significant numbers
of children who become victims in the hands of criminal gangs and fall
into deviant ways.
Psychologists would affirm for certain that what a child sees and learns
during the first five years of life has an enduring effect on his or her later
life. Accordingly, a child or adolescent who matures to adulthood needs
to be properly initiated to pro-social values, morals and culture at an early
age which will help them to differentiate between what is right and wrong
and learn to live a law-abiding life. His or her path into either deviance
or law-abiding behaviour therefore primarily lies on what models or
examples he sees in his or her immediate environment, particularly fam-
ily. Deprivations experienced during this period could bring about a det-
rimental effect on him.
This is not an isolated case, but represents one among the many cases
where children drifted to deviance and offensive behaviours because of to
the absence of neglect of adequate parenting.
Traditionally, models of Parenting are of four types: authoritarian (low
support, high control), authoritative (high support and control), permis-
sive (high support and low control) and neglectful (low support and con-
trol). Research studies and literature confirm authoritative parenting as
the most appropriate on three grounds: (1) the nurturance and parental
involvement make the child more receptive to parental influence, enabling
more effective and efficient socialization; (2) the combination of support
and structure facilitates the development of self-regulatory skills, which
enable the child to function as a responsible, competent individual, even
when parents are not around; and (3) the verbal give-and-take character-
istic of parent–child exchanges engages the child in a process that fosters
cognitive and social competence, thereby enhancing the child’s function-
ing outside the family.
In parenting practices, supervision represents an important concept

which is strongly connected with the disorderly conduct of children. The
findings from various studies support the argument that the level of
parental supervision determines the degree of deviance. Supervision and
monitoring means that parents have knowledge or awareness of the ado-
lescents’ friends, their leisure time activities and whereabouts. This
becomes all the more important as children spend less time under the
direct supervision of parents or other adults and more time with their
peers and as they are in the transition stage from childhood to adulthood,
a period which is marked by a spurt of cognitive, emotional, psychologi-
cal, physical and mental growth and development.
The life of Nayak, a boy of 18 who is serving in one of the observation homes,
provides a real-world study of what could happen to children who are not
supervised by their immediate environment. As he stated, reluctantly: “I never
experienced the love and care of my parents or family, I rarely came home due
to parental conflicts. Had I been in a caring family adequately supervised, my
life would have been different.”
He was born and brought up in a Hindu family in Bihar until he was nine
years of age. In Bihar, they owned some land and a small house which they lost
to a landlord for non-payment of a huge loan. The family then left the village
and migrated to Delhi and began living in one of the crowded slums at the
heart of the city. In the city, Nayak lived with his parents, three sisters and one
younger brother. His father and mother are illiterate and work as casual labour-
ers to meet the family’s daily expenses. None of the children attend any school
and Nayak’s two elder sisters have joined their mother in her work while Nayak
and the other younger ones stay at home. Living in the slum area, he had many
friends of a similar background who never attended school or dropped out of
school. The alcoholic nature of his father and the quarrels within the family
worsened his life. As he himself states, “Most of the days, father used to come
home consuming alcohol and quarrel with mother which usually ended up in
physical beating. We also used to be the victims of many such beatings. Hence,
I rarely used to go home. I used to spend the nights with a few friends who also
had similar situations in the family.” The situation in the family denied him
not only care and love, but also the supervision and guidance which a child of
his age craves. This hard experience in the family and subsequent association
and affiliation with the peer was the beginning of his entry into deviant
behaviour.
There were about ten adolescents in peer group and all of them were victims
of multiple deprivations. He joined them as it was the only place of solace avail-
able to him in his immediate environment. Living in the congested city centre,
the community set-up was disorganized, denying him the virtual supervision
that a close-knit community provided for its people. By now, this small group of
friends in the slum had become his family and he lived on the income he earned
from his work in a garage in Delhi. He lived in a room along with some friends
engaged in similar work and after work, they roamed the city, particularly in
busy places and spent many hours watching television. Some of them had
mobile phones and used to watch porn pictures. “Gradually we started taking
alcohol, smoking and drugs to forget our hard life”, says Nayak. He admits that
at times they used to steal things from roadside shops and either sell them or use
them. Observing his friends living luxurious lives with the stolen money, he was
also tempted into such acts.
Subsequently, he began to participate in many thefts with his friends. One
day, he stole a bundle of cable wires from the garage where he was working and
tried to sell them in one of Delhi’s shops. The shopowner, suspecting the source
of the wires, tipped off the police. The police came promptly and apprehended
him. They questioned him on the spot, slapped him on the face and used abusive
language. In due course, he confessed that he had stolen it from the garage he
was working. Thereafter, the owner of the workshop was called and on identi-
fication, the item was handed over to him. Nayak was held in the police station
for about four hours and his mother was also informed. Later, he was produced
before the JJB and was sent to the observation home. He has already attended
three hearings in three months and is awaiting his release.
Describing life at the observation home he says, “I am here for the past three
months. It was indeed an isolation from the world. There was nothing much to
do but we are provided with some recreational activities. There were no struc-
tured or systematic educational and vocational classes. The skeleton educational
and vocational programmes were boring and it looked as if it was meant just to
show those coming from outside. There are frequent fights among the inmates
too. Recreational activities are voluntary and so I do not usually join them. I
spend my time chatting with other friends in the home. The authorities of the
home were more concerned about preventing our escape and controlling us.”
Asked about counselling he says, “We do not know what counselling is. They
want to hear about the details of the offences that we have committed and noth-
ing else. Even in these sessions they comment angrily saying ‘you are lying’”. In
short, he says, “Nothing happens at the detention centre.”
He ended on a hopeful note: “Once released from here I will find a job in a
workshop as there is a demand for labourers in that field and will lead a nor-
mal life shedding the path of deviance.”
Who is to be blamed for Nayak’s deviant behaviour? Is he a born

offender? How can one be in tune with the norms and values of society
and community when no one has told or taught him and when no one
has corrected him when he has gone astray? Decoding the case history of
Nayak, it can be seen that he had a neglected childhood. His life proved
the continuum, with the neglect from his dysfunctional family leading
him into his association with peers who came from families from similar
backgrounds. They expressed their anger through deviant behaviours to
avenge or hide the hardships, neglect and abuse they had experienced
during their childhood. Reviewing Nayak life, one could also see that his
acts of deviance were primarily due to the absence of parental supervision
and guidance.
The research indicates that family strain in early life prepares children
to engage with deviant peer groups and that such groups are the ‘major
training ground’ for a career in deviance. Moreover, the above narratives
identify that ineffective parenting skills or parenting by an adult, who
themselves have mediocre social skills, may enhance the probability that
children will learn maladaptive behaviours and unacceptable social skills.
The empirical survey, which elicited data from 605 children residing in
various observation homes, special homes and place of safety across four
states in India (Delhi, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Odisha), suggests that
inadequate parenting, especially the absence of supervision and parental
involvement, was pervasive in the lives of almost every child in the deten-
tion centres. The profile of these children tells us that almost all of them
were in either their early or middle or late adolescent years, which is a
period characterized by a spurt of cognitive, physical, emotional,
psychological and sexual development. Their growth from adolescence
into adulthood is a process of confusion and conformity. It is therefore
regarded as the most stressful period in a child’s life, one in which there is
a struggle for autonomy, for establishing sexual identity and for romantic
relations. It demands close supervision and support on the part of adults
so that children do not become overwhelmed by the confusions or prob-
lems and go astray. It also suggests that their growth into adulthood is
dependent upon how they resolve their confusions and to what factors
and situations they conform. Parents’ supervision and involvement are
expected to help the children in this regard. Supervision here refers to
knowledge of their studies, where do they go, when they return home,
who are their friends and activities on social media. This becomes all the
more important during this period as adolescents spend less time with
their parents or other adults and more time with peers.
The results of the empirical data suggest that supervision in terms of
inquiring about their whereabouts was found to be neglected by majority
of the parents of children in detention centres. It is learnt from the find-
ings that only less than one third (29.9%) of the parents reported to have
inquired from children at least in a rudimentary manner about their
activities with a comparatively higher representation from Tamil Nadu
with 35.4%. Detention centre-wise, almost three-quarters (74.6%) of
children from special homes as compared to 49% in observation homes
reported about the absence of such concern of parents. Interaction and
subsequent narratives by children revealed that their supervision was
often limited to a few common questions such as ‘Where were they
going?’, ‘Why were they going?’, ‘When will they return?’ and ‘Why are
they late?’ However, even in these cases, it is presumed from the narra-
tions of the children under study that most of such inquiring was routine
in nature and children often did not respond genuinely. They often either
evaded such questions or gave misinformation. The parents (69.1%) were
ignorant about where and how their children spent their time outside.
Data also explicate that sharing and communication were also very
rare between parents and children. The silence maintained between them
often reflected the non-cohesiveness of families which ultimately lured
children to groups and persons where they could find such closeness. It is
learnt from the experiences of children in detention centres that less than
a quarter of the children (23%) had experienced at least some kind of
sharing and communication with their family members. Tamil Nadu
reported a greater share in this regard with 35.6%. Among adolescents in
the special home, only 9.5% spoke positively about having same kind of
communication with their parents, compared with 25% from the obser-
vation homes. Evidently, the above data portray that supervision and
communication, which are two sides of the same coin, was very rare and
weak among the families of children in detention centres irrespective of
the states, the type of detention centres or the nature of the offences com-
mitted (Table 4.1).
Examination of the lives of children and the findings of the survey
throw light on several factors that are instrumental in this lack or absence
of supervision. The socio-demographic and economic factors are essential
predictable variables which explicate the reason for the absence or lack of
supervision. As seen from the data, only 58.5% of the children in deten-
tion centres were living with both their original parents. The rest were
living with either a single parent or with step-parents or relatives or peer
or adult employers or by themselves on the streets, which generally kept
them out of the radar of parents leaving them to be involved in whatever
activities they wished. In the case of children living with both parents, the
parents’ struggle to provide basic economic necessities prevented them
from providing adequate supervision. Ineffective parenting and supervi-
sion due to ignorance worsened the situation. Their supervision method
was usually based on the type of parenting they had experienced at the
hands of their own parents.
Table 4.1 Parental involvement in children’s lives

Inquiring about Sharing with Parents knowledge
States children parents of friends Communication
Delhi 29 19 56 19
15.9% 10.4% 30.8% 10.4%
16.0% 13.7% 34.1% 13.7%
Kerala 4 1 12 1
12.5% 3.1% 37.5% 3.1%
2.2% 0.7% 7.3% 0.7%
Tamil 102 101 52 101
Nadu 35.9% 35.6% 18.3% 35.6%
56.4% 72.7% 31.7% 72.7%
Odisha 46 18 44 18
43.0% 16.8% 41.1% 16.8%
25.4% 12.9% 26.8% 12.9%
Total 181 139 164 139
29.9% 23.0% 27.1% 23.0%
100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
Frequency of those positively responded i.e., ‘yes’
Moreover, as seen from the preceding pages, the majority of these chil-
dren were from a low socio-economic background where parents were
primarily concerned about putting food on the table. This finding is in
line with earlier research findings which suggest that family behaviours,
particularly parental monitoring and disciplining, seem to influence asso-
ciation with deviant peers throughout the adolescent period (Cashwell &
Vace, 1996). Previous research has also found that lack of parental moni-
toring contribute not only directly to child’s anti-social behaviour but
also indirectly to the opportunity to associate with deviant peer which is
predictive of higher levels of deviant acts (Kim, Hetherington, &
Reiss, 1999).
Since all of the children in detention centres come from families in a
low socio-economic position, it is tempting to believe that poor parental
supervision is the monopoly of such households. This is not to be consid-
ered entirely true, as the evidence suggests that even in high socio-
economic households, the child was overindulged and silenced over
deviant behaviour. The parents were also absorbed in their professions to
give time to the child. The ineffectiveness of parental supervision in poor
households as in rich ones is established by several research studies.
Attachment to parents and bonding with family members acts as pro-
tective armour against deviance. Hirschi calls this as virtual supervision in
that children avoid deviant behaviours when they are strongly attached to
their parents, even if their parents are not immediately supervising them.
Research has found that the relationships between adolescents with anti-
social behaviour and their parents are characterized by a lack of intimacy,
mutuality and by blame and anger. A strong attachment with parents and
family leads to involvement, open communization, sharing and a positive
relationship among the members of the family.
The narrative of Lalit, a boy serving at a detention centre for his involvement
in stealing, sheds light on the non-attachment of parents and their ignorance of
their children’s activities. He says in tears, “My mother and elder brother never
enquired anything about me. She was pre-occupied with her work and I was on
my own from the age of 11, after the death of my father.”
Lalit hails from a poor family in the slum area of Delhi, where he had lived
with his mother, elder brother and younger sister. His father died when he was
ten years old and mother works as a domestic worker, earning about Rs.4000/-
per month. His brother is engaged in construction work and his younger sister
is studying in the 6th grade. The children were left to fend for themselves as
the mother left early morning for work. His brother was an alcoholic and
took very little care of the family. It was the mother who managed the house-
hold. In her struggle to feed the children she found no time to spend with her
children to understand what they did or where they went. He cites, ‘she goes
in the morning and then we are left to do whatever we want.’ Thus, Lalit
received very little supervision in his early years. All that he received from
home was just material things. True nurturing, parenting which the mother
was supposed to render, was missing. Similarly, critical parenting was also
absent as the father had expired. How can the society expect a boy of 11 years
to adjudge matters properly and act accordingly, especially when he has none
to refer to?
He had studied up to the 5th grade but ended his studies on the death of his
father. Education was never interesting to him: “I hated going to school. So
most of the days I used to leave home for school but never reach school. Instead
I roamed about in the village and city along with a few friends.” Speaking
about his learning he says, “I don’t even know how to read and write properly.”
Underachievement and low educational status might have affected his ability
to understand the consequences of his behaviour that ultimately resulted in
deviance.
Dropping out from school, he began to roam around the city along with his
friends in the village for some time. All of them were older than him and they
were addicted to alcoholism, drugs and smoking. They were also involved in
stealing cars and bikes. They also owned a garage, wherein they dismantled the
stolen vehicle and sold it as parts. In a few months’ time he joined the workshop
as a helper and learned to repair vehicles. By the time he was 13, he joined
them in stealing vehicles and dismantling them. The offences were not limited
to stealing vehicles; but also included looting of houses and persons. It is evident
from his account that he has been trained in committing offences by adults from
his earliest years.
His parents’ and relatives’ non-involvement promoted his engagement with
the deviant groups and their activities. Furthermore, the non-apprehension and
easy money inflow excited him and stealing became a habit.
Regarding the incident that led to his current apprehension and detention he
says, “One evening five of us were in the city waiting to flick away vehicles. By
now we were experts in stealing without having the keys of the vehicle. Three of
us waited in the corner of a shopping mall and were observing the vehicles of
customer coming for shopping. We then noticed a person coming in a car and
parking it in front of the mall and getting inside the shop without locking the
car doors. Once he entered the shop, one of us went to the security person and
asked him some questions to divert his attention. Meanwhile two of us took the
vehicle and drove it away before the owner returned. We took the vehicle to the
workshop and poured water to cool down the engine to show that it had been
there for long. Meanwhile the car owner came to the parking ground and find-
ing his car missing informed the shop owner who in turn informed the police.”
“To our bad luck”, Lalit continues, “the shop had a camera (CCTV) set in the
direction of the parking area and so our visuals were caught in the camera.”
Police who verified the CCTV pictures sent information to check all of the
workshops in the area, but they were unable to recover the vehicle. Two days
later, however, when he and his friend were walking on the street, police who
had his photo in their hands apprehended him and he and his friend and were
taken to the police station. On questioning, they did not accept the accusation
initially; once the police showed them the CCTV footage, however, they admit-
ted their involvement in the offence. Later, based on the information supplied,
they were taken to the garage where they had kept the vehicle. The police then
also found around 15–20 bikes and cars in the garage and upon being ques-
tioned using harsher methods they admitted that all of them were stolen from
different parts of the city. Later, they were produced before the Juvenile Justice
Board and were detained at the observation home. The others, who were all
classed as adults, were sent to jail.
Narrating his experience at the detention centre he explains, “It is a jail with
a difference as we are not treated so brutally as in prison. We stay in dormito-
ries. There are some provisions for educational and vocational training activi-
ties but they do not reflect our interests or the demand of the society. Similarly,
education provided is boring. As the programmes provided in the home are not
interesting many of us including me do not attend any of the programmes but
instead either take rest, or watch TV or chat with my friends. We are also pro-
vided with recreational facilities like sports and I usually play cricket and foot-
ball. They also provide the services of a counselor but very few go. I have never
gone for it.” The absence of mandatory attendance in many of the programmes
promotes laxity and indiscipline in life. It is presumed that the detention centres
should be maintaining an absolute strict timetable and should follow more of a
discourse and debate mode of educational programmes. Ensuring their partici-
pation will promote a sense of accountability.
Of his future he remarks, “I am not quite sure of what I will do when I go

out. I have not thought about any of those things. Three of our friends are out-
side and I will join them. I am not sure if I will be able to change my ways.”
Examining his life, it is evident that parent’s non-involvement in his

life provided the opportunity for his easy detachment from family and
attachment to groups that secured him concern and attention. Children
who experience hardships and deprivations often tend to associate with
children from a similar background. Moreover, the specific adolescent
characteristics of adventurism, risk-taking and impulsiveness tend to
incline them towards acts that are adventurous and challenging. When
such acts bring immediate rewards, they fail to understand the potential
consequences. In such circumstances, if parents are able to involve them-
selves in their children’s lives, they could be properly guided, supported
and supervised which results in initiating them in pro-social values,
norms and cultures and thereby preventing their contact with deviance.
What is seen in the life of Lalit is not unique to him, but reflects of the
numerous children who are serving various detention centres across
the nation.
Child–parent involvement ensures a feeling of being loved, cared,
appreciated, encouraged, accepted and supported. Their inability to
achieve these valued goals could push the children to deviance, as sug-
gested by Strain theory (Hollist, Hughes, & Schaible, 2009). When the
child fails to achieve or receive this, they are likely to experience frustration
and anger, leading to deviant behaviours. The results of the empirical study
show that a good number of children, 49.9% and 35%, respectively, were
denied of adequate love and care by the parents. Regarding the others, it is
not clear what level of love and care they had experienced in life. It is
inferred from the children’s narratives that in most cases, the mere provi-
sion of material things such as food, shelter and clothes and shoes is
equated with love and care. The essential part of caring was thus missing
out in their experiences. It could be inferred from the analysis of the data
and the life histories of children that the basic care and well-being, attach-
ment, cohesiveness and supervision are missing in the lives of most of
these children in the d etention centres. The disrupted family situations of
about 40% of the children in detention, either by way of the death of one
or both parents or by separation from their parents, points to the depriva-

tion of either nurturing or critical parenting or both, resulting in the non-
fulfilment of a safe protected childhood.
Having a strong attachment to their parents, children can internalize
the identities, belief, values and attitudes of the society. In the same way,
parental involvement or bonds with children allow them to develop
socially accepted behaviour through a process of imitation. The notion of
imitation refers to the concept of socialization, which involves the process
of learning. Given the attachment between parents and children, the lat-
ter will learn from the former by imitation. This link between the theory
of attachment and imitation justifies the utilization of a social learning
framework. Thus, parents’ involvement in children’s lives, in leisure activ-
ities and studies is instrumental in building strong attachments or bonds
between them which acts as virtual supervision. The absence of such
involvement is another neglect factor that pushes children into offending
behaviour. The lives of the adolescents who populate the detention cen-
tres highlighted an absolute neglect of parents’ involvement which natu-
rally gave the children the indirect license to associate with deviant peers
and involve in deviant and delinquent activities. Reiterating the same, in
the Pittsburgh Youth Study, the co-occurrence of low levels of monitor-
ing and high levels of punishment increased the risk of delinquency in
7- to 13-year-old boys. Conversely, attachments to conventional parents
and to society’s institutions are hypothesized to protect against develop-
ing anti-social behaviour (Hirschi, 1969).
Adolescent behaviour which deviates from the social norms is also
associated with parents’ relationship with adolescents. Children whose
parents display high amounts of affection, acceptance and support report
lower levels of anxiety and depression. The lack of emotional ties between
parents and adolescents also contributes to their involvement in mal-
adaptive behaviour (Glueck & Glueck, 1962). It is inferred that the nega-
tive quality of relationships between the adolescents and their parents is
related to higher levels of externalizing problems, such as disturbing oth-
ers, verbal and physical aggression and acts of violence (Nelson,
Rutherford, & Wolford, 1996).
The means to nourish and promote such attachment and emotional
ties within families are to spend time together, show warm relationships
and dine together. When these emotional ties become strengthened, chil-
dren are likely to desist deviance as the above acts as a virtual supervision
mechanism. The absence, neglect or lack of the same tend to generate
tension and stress within families which become a super-predictor of
deviant behaviours. The results of the study explain that most of the chil-
dren present in detention centres were deprived of many of the above
factors in their families. It is found that just under half (46%) of the
children’s parents spend time with their children, with a distribution of
29% to 39% across detention centres of various states (Table 4.2).
Comparatively, only a relatively low number of children (4.6%) from
special homes reported parents’ spending time with them and being
involved in their lives. The corresponding figure from the observation
home in this regard was 93.3%. The multiple work schedules restricted
the parents from being involved in the lives of children or spending time
with them. For example, when some children stated that their parents
spent time with them, all this meant was that they were assisting the par-
ents in their work. Other than such involvement, very little interaction
between them and their parents is reported.
Table 4.2 Parental conflict & disciplining

Quarrel and One parent Quarrel
Disciplining by fight at beating the among Sexual
States beating home other siblings abuse
Delhi 83 76 33 50 27
45.6% 41.8% 18.1% 27.5% 14.8%
28.0% 30.0% 22.0% 25.5% 27.3%
Kerala 5 14 12 5 1
15.6% 43.8% 41.4% 15.6% 3.1%
1.7% 5.5% 8.0% 2.6% 1.0%
Tamil 151 116 89 96 17
Nadu 53.2% 40.8% 31.3% 33.8% 6.0%
51.0% 45.8% 59.3% 49.0% 17.2%
Odisha 57 47 16 45 54
53.3% 43.9% 16.2% 42.1% 50.5%
19.3% 18.6% 10.7% 23.0% 54.5%
Total 296 253 150 196 99
48.9% 41.8% 25.3% 32.4% 16.4%
100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
Frequency of those positively responded i.e., ‘yes’
Neglect in parental involvement and supervision had a devastating effect on the

life of Deepak, a 17-year-old boy who now serves at an observation home for
stealing Rs.60,000/- from a shop.
Deepak comes from one of the coastal areas in Tamil Nadu. He had been
living with his parents and two sisters up to the age of ten. Later, his father
deserted the family and migrated to Kerala. His mother later migrated to
Kerala, where she worked as a domestic worker. While his sisters live with one
of their relatives, Deepak has been on his own in a small hut. Even when the
parents were living together, the situation in the family was quite negative:
“Father was an alcoholic. He used to consume alcohol, come home and quarrel
and physically attack my mother every day.” All of these indicate that he had an
absolutely neglected childhood.
Although he had studied up to the 5th grade, he had been a very poor stu-
dent. As there was no one to inspire or supervise him, showed little interest in
studies and was a frequent truant. His parents’ separation brought an end to his
education and his life became based on his peer group: “I spend the days with
my friends in the city or in fishing with elders in the community.” The absence
of monitoring and supervision by parents promoted such behaviour.
Dropping out from school, he began working as a labourer in a butcher’s
shop at a wage of Rs.100 per day. However, as the income from the stall was
insufficient to meet his daily expenses, at times he used to go for fishing or even
indulge in petty theft. It is reported that he has been involved in small thefts
more than thirty times. On several initial occasions, he was never apprehended.
This in a way encouraged him more into such activities. However, later, as
reported by him, “I was apprehended more than three times and was detained
at the observation home. Nevertheless, my mother used to come and bail me
out.” His association with elder fishermen in the community made him learn
their deviant behaviour such as consuming alcohol and drugs and smoking
cigarettes. As he himself reports, “I started to use alcohol, ganja and hans from
the age of 15 years and now I cannot live without them.”
Speaking about his involvement in the most recent offence that had led to his
apprehension and subsequent detention he narrates, “I was very close to two
adult fishermen aged about 23 years. We used to go together for fishing. One of
the fishermen was a habitual offender and there are several cases including
murder pending against him.”
One day they planned to loot a shop. They went to the shop at midnight, and
Deepak was helped to climb onto the top of the shop, remove the sheets and
enter the shop. They looted the shop of about Rs.60,000/- and later shared the
amount between them. “I was given Rs.12,000/- which I spent on clothes,
b uying a mobile and having good food. I am not quite sure what the others did
with the money.”
Regarding his apprehension, he states that the following day, the shopowner
lodged a complaint at the police station. Upon investigation, the police arrested
the habitual offender on the grounds of suspicion. Although he initially declined
to say anything about the incident, but when police used harsher questioning
methods, he disclosed the truth about the incident. Based on the information
received from him, Deepak and his other friend were also apprehended. As
Deepak was below 18 years of age at the time of the arrest, he was produced
before the JJB and was detained at the observation home. The other two who
were adults were sent to the jail.
Regarding his treatment at the hands of the police he says, “I was handcuffed,
beaten up and kept in the police lock up for one day and also tortured. Later, I
was produced before the JJB and detained. In the observation home, there is
nothing to do. I idle away my time either by sleeping or chatting or by watching
TV. There are no educational or vocational training programmes or counselling
or mental health programmes.”
Analysis of Deepak’s life sheds light on the severe deprivation that he

experienced during his childhood. It is evident from the narrative that
the desertion, multiple deprivation and neglect of both critical and nur-
turing parenting through parental involvement and supervision has
resulted in his engagement with offences. The state has also failed in this
case in terms of its role of parens patria to support and assist those chil-
dren who are abandoned. The failure of those who are supposed to pro-
tect and nurture him has been the cause of his association with deviance.
The analysis of the lives of children highlights that neglect in supervi-
sion and involvement is a double risk factor for deviances. As one child
commented, “My father is a woodcutter. He goes from home early in the
morning and returns after several days usually on weekends. On such days, he
has no time to spend either with family or with us as he goes out with his
friends to gamble and to bars. In the evening he comes home and quarrels
with my mother either about money or other silly matters. Sometimes the
fights ends up by beating my mother and even us. He generally never bothered
about us.”
Along almost the same lines, another boy who lived with a single par-
ent and was now serving in one of the observation homes for committing
robbery gave the following account of his life: “My mother feeds three of us
by doing domestic work in a few households. She gets up at 4 o’ clock in the
morning, finishes some work at home and leaves for her work. From that time
onwards we are left to ourselves. Older sister, who is 17 years old, stays at
home and does not go to school so that she can take care of the household
chores. I studied up to 5th grade and discontinued as I was not interested in
studies. Now I spend my time roaming around with my friends on the streets,
in the parks and at times go for movies and come home late in the evenings.
My mother used to tell me to find a job and go for work. But I never listen to
her and I never shared with her anything about me.”
It is seen from the data that only less than three-fifths and less than half
of the children in detention centres reported to have come together with
their families for prayers and at least for one meal respectively. In most
cases, it was rare for children to participate in any form of religious
activities.
Effective parenting is the result of close interaction and strong and
warm relationships. Conversely, ineffective parenting may increase the
likelihood that children will acquire maladaptive behaviours and unac-
ceptable social skills. This can eventually result in them becoming
involved in breaking the law. Moreover, children who either have poor
relationships with their parents or who live in homes where adults are
poor role models for problem solving and pro-social behaviours are at a
greater risk of becoming involved in delinquent peer groups and are more
likely to engage in deviant behaviour. Studies have found it difficult to
establish direct causal relationships between family variables and
delinquency, given that most available studies have been cross-sectional.
However, the belief that parental behaviour matters with respect to the
onset of adolescent delinquency seems to be uncontroversial and largely
supported by the available data.
Family disruptions are likely to reduce the supervision of children. The
data explicate that around 40% of the families of children under study are
disrupted in one way or another. Single-parent families, particularly those
with a mother at the head, tend to experience problems in disciplining
male children. Moreover, as the single parent had to engage in multiple
jobs or work overtime to meet the needs of the family, they are either
unable or too tired to supervise the children facilitating a laissez-faire life
for the children who, given their adolescent mindset, are likely to risk and
act impulsively which make him or her to get involved in non-conform-
ing behaviours. Similarly, children who are either orphaned or living with
either relatives or non-relatives are generally not given adequate supervi-
sion. In the words of one of the boys who lived on the streets: “I am from
Uttar Pradesh and live on the streets now along with a few friends. We
decide for ourselves regarding what to do and what not to do, where to
go and where not to go. There is none to oversee or guide us. We are our
masters.” Children in stepfamilies may also experience lax supervision as
step-parents may resort to relaxed ways in order to avoid conflicts between
them. Children living in their family of original parents, who care about
their children, makes each parent more likely to be involved with
their children.
The findings drawn from the responses of children thus explicate that
neglect in adequate parenting played a significant role in drawing chil-
dren to deviance. The majority of children in detention centres were
deprived of a safe, secure and happy childhood. They were deprived of
appropriate care, attention, supervision, guidance and support. For most
parents, parenting is limited to the provision of the basic necessities to
children. The findings of earlier studies also substantiate the current find-
ings as Glueck and Glueck in a study found that juvenile offenders are
more likely to come from homes where they did not feel love and support
(Hollist et al., 2009). That family behaviours, particularly parental moni-
toring and disciplining, seem to influence association with deviant peers
throughout his adolescent period (Cashwell & Vace, 1996). That that
lack of parental supervision contributes not only directly to child’s anti-
social behaviour but also indirectly to the opportunity to associate with
deviant peer which is predictive of higher levels of deviant acts (Kim
et al., 1999). Although these factors need not invariably lead to deviance,
they can be considered as strong risk factors which are likely to drift chil-
dren to offences and unlawful acts.
The widespread view of the positive influence of parental involvement
on children’s behaviour based on the assumption that parents act in a
pro-social manner. On the other hand, parents who participate in anti-
social behaviour place their children at high risk of breaking the law.
Parental supervision, in this case, can be the risk factor that encourages
children to adopt anti-social behaviour. Furthermore, in the case of chil-

dren who are already deviant, supervision by parents with anti-social
behaviour may reinforce the level of unlawful life. Thus, on the whole
children in detention centres who are involved in offending acts are
deprived of adequate supervision either due to the economic stress or lack
of knowledge on parenting or due to various disruptions in the family.
From these findings, it can be premised that the neglect of adequate sup-
port, supervision and guidance to children when they needed the most,
may lead them to be engaged with anti-social and deviant behaviour.
The data, as well as the case histories of children, explain that one of
the defining factors for the deviance of adolescents and children is the
deprivations or neglect in terms of providing them with their due.
Children who experience strains of life in their early life are expected to
exhibit non-conforming behaviours, as stated according to the general
Strain theory. Subsequently, it could be inferred and premised that chil-
dren in detention centres who were victims of multiple deprivations such
as love, care, attention, adequate parenting, including supervision, a
warm relationship and a cohesive family with both parents, are at a greater
risk of being involved in deviant acts. Their particular developmental
stage makes things worse. As these children are undergoing their transi-
tion to adulthood, wherein their lives are marked by enormous changes
at the physical, sexual and cognitive, socio-emotional levels, they are con-
fronted with an identity crisis.
4.1.2 Conflict
Conflicts within families, either between parents or between adolescents

and parents, may have negative outcomes on the lives of children.
Research studies trace a link between the parent’s negative emotions and
conflicts, which leads through the creation of problematic parenting
behaviours to negative outcomes in terms of adolescent development.
Moreover, the presence of problem behaviours in parents is linked per se
to problems in adolescent development (Galambos & Almeida, 1992), as
most of the behaviours of children are learned through interaction with
their immediate environment: family, school, peer and community. In
other words, they are influenced by the values, norms and behaviour of
people around them as they model after these norms and values (role
modelling theory). They learn from lifetime events and base their deci-
sions, perceptions and conduct on these events. For them, these lifetime
experiences underlie either a socially acceptable behaviour or a life of
deviance and criminality. It is likely that parents who operate within the
conflict paradigm will be using harsh, abusive and aggressive measures
towards their children. This approach is likely to result in rebellious
behaviour among the children and escalate to disruptive behaviour
(Patchin, 2006). Research studies have also indicated that children of
those parents who discipline through the use of corporal punishment
tend to look towards their peers for support and, later on, tend to display
higher rates of delinquency and substance abuse (Bank & Burraston, 2001).
Examining the lives of children in detention centres, it can be seen that
many of the children are victims of the conflicts between their parents,
which might have had an attributed influence on their later deviance.
Brijesh, a boy of 17 years who has been detained for stealing and snatching
jewellery, speaks angrily of his childhood experiences: “I have grown up seeing
quarrels and beatings in my house. My father is an alcoholic and used to beat
my mother frequently. I could never tolerate beating my mother. So I used to
beat him also.”
Brijesh lives in a slum in Delhi with his parents and three other siblings: one
younger brother and two sisters. His father works as a driver and earns about
Rs.8000/- per month.
His mother is a housewife and his younger siblings are in education. From
his childhood, he had witnessed quarrels and fights at home between his father
and mother. Recalling the behaviour of his alcoholic father he says, “He was no
more acting as a human person. He used to throw things, quarrel with mother
and me, beat us up. There was no peace in the family once he came home.
Therefore on most of the days, when he came home I used to go out of the house
and came back only when he was asleep. Until then I used to spend my time in
the slum with friends.” If Brijesh happened to be there at home during the
quarrels and fight he also used to be a part of the fight: “I used to defend mother
and for that I used to even beat him because I love my mother much more than
him.” Probably these frequent quarrels and fights at home might have had a
detrimental effect on his later life as it is seen that his peer group consisted of
both children and adults involved in offences.
He had studied up to the 8th grade and dropped out of school because of his
father. As he explains, “My father did not want me to continue my studies as he
said there is no use of studying. He forced me to start working. So I stopped my
studies and entered the labour market.” He was also a truant while studying as
he cites, “I had a number of friends of different age groups in the slum and we
used to spend our time roaming around the village.” His underachievement
and low academic performance might have also contributed to his dropping
out.
However, once dropping out of school, he began his life as a helper in a
mechanical shop, for which he initially earned about Rs.2000/-, a figure which
soon increased to Rs.4000/-. Nevertheless, he was accused of stealing some things
from the shop and was dismissed from the job. Thereafter, for some time he
roamed around with his friends in the slum. Later he joined another workshop
as a welder, but he could not continue for long as he was not a reliable worker.
A good portion of the amount that he earned was given to his mother for the
education of his younger brother and sisters. The rest he spent on himself.
As stated earlier, he was from a slum area which was a place characterised by
many different types of vices. There used to be frequent quarrels in the commu-
nity. Most of the people, especially youngsters and middle-aged people, were
addicted to alcohol, drugs and smoking. It was also learnt that many of the resi-
dents were involved in various offences and were convicted. The prevailing
atmosphere around the community had a great influence on him: “I used to
drink alcohol from the age of 14 years and by 15 years I began to take drugs
along with other friends in the slum.” Later, he became involved in a variety of
thefts and the money secured through them were used to buy alcohol, drugs and
cigarettes. Further, showing an expensive mobile worth Rs.34,000/- he says “I
bought it with the money that I have stolen.” By this time, stealing and snatch-
ing had become a habit for him as there was no one to correct his ways or to
initiate him to pro-social norms and values. The family and the community
had failed in their primary role of raising this child in a safe and nurturing
environment.
Regarding the incident that led to his apprehension he says, “It was another
instance of chain snatching that brought me here. Though I had stolen many
times earlier, I was never apprehended as I used to dash away in the crowd. But
this time I failed to do so and was caught by the public.” He gave a clear
description of the incident: “One afternoon as I was walking with two other
friends, my eyes caught a big gold chain on a person’s neck. I dashed and caught
the chain, broke it and was on the move to run when I hit a stone and fell
down. As the victim screamed ‘thief ’ people caught me and beat me badly. My
friends by now had escaped.” The police was informed and they took and pro-
duced me before the JJB after which I was detained at the observation home.
Of his experience at the detention centre he says, “The time table of the home
stipulated a number of activities like yoga, educational classes, vocational train-
ing, games, rest, watching TV. However, I am not very much interested in most
of these and I play cricket occasionally. The home provides two newspapers but
often I don’t get to read because, some senior children tear it after reading. They
act like dadas (ruffians) in the home. I and others feel that the educational and
vocational classes are carried out to show the public that we are provided with
all these. But in practice what they teach is never useful to us. It never corre-
sponds to our needs or aspirations. Who wants to listen to stories and basic
knowledge of different subjects? Further, even the mode of teaching is boring.”
Of his future he says: “I will move to work as a mechanic. I have already sent
a recommendation letter to my earlier employer through the court to employ me.
Hope he will take me. If he takes me, I will work hard with him and earn well
and try to live a decent life.”
The study revealed that 50% of the children in various detention cen-
tres had reported quarrels by their parents. 40% to 50% of children across
all states and 30% to 40% of children from the detention centres made
reports about quarrels between parents. Nevertheless, physical fights,
including beating, were reported by fewer of the children in the study
(25%), with Tamil Nadu recording a greater representation (59.3%), fol-
lowed by Delhi (22%). The frequency of such quarrels and fights varied
from rare occurrences to every day or to a habitual event. While 8%
reported it as an everyday routine activity at home, especially in the eve-
nings, for 21%, the fights and quarrels happened only occasionally.
Alcoholism of the father, family and financial issues were the prominent
reasons stated for the quarrels among parents or among family members.
Describing the conflict, one of the boys at the detention centre appre-
hended for theft commented: “My father works as a stove repairer in the
outskirts of one of the cities in South India. The money he earns from work,
he spends it on alcohol and comes home drunk and quarrels with my mother
every day. On most occasions the quarrels are about the alleged illegal rela-
tionship of my mother with another person in their neighbourhood. The
quarrels sometimes turned violent and I too used to get beaten. Though I did
not react in the first instances, later I too began to hit him back. I shouted at
him using abusive language and slapped him several times and used to run
out of the house and come home late at night when he is asleep.”
Violent conflicts in the family happen not only between parents, but
also between adolescents and parents. Adolescents are likely to be in con-
flict with parents when it is a struggle between dependence and auton-
omy, identity crisis and peer affiliations. Studies report that conflicts arise
for a number of different reasons: because adolescents feel that parents
are not providing the emotional support they want; because youth or
parents believe the other generation is not meeting their expectations; or
because of a lack of consensus about family or societal values (Fisher &
Johnson, 1990). The presence of conflict at any point in the parent–ado-
lescent relationship may influence their behaviour and development. It
may lead the adolescent to think negatively about himself or herself, and
can even lead to thoughts of suicide (Shagle & Barber, 1993). Moreover,
the negative emotions exchanged between adolescents and their parents
can themselves result in problems for the adolescents. Thus, father’s feel-
ings of stress or depression are likely to be associated with adolescents’
emotional and behavioural problems. The inadequate handling of these
stressful and conflicting situations by their parents is likely to make
children increasingly rebellious and gradually drift them away from
their families.
Quarrels between siblings were also quite common in the households
of the population in the study, with 32.4% reporting such incidents.
These conflicts varied quite extensively from state to state with the high-
est recording from Odisha (42.1%), followed by Tamil Nadu and Delhi
with 33.8% and 27.5%, respectively. The theory of role modelling seemed
to be relevant in these cases as analysis showed that in households where
parents had frequent quarrels and fights, siblings also quarrelled among
themselves on various issues. At times, they became part of the quarrels
and fights between parents. This substantiates the inference that children
mould themselves after parents or elders and that conflict between par-
ents tend to influence the deviant behaviour of children. However, this
should not be viewed as an invariable cause–effect paradigm, i.e., not all
siblings of quarrelling parents tend to be quarrelling or fighting each other.
Children generally look up to their elders and like to see them as role
models. Research on modelling has found that when parents are held in
high esteem by their children they become the main sources of reinforce-
ment and the child is more likely to mould them accordingly. Similarly,
if a parent acts in a negative way, the child is more likely to follow the
parent’s negative attitude. The role model exhibited by parents hence has
an enduring effect on children. Similarly, while none undermine the sig-
nificance of disciplining and supervision to check the delinquent behav-
iour, it is found that overly harsh punishment in the name of discipline
will not stop it, rather it will enhance it (Simons, Les, Conger, &
Katherine, 1991).
Although there are relatively few instances of children beating their
parents, it is assumed that similar situations occurred in many of the
families of the children in the study. Children who internalize and suffer
the after-effects of these instances tend to become attracted to peers who
have experienced similar deprivations and stressful situations at home.
The evidence also proves that most of the children involved in serious
offences such as rape and murder were victims of many conflicts within
the family. Children who experience such parental conflict are not only
victims of parental neglect, but become victims of their physical and
emotional abuse which gradually transforms into acute stress and anger
putting them to revolt against the same.
Family violence is one factor for adolescents’ shift into deviance.
Parents who physically or verbally abuse either each other or their chil-
dren are much more likely to raise children who will commit offences. In
a study conducted in 1989, for example, 80 of the 95 incarcerated delin-
quents had witnessed or been victims of severe family violence (Arnold,
1989). Conflicts generally weakened the levels of cohesiveness and bond-
ing within the family.
Disciplining is an essential and inevitable element in the life of a child
and adolescent, but the way in which one is disciplined is also important.
Children who experience a pattern of extreme discipline from their par-
ents are more likely to have an increased risk for violence in adolescence
(McCord, 1979), or a greater risk of future delinquency (Miller &
Knutson, 1997). Furthermore, erratic and inconsistent discipline is also
linked to deviance. Unpredictable punishment, where certain behaviour
is sometimes allowed and sometimes punished, causes the child to become
insecure. Inconsistency between the parents may also contribute to an
individual’s criminal potential. Subsequently, it becomes difficult for the

child to identify the behaviour that was being punished. Research has
suggested that middle-class parents concentrate on the long-term
character-building of their children and that they explain to their chil-
dren the reason for any punishment inflicted. In contrast, children from
families from a lower class are more likely to develop criminal potential
because of their parents’ lack of supervision and inconsistency in the use
of discipline, which may be used without any verbal explanation (Taylor,
Walton, & Young, 1973, p. 182). Consistency and persistence in disci-
pline are therefore needed, if controls are to be adequately internalized
into an adolescents’ personality. Situations, and appropriate methods of
discipline to deal with a child, must occur regularly enough to let the
child develop concepts of conduct and be able to distinguish suitable and
unsuitable responses.
Physical punishments may be viewed by the child as unfair and unjust,
prompting them to act out in a revengeful and deviant manner. An
inquiry into the physical punishment inflicted on children found that
78.6% of the children had experienced physical punishment in the form
of slaps, beatings or kickings. The reasons varied from person to person.
While for some it was due to their wrongful acts, for a few others it was
the wrath of the alcoholic father and for several others it was for not
studying. 65% reported having experienced mental and psychologi-
cal torture.
Nevertheless, in the current study, more than the harsh and erratic
disciplining, it was non- disciplining that emerged as the major factor in
influencing or contributing to children’s deviant behaviour. Disciplining
through the use of harsh measures, however, was found to be at a lower
level. The level of physical punishment meted out to children in the study
was not for any wrongful acts; rather, they were more usually victims of
the wrath of an alcoholic parent who vented their anger on them. It is
inferred from the responses that the conflict and aggression seemed to
have been a risk factor for children having drifted into offending behav-
iour since such conflicts strained the relationship and thereby weakened
the supervision and involvement of parents on their children. Linking
the conflict atmosphere with the theory of modelling, it can be premised
that the conflict and quarrels that disrupt the family atmosphere are more
likely to prompt the children to have an easy association with deviant

peers on one side and their involvement in offending and unlawful activi-
ties on the other. Non-supervision which arises from the conflict situa-
tion worsens the situation.
Self-reports of children explain that their transition to non-conforming
behaviour is primarily the result of their learning from the immediate
environment, particularly the home. The failure of the family to educate
them with appropriate values and norms on one side and their exposures
to violence and conflicts of the parents on the other might have made
them to model after the non- conforming ways. As it is earlier analysed,
most of the parents of children in detention centres are from low socio-
economic background and were unable to provide adequate parenting to
their children. Their parenting was mostly based on their experiences
when they were young. The parenting practice experienced by majority
under study was that of minimum involvement of parents, children were
left to fend for themselves most of the times. It provided them with the
opportunity to socialize with friends and adults who were involved in
criminal activities. Studies reiterate that authoritative parenting, which
represents an adequate mix of support and control, is the most appropri-
ate form of parenting. This involves the parents setting firm rules but also
being caring and supportive and allowing the child a degree of autonomy.
They have also good communication with their children, negotiating,
explaining, and being sensitive to the child’s needs. Substantiating this
finding, a data set collected from a sample of about 10,000 high school
students in the UK has found that adolescents from authoritative homes
achieve more in school, report less internalized distress, such as psychoso-
matic symptoms or depression, score higher on measures of psychosocial
maturity, such as work orientation and are less likely to engage in anti-
social behaviour, including criminal offences and drug use. However, the
erratic parenting practiced by parents of the children under study
increased their likely bend towards non-conforming and unlawful acts.
Although it may not have a direct effect on the deviant behaviour, it
could, along with other risk factors, have a compound effect on their
behaviour.
It is generally perceived and acknowledged that parents shape the
child, but part of what determines the way in which the parent does this
is the child himself or herself. As such, the nature of parent–child rela-

tions, of family life and development and of societal and cultural influ-
ences on the child–parent–family system are influenced by both
“normative” and “non-normative” changes (Baltes, 1987). This system of
multiple, interconnected, “fused” or co-acting levels comprises a com-
plete depiction of the integrated organization of human development
(Lerner, 1986, 1991).
This does not imply, however, that all children who experience and
witness family violence or erratic disciplining will indulge in deviant and
offending acts. Warm parental interactions and emotional attachment
could facilitate effective problem-solving ability in both the adolescent
and the family as a whole. In such circumstances, even if family violence
occurs, the cohesion, bonding and religiosity dominant in the family may
surpass the conflicts enabling the children to remain as law abiding people.
4.1.3 Parental Deviance
“I have seen my father rarely in my 18 years, as he was behind bars most of the
time for thefts. Often I was left alone with my mother at home and my younger
sister was living with Periappa (elder brother of father) and grandmother. My
mother on the other has an illicit relation with another man. I also have been
married twice”, says Abhilash (name & identity changed) who has been
apprehended thrice in a series of 8–10 offences of theft and stealing and is sen-
tenced to two years in a special home.
A well-built boy of 18 years as per record (but looks like an adult) Abhilash
has his genealogical roots in Kerala (South India). At present, however, he lives
in one of the cities in the southern district of Tamil Nadu (South India). He
lives with his mother, stepfather and a younger sister. His biological father, who
died two years ago, was a renowned criminal in Kerala. As reported by Abhilash,
“My father was continuously involved in several theft cases and was in the
prison several times.” They were living in Kerala, but 14 years ago had migrated
to Tamil Nadu where his father’s elder brother was living and working as a
mechanic. Although they lived in Tamil Nadu, the father used to go to Kerala
at regular intervals, steal things and try to escape back to Tamil Nadu. Most of
the time, however, before he could cross the border of Kerala he was caught and
put behind bars. According to Abhilash, his mother works in a spinning mill
and earns around Rs.12,000/- per month, which was the family’s sole source of
livelihood. The absence of his father for long periods mooted an extramarital
relationship between his mother and another man. On several days, this man
used to come home and spend the night with his mother. “When I objected to
such visits”, says Abhilash, “I used to have quarrels and fights with my mother
and the visitor.” Hence, to save her face in the neighbourhood, she discouraged
him from visiting her home and she began to go to his house. Two years ago,
when his biological father was released from prison and returned home, he
learnt about this relationship and sent threw his wife out of the house. A few
months after this incident, his father died of a heart attack. Within a week of
his father’s demise his mother married the mechanic and came back to live in
the house. Abhilash, commenting about the death of his father, remarks, “My
mother killed him. Had she remained loyal to him, his fate would have been
different.”
His stepfather was an alcoholic and did not like Abhilash, as he had earlier
objected his visit to the house. “He was taking revenge on me for the protest that
I raised during his visits and stay at home while father was alive. I do hate him
even now. I believe my father would not have died if my mother remained loyal
to him. How can I accept him as a father who was an associate murderer of my
biological father?” asks Abhilash angrily. “We never had peace in the family as
we used to have frequent fights at home. Gradually, such antagonistic situations
in the family prevented me from going home. And so I began to spend my time,
day and night on the streets which brought me in contact with children of my
age or a little elder to me who were in the streets either due to abandonment or
poverty or family disruptions. Many of them were also involved in anti-social
activities”, he adds.
When families fail in their primary role as teachers of societal norms, values
and morals, children are known to be influenced and easily attracted to deviant
groups due to the immature status of their cognitive and psycho-emotional fac-
ulties. They rarely think of their future and easily get lured to deviant acts
particularly with the influence of the peer who are deviant.
Abhilash had studied up to the 7th grade. During his school years, he used to
spend the evening hours with his Periappa in the workshop, helping him to
repair two-wheelers. School was never an attraction to him. Many of the chil-
dren in the school knew about his family and particularly about his father’s
deviance, which kept him isolated and led him into truancy. On several days,
he did not go to school and instead used to spend time on the streets with a
group of youngsters. Gradually, they coalesced into a street gang and began to
commit various offences, mainly involving the theft of motorbikes. They had an
arrangement with one of the workshops in the area who used to buy the bikes
they stole, dismantle them immediately and sell them for parts. Stealing thus
was a thrill and adventurous activity for them. He had been involved in such
activities since the age of 12. The mechanical experience he had with his
Periappa helped him and others in taking the vehicle without having its keys.
It seems that by the age of 15 he and the rest of the gang were involved in steal-
ing and selling about eight bikes. As the dismantling of the stolen vehicles was
done instantly, they had never been identified or apprehended. By now, he had
dropped out from school as these acts fascinated him much more than the isola-
tion and suspicious eyes he experienced at school because of his father. The
money he earned through these illegal acts were spent for on alcohol and drugs,
to which they had become addicted.
On the fifth occasion he stole a bike he was apprehended by the public for the
first time and was handed over to the police. Later, he was produced before the
JJB but was bailed out by his mother. During the apprehension period, the
probation officer tried to help him out of the offending behaviour by trying to
separate him from the gang. He found him a job as a sales assistant in a shop in
another city. For some time he behaved well and in the course of his job, he was
attracted to a lady of 23 years who used to come and buy provisions from the
shop. He later married her, even though he was only 16 years old. He managed
to isolate himself from offending acts during this period, but a few months after
his marriage he again stole another bike, and was apprehended by the police
following an investigation. He was detained at the observation home and
within a week, his wife bailed him out. Unfortunately, even this second appre-
hension and release did not reform him and a month later he was again appre-
hended for stealing another two-wheeler. He was caught by the owner and after
being beaten by the public was handed over to the police. Later, he was pro-
duced before the JJB and sent to the observation home. On this occasion, how-
ever, his wife did not turn up to bail him out. The probation officer then
contacted his mother and she did pay to get him out. But he did not want to
return home and he returned to his earlier life with the street gang.
While living on the street, he started a relationship with another lady who
lived in similar circumstances. However, her parents were against the relation-
ship and lodged a complaint at the police station. But the girl was adamant to
marry him. The issue was then settled at the police station wherein the girl’s
parents, under her pursuance, had to agree to her marriage with him. Like
earlier, after the marriage he kept himself away from deviance for a short
period. But he was unable to resist the calls from his friends and soon he was
lured to another act of theft, again a bike from a cinema theatre, but was
apprehended by security resulting in his detention at the observation home.
Unfortunately, this time no one came to bail him out. Finding him guilty of the
offence, on this occasions he was sent to the special home for three years.
He had no complaint about the behaviour of the police: “They were quite
considerate to me and did not beat or use any filthy language against him.” “At
the observation home where I stayed on and off”, he says, “there was nothing to
do. Most of my time was idled away. It was really boring which can only
prompt one to commit deviant acts even within the home itself.” Unless and
until the energy and the risk-taking tendency of that particular age period are
diverted and used for constructive purposes, children are likely to turn to devi-
ant activities. In the special home, however, he is learning automobile repair-
ing, which is a training provided to all children in the home. Now he wishes to
say goodbye to deviant ways and stay with his Periappa and work in
his workshop.
The unravelling of Abhilash’s life validates the sociological theories

which hold that delinquency (and criminality) is behaviour learned and
acquired through interaction with others who participate in criminal life-
styles, implying that the difference between offenders and non-offenders
lies in their individual choices. Conversely, the biological theory on
hereditary holds that criminality in some families is genetically encoded
in those born into a family group, given that a ‘gene’ is theoretically
inherited and passed from generation to generation (West & Farrington,
1977). Mutual influences of family members on one another is premised
hence as a predictor for adolescent deviance, although a 100% correla-
tion between heredity and offence has not been identified for deviance.
Adolescent male siblings tend to imitate the anti-social behaviour of older
male siblings, or perhaps older siblings encourage younger ones to be
anti-social. However, the effect of a criminal parent on a child’s offending
behaviour is mediated by environmental mechanisms. The Pittsburgh
and Cambridge longitudinal studies show that the criminality of the
father, mother, brother or sister is a good predictor of delinquency in
boys. The most important factor remains the criminality of the father:
63% of boys with a father involved in criminal activity are at risk them-
selves of being involved in such activity. Many other studies have also
found that parental criminality increases the risk for violent offences
among children and adolescents (Baker & Mednick, 1984). Sampson
and Laub (1993) found that parental deviance leads to children having
deviant peers. It has also been demonstrated that the youth of anti-social
parents are at a greater risk of violence or delinquency than the adolescent
with the least anti-social parents (Eddy & Reid, 2002). Studies also prove
that parental substance use (drug, alcohol, cigarettes, etc.) results in a
host of behavioural, social, cognitive and self-esteem problems in their
offspring, particularly adolescents (Kandel, Rosenbaum, & Chen, 1994).
It is evident from the above case that parental deviance does have an
influence on the lives of children. They imitate and imbibe the values and
norms which they observe in those close to them. Although an intergen-
erational association/influence of deviance between Abhilash and his
father could be observed through their engagement with offences, it
would be premature to speak about it as an invariable cause since not all
children who have a deviant parent resort to such acts. Instead many
children may purposefully shed the path of deviance and lead a law-
abiding life.
The strength of the intergenerational transmission of offending in the
current study was weak, however, as only 96 (15.9%) of 605 children in
detention centres with a higher representation from Tamil Nadu
(25.7%), followed by Delhi (9.3%), reported to have a family member
involved in offences. Most of the children who affirmed in this regard
were involved in property cases. Among those children involved in
offences of rape and murder, 8.2% and 11.7%, respectively, reported
about generational transmission, i.e., the involvement of one or other
family member in an offence. Similarly, a higher number of children
from special homes (22.2%) than from observation homes affirmed the
notion of parental criminality. The majority of these children (80 out of
96) were out of school at the time of apprehension and 42 were from
disrupted families i.e., from single-parent families, stepfamilies or chil-
dren living with non-parents or those on the street. It is premised from
the above that children who have a parent involved in offences are likely
to suffer multiple deprivations as seen above, i.e., the love and care, the
supervision and education into pro-social values, cognitive development
through education. Under such multiple deprivations, including the
lack of supervision and guidance from parents, children tend to move
away from law-abiding behaviour and engage in non-conforming behav-
iour. The reason for such engagement need not be hereditary, however,
as it is seen that only a very small number had a parent involved in

criminal activities. Accordingly, the current study does not fully support
the biological and hereditary explanations for juvenile offending.
However, the Cambridge study proves that boys with convicted fathers
were more likely to be convicted themselves than were boys with uncon-
victed fathers (West & Farrington, 1977). It is presumed that family
members have direct and mutual influences on one another. Younger
male siblings tend to imitate the anti-social behaviour of older male
siblings, or perhaps it is the case that older siblings encourage younger
ones to be anti-social. They conclude that the intergenerational trans-
mission of offending is part of a larger cycle of deprivation and anti-
social behaviour. In contrast to this, the current study infers that the
intrusion of environmental factors have an upper hand in making them
persons in conflict with law. It does not make a complete negation of
genetic reason, however, as in most occasions, it is genetics that deter-
mines his or her traits, values and attributes or with whom to associate.
Probably, it is these differences in the associations that either push or
pull them away from deviances.
The influence of genetic traits may be found more prominent with
respect to other parental deviances such as substance use—alcohol, drugs
and cigarettes. The narrative of the children in various detention centres
unravels that use of alcohol was quite pervasive among the male members
(62.2%) of the households; a significant number of them were fathers.
Similarly, 64% and 31.6% of the parents or any other member of the
families of children were addicts of tobacco products and various drugs,
respectively. In contrast, 49.3%, 40% and 10.5% of the children revealed
that they were habituated to taking alcohol, tobacco products and drugs
respectively. These figures in themselves explain a close association
between the deviance of parents and children. It proves the modelling
theory which premises that children generally model after their elders or
those immediate to them. From the above, it could be easily concluded
that these children who are in their formative years tend to imitate these
harmful habits, considering it to be a normative and role identity factor.
This influence might have had ultimately led to their association with
similar nature of peer group and subsequent deviant behaviours. The
Edinburgh Study of Youth Transitions and Crime (ESYTC) showed that
among 15-year-olds, having a parent who uses drugs doubled the risk
that they will do so too, confirms the findings of the current study.
Narrating how he became an alcoholic, Arul Das, a boy of 17 years who was
apprehended and sentenced to three years in a special home for killing his own
brother, states, “My father taught me to drink alcohol. If I am here today in the
special home it is because of him. He used to take me with him to the arrack
shop (local bar) as he wanted somebody’s help to reach home safely after
drinking.”
Arul lived with his elder brother, mother and father, who was an alcoholic
who never cared for the family. His father used to forcibly take money from his
mother and spend the whole day at the arrack shop. His elder brother worked
in a small company, earning around Rs. 500/- per day. The father usually took
Arul with him, who used to wait outside the shop watching him drinking and
listening to the different conversations between customers. At times, he wit-
nessed quarrels, the use of filthy language and even fights. It was his duty to lead
his father back home after heavy drinking. On one or two occasions when the
father was entirely drunk, he gave Arul a little alcohol for fun. Gradually, Arul
began to sit by his father and used to have a sip of what was left in the glass. He
soon began drinking from his father’s glass out of his sight, and gradually he
became addicted to alcohol. Most of the times he was left at home with his
father as his mother and eldest brother went out for their daily work.
During his visits to the arrack shop with his father he also became acquainted
with a number of people who came to the shop every day. He became familiar,
in particular, with four young people who were older than him. Later on, while
his father was drinking in the shop, he and the four friends used to have the
same drink in a corner outside the shop without anybody noticing. In order to
get money, they started stealing bicycles, mobiles and whatever they could get
hold of.
He studied up to the 5th grade and then dropped out due to their lack of
interest in education. Recalling his school years, he says, “It was really boring.
Some teachers came and read or told something that I did not understand.
Many times, there were no teachers also. In the first two years of my school life
I was quite regular. But from the third year I became irregular and remained
at home saying some lies.” Neither his parents nor his brother were bothered
about this as their main concern was on securing their own livelihoods.
After dropping out of school he spent his time with the four friends he made
at the arrack shop. They used to go for movies, have drinks together, take drugs
and tobacco. When they did not have money, they got involved in small thefts
flicking away different things from shops and streets and selling them for money
which they used for their bad habits. They were mainly involved in stealing
bicycles and mobiles. His mother and brother often scolded him for his offend-
ing behaviour and for not doing any work. Admitting 10–15 such deviant acts
he says, “I was apprehended for the offence only once, and that too by the public.
Later I was handed over to the police. I was produced before JJB and sent to the
observation home. After three days I was bailed out by my mother. Once I
reached home, my mother and brother scolded me for the deviant behaviour
and told me to keep away from such company & behaviour.” But he was angry
at such advices and scolding. He strongly felt that it was his brother who was
prompting his mother to scold him for not going to work and for his involve-
ment in deviant behaviours. This feeling turned him against his brother, result-
ing in frequent quarrels and fights with him on the same.
Narrating the incident that led him to the special home he says, “One day
when I came home in the evening and my mother scolded me a lot. It really
provoked me and I had every reason to believe my brother’s hand in the incident
giving room for a serious quarrel with him which ended up in a serious fight
with him. It was resolved temporally by the intervention of my mother but I
could not forgive him. So when he was asleep that night I took a stone from
outside and struck it on his head. He screamed and died on the spot. Hearing
the screams and cries of his brother and mother, people in the area came rushing
and tried to take him to the hospital but he succumbed to death by then.
Meanwhile I ran away from the place.” However, his mother informed the
police that it was Arul who killed him. Accordingly, they apprehended him
after two days while he was trying to board a bus to leave the city.
When he was apprehended, he confessed promptly of his involvement and
avoided harsher punishment from the police. He was produced before the JJB
within 24 hours and was detained at the observation home. After two months,
on proving him guilty of the offence he was convicted to three years in the special
home.
At the observation home Arul is being supported for the 10th grade as a
private candidate and he is also studying electrical wiring. Now he blames his
father for his present condition and feels sorry about what has happened. He
says, “My mother tells me now that my brother loved me immensely and was
really worried about my behaviour and wanted to get me out of the bad com-
pany. Besides, he had put Rs.10000/- as fixed deposit in my name to help me
settle into a normal life. Having heard about what my brother has done for me,
I feel sorry now and want to fulfil his wish and want to live with my mother
supporting her by undertaking some constructive work. I am sure that the elec-
trical wiring training received here will help me get a job outside and lead a
normal life like any other person.”
The life of Arul Das again confirms the influence of environmental

factors, either more broadly or with regard to the immediate surround-
ings, on the lives of children in conflict with the law. On many occasions
several harmful habits begin either on a fun note or without the intent to
do any harm to anyone. For children, however, it becomes either a way of
life or norm, as they perceive very little about prospective consequences.
In the life of Arul Das, his father seemed to have played a culpable role in
initiating him into alcoholism which lured him into the deviant group
and subsequent deviant acts.
The general backgrounds of these children who are habituated to sub-
stance use reveal that most of them were either out of school or had
studied up to primary school level and were outside the purview of nur-
turing and critical parenting, The data suggest that of the 63 children in
special homes, 31, 35 and 26 children, respectively, were users of alcohol,
cigarettes and drugs. Nevertheless, the frequency of their intake varied
extensively, with most resorting to occasional intakes. The average age of
their onset of alcohol consumption is reported to be around 14–15 years,
but there were a few who consumed alcohol before the age of 12 years.
Confirming the same, Dileep, one of the boys in special homes, states “I
have been taking alcohol from the age of 10.” Further, it was observed that
less than one-quarter of the children who were substance users were
studying at the time of their apprehension. A significant number of chil-
dren were living either on the streets or with non-relatives, depriving
them adequate parenting which generally included both critical and nur-
turing parenting.
It is thus inferred from the analysis that children who had parents with
deviant behaviours have a significant influence on the behaviour of their
children. Children, because of their immature development of cognitive
and socio-emotional faculties, are likely to model after the behaviours
they experience and observe without any review of the consequences of
his or her actions. It is also likely that they believe such behaviours as
normative and acceptable, since they find no punishment or correctional
measures for the behaviour of their elders. Studies prove that the presence
of even one member who has deviant behaviours of the above are likely
to lead many others into such habits due to peer influence.
However, the above explanations are not universal. Two siblings can
experience the same family context in very different ways. This indicates
that there is considerable diversity in child–social context relations. As a
consequence of their characteristics of individuality, children elicit dif-
ferential reactions in their parents, and these reactions provide the basis
of feedback to the child, that is, there is return stimulation which influ-
ences his or her further individual development. The bidirectional child–
parent relationships involved in these underscore the point that children
(and adolescents and adults) are producers of their own development and
that people’s relations to their contexts involve reciprocal exchanges
(Lerner, 1982). The parent shapes the child, but part of what determines
the way in which the parent does this is the nature of the child himself or
herself. Nevertheless, the influence of parental deviance cannot be
ignored. It may act as one among the many risk factors that contributes
to the deviant behaviour of children.
4.1.4 Family Disruption
The composition of families is another aspect of family life which is con-

sistently associated with deviance. Children who live in homes without
any parents or with only one parent or in which the marital relationships
has been disrupted by divorce or separation are more likely to display a
range of emotional and behavioural problems, including delinquency,
than children from two-parent families (Wells & Rankin, 1988). The
absence of one or both of the child’s parents is just one piece to the entire
family disruption or broken home idea. It can further result in economic
hardships, loss of affection, adequate supervision which is provided by
two parents and easier chance to develop relationships with peers who are
into risk behaviour. Thus, under the circumstances of family disruption,
children are denied not only a caring and protective family life, but also
the love and respect of one parent or both and may be without the
necessary example, discipline or affection which should go to further his
completion of personal and moral development. The association between

family disruption and deviance by children is strongly established by vari-
ous researchers. Walter Reckless focused on family as the most important
source of social control such that if children were lacking one parent they
were more likely to have complete freedom and participate in deviant
activities (Jensen, 2003). It is often thought of as being unsafe, unpre-
dictable and chaotic. The trauma theories, life course theories and selec-
tion theories which are used to explain the strong link between the two
suggest that the loss of a parent has a damaging effect on children most
commonly because of the effect on attachment to the parents, m ultiple
stressors associated with separation and because of pre-existing differ-
ences in family income or child rearing methods (Juby & Farrington, 2001).
The empirical data revealed that 41.5% of the children in detention
centres, with a distribution of 37.4% from Delhi, 62.5% from Kerala,
50% from Tamil Nadu and 19.6% from Odisha, were living in disrupted
families- families with single parent, divorced or separated parents, fami-
lies with step parent or children without parents but living with others
and children on the streets. Among the types of detention centres, special
homes represented a higher number of children from disrupted families,
with a figure of around 57.1%. The corresponding figures for observation
home and place of safety were only 40% and 22.2%, respectively.
Disaggregated data in relation to the nature of offences showed that
among those involved in serious crimes, 32% to 35% were from one or
other type of disrupted family. It refers to the transition occurring to the
Indian families in recent times due to the new development paradigm.
According to the census of India data (2011), nuclear families consti-
tuted 70% and single member households comprised about 11%.
Among the disrupted families, almost one-quarter (24.1%), with a
considerably higher representation from Tamil Nadu (50.5%), were liv-
ing with single parents either with father or mother. In the other states,
this varied between 11% and 27%. Among those in the special home,
17.4% were living with only a father or mother. Whereas, 25.2% and
11.1% of children each from observation home and place of safety hailed
from single-parent families. Literature is replete with ample references to
the association of family disruption, particularly single-parent families
and juvenile deviance. The absence of any one or both of the parents has
different impacts on the lives of children. A boy abandoned by his father

is deprived of a sense of personal security. According to Rolf Loeber,1 “A
close and intense relationship between a boy and his father prevents hos-
tility and inappropriate aggressiveness.” On the other hand, the exhibit of
inappropriate aggressiveness is an early indication of potential deviance
later on, particularly in boys. There are several reasons why fathers can be
expected to be particularly significant in the initiation and persistence of
offspring offending. For example, fathers are particularly likely to be
involved with sons who are at higher risk than daughters of delinquent
behaviour (Flouri & Buchanan, 2002).
Families of 18% of the children in detention centres were single-parent
households (mother only). The state of Tamil Nadu represented a higher
number (50.5%) of children living a single parent (mother), followed by
Delhi (26.6%). Among those involved in serious offences of murder and
rape, 9.2% and 10.1% each were living in a single-parent household.
Separation from her either by way of death or separation can lead to long-
lasting effects on the behaviour and the emotional development of chil-
dren. Similarly, having different caretakers during the early years can lead
to a loss of this sense of attachment for life. Further, adolescents from
single-parent families are more likely to use drugs (Wallace & Bachman,
1991) or engage in delinquent behaviour (Wells & Rankin, 1988). The
unstable family is often thought of as being unsafe, unpredictable
and chaotic.
10.2% of the children in our study had parents who were separated. It
is premised that juveniles start permissive life immediately after their par-
ents are separated from each other due to a variety of reasons. After
divorce parents have a different image and may find it difficult to main-
tain their parental role (Furstenberg, 1984). In addition, adults who are
absorbed in their own problems may be less affectionate and communi-
cate poorly with their children. Moreover, divorced or separated parents
sometimes may have lower levels of parent–child interactions than par-
ents in intact families, and may be more likely to engage in inept parent-
ing that consists of inconsistent and harsh punishment, less monitoring
and greater hostility towards children (Simons & Johnson, 1996). It
1
He is a Professor of Psychiatry, Psychology and Epidemiology at the Western Psychiatric Institute
in the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
would also have a considerable negative impact on the socialization pro-

cess. A proper socialization process played a crucial role in the develop-
ment of attitudes, values and beliefs of the children.
Migration and emigration could also contribute to family disruption
and single-parent families in a macro sense as children fail to receive the
appropriate level of care and protection of both parents. A migration
survey conducted in Kerala revealed that the state has 24 lakh emigrants
in 2014 who brought about Rs.71,000 crores as remittances (Zachariah
& Irudaya Rajan, 2015). In addition, there were 10.90 lakh internal
migrants, i.e., population migrated to other states. Another 2.5 million
have immigrated from other states to Kerala from states such as Orissa,
West Bengal, Assam, Bihar and Tamil Nadu, either leaving their families
and children in their native place or travelling with them. A good num-
ber (41.3%) of these migrants were Muslims, although they accounted
for only 26% of the state’s entire population (ibid.). The number of “Gulf
Wives”, i.e. married women living in Kerala whose husbands are emi-
grants living in other countries, is estimated to be about 1.2 million,
representing around 10% of the currently married women in the state.
However, among the Muslim population, as much as 22.9% of the mar-
ried women are “Gulf Wives” (Zachariah & Irudaya Rajan, 2007). The
left-behind wives of male migrants in the Gulf reported considerable
‘insecurity’ (32.6%), ‘loneliness’ (85.8%), ‘added responsibilities’
(86.7%) and ‘difficulties in bringing up children alone’ (38.6%)
(Zachariah & Irudaya Rajan, 2009). In houses where the mother is
absent, it is the girls who face a comparatively higher problem. From
puberty to marriage, keeping an eye on her daughter is an important
function of the mother. The absence of a mother could make it difficult
for the family to monitor the young adolescent girls. Studies have also
shown that migration of the father may affect the health and education
of children and may leave the children at a greater risk of drug abuse,
teenage pregnancy, psycho-social problems and violent behaviour. In
Kerala, a considerable number of children involved in offences were liv-
ing with their single parent, many of whom had migrated to Gulf coun-
tries in search of better livelihoods, inferring that migration could have a
probable influence on the upbringing of their children (Table 4.3).
Table 4.3 Family disruptions

Family disruption Delhi Kerala Tamil Nadu Odisha Total
Living with both parents 114 12 142 86 354
32.2% 3.4% 40.1% 24.3% 100.0%
62.6% 37.5% 50.0% 80.4% 58.5%
Living with mother only 29 12 55 13 109
26.6% 11.0% 50.5% 11.9% 100.0%
15.9% 37.5% 19.4% 12.1% 18.0%
Father only 10 4 21 2 37
27.0% 10.8% 56.8% 5.4% 100.0%
5.5% 12.5% 7.4% 1.9% 6.1%
Mother and stepfather 1 1 8 2 12
8.3% 8.3% 66.7% 16.7% 100.0%
0.5% 3.1% 2.8% 1.9% 2.0%
Father and stepmother 2 1 4 0 7
28.6% 14.3% 57.1% 0.0% 100.0%
1.1% 3.1% 1.4% 0.0% 1.2%
With relatives 10 0 35 3 48
20.8% 0.0% 72.9% 6.3% 100.0%
5.5% 0.0% 12.3% 2.8% 7.9%
With non-relatives 5 0 2 0 7
(friends, employers) 71.4% 0.0% 28.6% 0.0% 100.0%
2.7% 0.0% 0.7% 0.0% 1.2%
Living with friends in the 11 2 17 1 31
street 35.5% 6.5% 54.8% 3.2% 100.0%
6.0% 6.3% 6.0% 0.9% 5.1%
Total 182 32 284 107 605
30.1% 5.3% 46.9% 17.7% 100.0%
100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
Children who live in homes with only one parent, or in which the
marital relationships have been disrupted by divorce or separation, are
more likely to display a range of behavioural problems, including devi-
ance, than children who are from two-parent families (Thornberry,
Smith, Rivera, Huizinga, & Stouthamer-Loeber, 1999). Further, after
separation or divorce parents are likely to become more aggressive because
of the emotional and mental stress stemmed from the breakup of family.
Accordingly, children who observe and grow in such conditions are likely
to imitate the same as an acceptable means of achieving a goal that will
ultimately lead them to drift into anti-social behaviours and offences.
This proves the social learning theory which argues that “aggressive
behaviour is learned; as parents display aggressive behaviour, children

learn to imitate it as an acceptable means of achieving goals” (Wright &
Wright, 1994).
Children who live in homes with only one parent or in which the
marital relationships have been disrupted by divorce or separation are
more likely to display a range of behavioural problems, including devi-
ance, than children from two-parent families (Thornberry et al., 1999).
Further, parents after separation or divorce is likely to become more
aggressive due to the emotional and mental stress stemming from the
break-up of the family. Accordingly, children who observe and grow in
such conditions are likely to imitate the same as an acceptable means of
achieving goal which ultimately lead them to drift them into anti-social
behaviours and offences. It proves the social learning theory that argues
‘aggressive behaviour is learned; as parents display aggressive behaviour,
children learn to imitate it as an acceptable means of achieving goals’
(Wright & Wright, 1994).
Although the figures may not be instrumental in proving that single-
parent families produce a higher number of delinquents, the findings are,
to some extent, in line with the earlier findings of the research which
states that single-parent families may produce a higher proportion of
deviant children than two-parent families (Wright & Wright, 1994). In a
family, the father is expected to play the role of the critical parent whereas
the nurturing role is more often played by the mother. A child grows as a
true citizen and a human being when both these roles complement each
other adequately and in the best possible manner. Similarly, the absence
of their mother may deprive the children of the nurturing parenting ele-
ments such as motherly care, love and attention. Wright and Wright
(1994) comment that two-parent households provide increased supervi-
sion and surveillance of persons and property, while single parenthood
increases the likelihood of deviance and victimization, simply by the fact
that there is one less person to supervise adolescent behaviour.
Pramod’s life is a living example of how children can drift to deviance and
offending behaviour due to family disruptions and broken homes. Speaking in
a feeble voice he says, ‘I was left to myself when I was 13 years old as both my
parents had expired by that time. I lived with my two elder brothers who
c oncentrated only on their work and lives. Absence of parents and a strong bond
between three of us darkened my life.’
From these words of Pramod a boy of 16 years, one could imagine what
would have been the result when a child of 13 years is left to fend for himself in
life. He hailed from a poor family in one of the slums in Delhi. His mother died
of a heart attack and father, a security guard died later of tuberculosis. After his
father’s death, he was living with his two elder brothers who worked as drivers
and they lived on the income earned by the two brothers. However, a good por-
tion of the income was spent on alcohol and tobacco as both the brothers were
addicted to these bad habits. Pramod recalls, ‘with my father’s death, I discon-
tinued my studies and became friends with a group of boys in the slum who
were involved in all types of vices. I became a member of their gang which
ultimately led me to the observation home.’
Pramod had studied up to 8th grade and dropped out after his father’s death.
His brothers never bothered about him. Recalling his school years he cites, ‘I was
not good in studies. I used to fail in many subjects. Yet I was regular in school
and never had any problem with either teachers or school mates. It was the
friendship in the school that attracted me to the school.’ Asked about the classes
and other facilities, he was silent and unwilling to speak. But his continued
failure in many subjects was gradually showing him the way out of school. The
death of his father accelerated it as there was no one to motivate or supervise
him after that. Thus by the end of his 8th grade he put an end to his educational
aspirations.
After dropping out, he spent his time with the gang whom he had already
befriended. Most of them were in the same age group and had certain common
characteristics such as drop outs, addictions to various vices, experiences of
deprivations in family and multiple vulnerabilities. The situation that existed
in the slum pushed them into such offensive behaviour and they gradually
began petty offences like shoplifting but were never apprehended. Commenting
on the shopliftings he says, ‘we do not pre-plan to steal or commit an offence.
Rather if we get the right opportunity, we spontaneously do it without thinking
anything about the consequences. Usually the three of us roam around in the
city the whole day and on the way if we spot a chance to take something either
from any shop or person or house we grab it.’
It was one such instance of stealing that led us to the observation home.
Describing the incident that led to their apprehension he says, ‘one night the
three of us were roaming in the city at around 1am. On the way we noticed an
open window in a house. We had a look through the window and found 2–3
gas cylinders near to the open window. We then tried to break open the window
and take the gas cylinders. While we were attempting to break open, the owner
of the house who was inside the house came and caught us trying to enter. He
then called a few others and within a few minutes, the three of us were sur-
rounded by people who beat us badly and then informed the police who took us
to the police station.’
In the hands of the police they were beaten up and abused. Being early morn-
ing they were kept in the police lock-up and later produced before one of the JJB
members who detained them at the observation home. His account of the home
includes that they were provided with some recreation facilities like cricket,
football, caroms, and chess; vocational training under the auspices of an orga-
nization; services of a counsellor; opportunities for education through NIOS
etc. However the sad part of the home is though the time table of the observation
home contains all the above mentioned activities and more like yoga and medi-
cal check-ups many children keep themselves away from all these and do what
they wish. Accordingly, many idle away their time. The quality of the counsel-
ling services were also at stake as very few went for counselling and even those
who went for it, did not report anything positive about it. Compulsory and
mandatory adherence to the timetable and the activities is essential to inculcate
in the children the importance of a disciplined life to which they are not accus-
tomed. Similarly, one of the essential ingredients for rehabilitation and restora-
tion of these children is their behaviour modification. However, the home did
not provide any opportunities for the same. In short, the rehabilitation and
restoration of the children was not scientifically and systematically implemented
in the home which paved the way for the recidivism of many children.
Pramod’s life thus self-explicates a compound effect of family disrup-

tion, the absence of parental involvement and an absence of familial
bonding which drew him into joining a criminal gang.
Similar to Pramod’s life, the study showed that 14.2% of the children
were not living with their parents at the time of their apprehension.
Instead, they were residing either on the street (5.1%) or with relatives
(7.9%) or with non-relatives (1.2%). The state of Tamil Nadu reported
the highest proportion of children who were not residing with their par-
ents, followed by Delhi. The analysis also proved that comparatively a
significant number of children in special homes (31.8%) were not living
with their parents at the time of their apprehension. The corresponding
figures in observation homes and places of safety were only 12.3% and
11.1%, respectively, indicating a close association between absence or
disruption in a family and the involvement of children in deviance and

risk behaviour. In the absence of both parents, children are left to fend for
themselves which have a high risk of associating with peers who are into
criminal activities. In the absence of the primary socializing agency, i.e.,
the family, their peer group becomes their substitute family. In several
cases, the absence of parents risked them to a street life which exposed
and lured them to various vulnerabilities and abuses.
Transition in family due to remarriages is yet another disruption that
may give rise to the anti-social behaviour of children. Study findings
highlight that 19.3% of the children in various detention centres had a
parent who had remarried. However, those living with their stepfather or
mother were only 3.2%, indicating that the rest left their homes to live
with other relatives or friends, suggesting that there was an adjustment
problem. Remarriage affects the parent–child relationship in many differ-
ent ways. The stepparent has the responsibility to build a nurturing rela-
tionship with the child. Nonetheless, the study showed that in the
majority of cases the child felt rejected by the stepparent. This led to a
conflict between them which forced the children leave their home.
Murukesh was living with his parents in a colony in one of the southern dis-
tricts of Kerala, South India. His father’s alcoholism and subsequent quarrels
was a routine in the family. But the real blow came when his father came to
know about his mother’s extramarital relationship which led to the separation
of his parents. His stepfather was also an alcoholic leading to frequent quarrels
and fights at home. Speaking on this Murukesh says, ‘quarrels and fights were
not new to me as I have been witnessing from my early days. When I used to see
my step father beating my mother, I used to also beat him.’ These are the words
of Murukesh a boy serving at the observation home for stealing money and food.
His narration reveals his neglected childhood due to family disruptions and
parental deviance that ultimately made him a deviant.
A sober faced boy of 14 years, Murukesh was the only child of his Tamil
parents and lived in one of the villages in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu (South
India). His father was engaged in multiple work and mother worked as a street
hawker selling household articles. His father, an alcoholic cared very little about
the family and came home drunk every day and quarrelled with his mother
which mostly ended up in severe beatings. According to him, it was the mother
who managed the entire household. Murukesh was sent to school when he was
five years old and continued for two years. However, when he turned seven, they
migrated to Kerala which marked the end of his education. In Kerala they
initially lived on the streets but later as part of the urban development scheme
they were given a small place to live in one of the colonies in the city which was
in fact a place for all kinds of people. People involved in illicit drug sale, pick
pocketing, gangs. His father managed to put up a stove repairing shop in the
purampoke (street) and his mother continued her street hawker business. In
Kerala, he was not sent to school by his parents and instead taken to work at his
father’s stove repairing shop.
It indicates that Murukesh has grown up witnessing fights, quarrels and
disruptions in his family which might have had an enduring effect on his life.
It is seen that he was a victim of multiple victimization and deprivations. It
was probably these deprivations and vulnerabilities that lured him to the acts
of deviance.
One day Murukesh, along with his cousin, went to watch a movie. After the
film they were returning from the theatre and were hungry. They found a shop
in an isolated place, broke in and took about Rs.2000/-. After stealing the money
they were returning home when they saw a hotel. Being hungry they entered
through the backdoors without being noticed by anyone and took some food from
the kitchen and were trying to get out through the same door when they were
caught by the workers in the hotel who then beat them up. Later, on checking
their pockets they found the stolen money with them and on questioning learnt
about the theft. The police was then called by the shopowner, who produced them
before one of the JJB members and later shifted to the observation home.
For him and his cousin this was their first involvement in an offence. Their
gestures and words revealed a feeling of guilt about the act and their parents on
hearing about their sons’ involvement in offences seemed to have scolded them.
Their expressions also confirm that they were not aware of the consequences of
the act.
For over two weeks he has been in the observation home along with his
cousin. He speaks of his life at the observation home: ‘We are locked up; we get
up for breakfast, have our food, watch TV and the rest of the time sit idle.’ ‘As
an activity there is nothing in the home. We are provided with a newspaper to
read and there are no recreation facilities. The caretakers look at us with suspi-
cion but are considerate towards us and allow us to call our parents.
On his future he says. ‘When I am released from the observation home I will
move to my native village in Coimbatore, live with my father helping him in
the wood cutting work. All my relatives are there and I want to live there
instead of living in isolation over here.’
For children, family instability may mean the loss of contact with one
parent, changes in the home and care environments resulting from con-
strained financial resources, and an increase in parental stress and depres-
sion from lack of social support. Family instability, partly as the result of
parental depression, increases children’s anxiety and depressive behav-
iours. Children’s behaviour is moderated by their mothers’ sensitivity—
supportiveness, respect for autonomy and lack of hostility—and the
quality of the home environment. In sum, the changing role of families
and family instability has a negative influence on children’s socio-
emotional development and behaviour.
In this regard, Gorman-Smith, Tolan, Loeber, and Henry (1998)
observe families with marital instability as fertile grounds for dysfunc-
tional norms. They observe that when marital instabilities exist within a
family, the observable outcomes are seen through children. These marital
instabilities include: stress, estrangement, fighting of parents, coldness,
and unhealthy boundaries. In his social learning theory, Albert Bandura,
an eminent psychologist, posits that an environment surrounded by a
culture of conflicts, decay and insufficient social organization is a major
source of deviance among children. Juveniles who observe aggressive
models will later become aggressive (Bandura, 1986).
However, the broken home or disruption theory, which argues that
single parents have children who are at an increased risk of being involved
in criminal behaviour, is contested. Research studies prove that if broken
families or reconstituted families provide attachment and supervision, it
can result in a lower level of deviance. More important than the struc-
ture of the family, it is the healthy, lasting, supportive and strong rela-
tionship which plays the biggest role in reducing deviant behaviour
rather than just the sheer number of relationships. To be more precise,
parental supervision, parental concern and parental discipline played a
particularly important role in the single-parent family, in shaping the
children’s character and behaviour which might stimulate or inhibit
future law violation. The correlation of broken family with deviance
might change, if the parent of the broken family showed adequate paren-
tal supervision, adequate parental concern and consistency in parental
discipline.
4.2 School Factors

Next to the family, school has the greatest influence on the life of chil-
dren, as they spent a great deal of their time—six to seven hours per day,
five to six days a week—in the school. But for the children who have no
strong bond with parents and who have not been taught pro-social val-
ues, school is a difficult experience. Participation and performance in
school does not stand in isolation from children’s other socializing agents.
Family and school are two primary stakeholders in a continuum which
educates and shapes children as responsible and law-abiding citizens of
society. Hence, a child who experiences neglect, stress and strain in the
family are likely to experience rejection in school either as underachiev-
ers, low performers or even as a dropout, indicating a failure to attain the
development specific to his adolescent age as proposed by various psy-
chologists Erikson, Freud, Piaget. It results in strain and conflict, which
may lead to their embracement of deviant ways of behaviour. The nega-
tive family experiences also tend to make them aggressive and hostile and
are likely to be rejected and marginalized by emotionally attached chil-
dren. As a result, they seek compatible company elsewhere, in a group to
which they feel they belong. By contrast, if the school experience is happy
and positive, children have better chances to becoming self-confident and
emotionally secure persons. There is no doubt that schools can play a
positive role in children’s lives and safeguard them against deviance.
Schools are expected to educate children not only in the ‘3 Rs’, but also
life skills. There is very little emphasis on developing analytical, practical
or life skills. This ultimately results in several issues, such as the low
achievement rate, high dropout and high repetition rates, resulting in
their disengagement from school. Children who dislike school and teach-
ers, do not become involved in school activities, are not committed to
educational pursuits and are more likely than others to engage in delin-
quent behaviour. Further, schools often fail in motivating, inspiring and
instilling them to the social and moral values and in attracting and retain-
ing them at the schools. It ultimately makes them drop out from school,
showing them the pathway to affiliation to deviant peer groups and
activities.
4.2.1 Truancy and Deviance and Offences
Truancy is considered the first step into deviance as children who are tru-
ants are likely to engage in anti-social behaviour and later move on to
criminal activities. The empirical data revealed that of the 605 children
interviewed, only 166 (27.4%) children with a distribution of 43 out of
182 from Delhi, 22 out of 32 from Kerala, 38 out of 107 from Odisha
and 63 out of 284 for Tamil Nadu, were studying at the time of their
apprehension. The rest, with a distribution of 16.4% and 56.2% each,
were either out of formal education or had dropped out at certain point
of time of their education for one reason or the other. The statistics high-
lights that the state of Kerala had comparatively higher numbers of chil-
dren studying at the time of apprehension. Disaggregated data show that
the numbers of children who were studying at the time of their apprehen-
sion varied between 22% in places of safety to 30% in special homes.
However, it must be mentioned, among those who were studying at the
time of apprehension, 20.7% were irregular in school indicating a prob-
able dropout in future.
Correlation with the nature of offences also indicated that those who
were out of school at the time of apprehension varied between 50% and
60% in offences related to property and person. Being out of school,
therefore, was found to be quite pervasive among the children in conflict
with law. It partially proves the assumption that children in conflict with
law are underachievers and low performers at school. The major reasons
self-reported for their disengagement with school were “non-interest to
study,” “uninteresting classes,” “economic strain and other family
problems.”
It is learnt from the interactions with those who had dropped out, that
their disengagement or disinterest with school had resulted in their tru-
ancy at school which culminated in their dropping out at a later stage,
indicating that as long as schools and the nation at large fails to keep
them at school, they are likely to fallout and subsequently engage or
involve in deviant acts.
The truancy of children implicates failure from two sides: (a) a lack of
appropriate supervision from the side of the parents; and (b) on the part
of the school. Children who are unsupervised by parents generally e scalate
their irregularity in school which eventually pulls them out of school and
causes them to engage in activities with their peers. The dominant reason
cited for their irregularity included a lack of interest in their studies and
the lack of an inspiring learning environment. Farrington (1989) found
that youth with high truancy rates at ages 12–14 were more likely to
engage in violence as adolescents and adults; leaving school before the age
of 15 was also a predictor of later violence. Truancy may be the beginning
of a lifetime of problems for students who routinely skip school. These
students fall behind in their schoolwork and eventually drop out of
school. A report compiled by the Los Angeles County Office of Education
on the factors contributing to juvenile delinquency concluded that
chronic absenteeism is the most powerful predictor of deviant behaviour.
Such students are at a higher risk of being drawn into behaviour involv-
ing drugs, alcohol or violence. A California deputy assistant attorney who
handles truancy cases stated that he has ‘never seen a gang member who
wasn’t a truant first’.
The Right to Education Act 2009 has made free and compulsory edu-
cation a fundamental right to all children up to 14 years of age. The sec-
ondary data show that like many in the current study, significant numbers
of children are out of school even at a time when the statistics show high
enrolment rates. As per the DISE statistics, the overall dropout rate at
elementary level in 2012–13 was 4.17, with a distribution of 4.67 at the
primary and 3.13 at the upper primary level. Enrolment, therefore, is
only the first step, retaining them at school is more important. It does not
happen automatically, but requires that school become relevant and
interesting. The disengagement or dropout from school indicate that
schools and teachers are required to become more relevant to the needs
and aspirations of children by adopting methods that make teaching-
learning more interesting and engaging.
4.2.2 Educational Performance and Delinquency
It is one thing to keep children in school; it is quite another to make them

learn and achieve educational goals. The self-reporting of the children,
however, showed that of those who were studying (166), an overwhelming
majority (95%) were underachievers, as reflected in their very low grades

(grades C, D and E). The same was reported by those who had dropped
out from the school at various stages of their educational career. It was
pervasive across the children in detention centres of various states under
study. The high dropout rate and underachievement poses a serious ques-
tion regarding the relevance of the current educational system in the
country. That is probably why Mr Marva Collins,2 a great educator, had
observed that ‘Kids don’t fail; teachers fail, school systems fail.’ It is worth
examining, then, how some groups of children are more likely than oth-
ers to ‘fall through the cracks’ in educational terms. Children, regardless
of their social class, begin school full of natural curiosity and ready to
learn. Instead of asking “What is wrong with the child?” it is worth ask-
ing “What is wrong with the school?
Studies have shown repeatedly that those who have low academic
achievement are more likely to become involved in delinquency
(Lawrence, 2007, pp. 136–137). Empirical study reaffirms this as
72.2% were out of school at the time of their apprehension and almost
100% of those pursuing studies achieved lower grades, indicating their
lower level of in education. It generally gets them tracked and marginal-
ized from children who are better achievers. Once identified as low
achievers, they generally become isolated from the company of other
students and begin to spend most of their day in the company of stu-
dents who share the same level of academic ability. They are likely to
experience greater failure, have an increased tendency to drop out of
school, are more likely to misbehave and commit deviant acts. By con-
trast, students in higher tracks are more likely to develop friendships
with students who share similar characteristics such as higher intelli-
gence, caste and class background, as well as goals for educational and
occupational success. Such a tracked system is also likely to lead to the
segregation of weaker students through grouping them on the back row
of the class, which may act as a source of frustration for students and the
2
Marva Delores Collins is an American educator who started Westside Preparatory School in the
impoverished in Chicago in 1975. She is known for applying classical education in particular the
Socratic Method, modified for use in primary schools, successfully with impoverished students.
reason for a lack of motivation. This can, in turn, lead to greater involve-
ment in delinquency. Low tracking can lead to rejection of the school as
an institution as well as a rejection of the values for which the school
stands. These might include various aspects of academic achievement:
developing written skills, being punctual, and so on (Cohen, 1955).
The rejection of school or a low attachment to school makes them pre-
disposed to deviant behaviour, including offences and gang recruitment
which satiates the general strain and social bonding theory of Cohen
and Hirschi.
Low achievement is not solely the result of deficiencies in the school;
rather, it has a compound effect of familial experience of the child, as
school is a continuum of care and protection of a child. By the age of
five or six, children who have been deprived of parental love and super-
vision are likely to become hostile and aggressive and therefore have
greater difficulty forming friendships with other children. This hostility
also undermines their school work and success. It is evident from the
profile of children in detention centres that almost all of them had a
neglected and non-supervised childhood which generally failed them to
get motivated and inspired to become or achieve something in life.
Illiteracy or low educational status of the parents further escalated the
neglect chances of their children’s low educational achievement and
subsequent deviance as they were handicapped to inspire or instil in
them a passion for learning. Such vulnerabilities of family and parents
often led the children to opt for the easiest option which often attracted
them to deviant groups and activities. Violence and poor bonding
within families aggravated this situation. Children who experienced
such multiple negligence or deprivations in life tend to carry these to
the school who are further tracked and isolated in the school by teach-
ers and other students, who are in a better emotional state because of
these very vulnerabilities. Ultimately, this leads to a combination of low
achievement and low aspirations. Subsequently, they begin to truant
and eventually drop out of school in their teens. Children and adoles-
cents who do not become engaged in school activities and who are not
committed wholeheartedly to educational pursuits are more likely than
others to engage in deviant behaviour.
4.2.3 Education System, School and Deviance
The success or failure of the education system relies on the extent to

which schools are able to retain them in school and inspire and motivate
them to learn. Many schools succeed in motivating them to learn and to
impart societal norms and values to them. However, not all schools are
successful in achieving these aims of education. Many schools even offer
substandard education because of a lack of well-qualified and trained
teachers, high levels of absenteeism among teachers, a lack of commit-
ment and dedication on their part, rapid teacher turnover, insufficient
teaching material or poor school infrastructure.
An analysis of the empirical data clearly points to the failure of schools
in retaining and keeping the children at school. As seen from the data,
some 60% of the children in the study had dropped out on the one hand
and as many as 12.2% had never even attended school. In the former
instance, a lack of engagement with the school has been cited as the major
reason reinforcing, to a great extent, the failure of the system in retaining
them in the school. In the latter, the state, in its parens patria role, has
failed to protect and support these children who could not afford to enjoy
his due like other children because of his or her vulnerabilities and depri-
vations. These figures shed light on the need for schools to become rele-
vant and interesting.
A school may become irrelevant to children if it does not correspond
to his or her educational aspiration or if it uses corporal punishment, or
when they face adjustment and conflict with other children or teachers or
when teaching-learning and school activities becomes uninspiring. Data
from the lives of these children show that the majority of these children
had difficult moments in their school life, either due to their familial
vulnerabilities directly or because of the effect of the same indirectly.
These excerpts from the life of Kabeer throw light on how school can, at
times, lead children to become deviant.
The excerpts from the life of Kabeer highlight how a school can at times lead
children to become deviant. ‘I didn’t like her as she always humiliated me and
so I killed her though unintentionally’, says Kabeer, a boy of 15 years.
Kabeer who hailed from an affluent Muslim family in Chennai now resides
in a special home for murdering his Hindi teacher, who was very strict in the
classroom and scolded him frequently for his poor performance. His father is a
customs agent, who earns almost Rs.15 lakhs per annum with houses in several
cities and his mother is a housewife. He lives with his parents and three sisters
in a five-roomed apartment which they own. Two of his sisters are married and
have now settled in Hyderabad and Malaysia. The third sister is working in a
private bank. Each one in the family had well-furnished individual rooms and
there was very little interaction between the members as each one was busy with
their world of internet, smart phones and social media. His father and sister
were always busy with their jobs and the family would never come together
either for prayers or meals. Kabeer enjoyed all material comforts, but failed to
receive adequate parenting in terms of parental involvement or supervision.
Being from an affluent family he rarely had any interaction with the children
outside who had comparatively lower economic standards. He lived in his world
of the internet. This disassociation with the world and family might have had
an influence in his later life, fuelling the aggressive side of his nature.
He was studying in the 10th grade in a reputed central school in Chennai at
the time of the incident. He was not a brilliant student, although he had never
actually failed any subjects. Hindi, the second language, was a difficult subject
for him and his dislike for the subject doubled as he also disliked the subject
teacher. The teacher was very strict, often scolding him for not doing well in the
subject. Most of her scolding was in front of the entire class. This humiliated
him immensely, which gradually developed an aversion in him not only towards
the subject but also towards the teacher and led to frequent conflicts between
them. It is quite evident from the interaction that the absence of a true friend
either in his family or in school or outside deprived him of the opportunity to
express his frustration. This resulted in the accumulation of the feelings of
revenge and hatred in him.
His involvement in offences was the result of the pent-up emotions of hatred
and revenge which emerged because of the scolding he had received from the
teacher. The last incident which occurred flared up his anger towards her as he
says: ‘The teacher had given a piece of homework to write a paragraph in Hindi
about a subject. But I did not do the homework as I could not and there was no
one to help me. The next day when the teacher asked about the homework, she
came to know that I had not done it. She then beat me mercilessly and scolded
me. At the end she remarked that she would fail me if I did not do homework
and study well. As all these things happened in front of the entire class, I was
really humiliated and it fuelled my anger towards her and I wanted to teach
her a lesson. Hence, I decided to threaten her the next day. Accordingly, I
brought with me a knife to the classroom. Even on that day she scolded me
again, it really angered and provoked me and I took the knife and stabbed her
in front of others in the class itself.’ ‘I only wanted to threaten her to avoid any
further scolding. But when she scolded again, I could not control my anger any
longer and stabbed her in an impulsive mood. She succumbed to death with
that stab. I did not want to kill her but it happened’, says Kabeer in anguish.
Based on information from the school, Kabeer was apprehended by the police
and detained at the observation home for a period of 45 days. The police did
not mishandle him, but instead treated him quite leniently. It is assumed that
the relatively high economic status of the family was an advantage to him, and
might have also resulted in his release on bail. Meanwhile, the trial was going
on and 12 months later he was found guilty of the offence and sentenced to
three years in a special home.
In the special home, he is currently preparing for his 10th grade examina-
tions. Speaking of his life at the special home he says, ‘The superintendent is very
supportive of all children. The home supports those who want to study and offers
vocational training in various trades like electrical wiring, computer training,
electrical wiring, motorcycle repair, drawing and tailoring. The superintendent
of the home is a psychologist and tries to assess our interest and support each one
individually. There is also a minimum level of recreational facilities at the
special home.’ On the whole, he had a positive opinion regarding the facilities
provided at the special home.
Regarding his future he says: ‘I want to continue my studies, take an MBA
and get employed in a reputed company.’
It is clear from Kabeer’s life that his detachment or his disassociation

from family members, schoolmates and with the community had a great
impact on his maturation into an aggressive boy. He had problems in man-
aging his anger. The scolding and humiliation by the teachers was only a
means that provoked his inner isolation. A lack of parental involvement
and the supervision and absence of a true bonding between family mem-
bers laid the foundation for his aggression and isolation. It later extended
to his life at school and community where he could not become adjusted
easily as the family had failed to give him the necessary emotional security.
It also explains how the school failed to implement a child protection
policy that would have trained all teachers to be sensitive and respectful
towards children and prevent their emotional, physical and sexual abuse.
The failure of teachers to understand children and treat them respectfully
and as equals has been identified as a grave reason for children’s failure in
class and their subsequent detachment from school. The narrative of
Kabeer shed light on the above and many of the children in detention
centres have similar stories to tell. Teachers fail to understand the vulner-
abilities and deprivations in which these children live and provide special
attention and care to them.
Corporal punishment, emotional abuse or humiliation may be one
factor that causes the children to be detached from school and learning.
Elicited data suggest that of the 531 children who had an experience of
formal schooling, 45.5% varying between 40% (Kerala & Odisha) and
47% (Delhi) across various states reported about physical punishment.
The figures showed little variance across various detention centres or
across the nature of offences. Contrastingly, a higher number of children
(51.6%) experienced humiliation or bullying at school, with Tamil Nadu
(56%), followed by Delhi (49.5%) and Odisha (48.6%), reporting the
highest levels. Kerala reported the least (34.4%) in this regard. Harsher
punishments and mental torture or humiliation, especially by way of
tracking or stigmatizing, tend to have a detrimental effect on the lives of
children, leading to their truancy and gradual fallout from educational
stream and subsequent entry into anti-social activities.
Other school factors which may contribute to an adolescent’s isolation
from school and their probable affinity to deviant acts include: maladjust-
ment at school; exclusion from classroom teaching & learning; poor rela-
tionships with the teachers and other students; or conflicts with either
teachers or students. The findings in this regard, however, did not show a
strong predictability in the sample as only between 6% and 14% were
found to have an adjustment problem. Nevertheless, conflicts among chil-
dren were quite high with 46.6%, but it requires to be viewed only in rela-
tion to part of their maturing years. Of themselves, these factors are unlikely
to push a child into deviant activities. But when these factors compound
with other vulnerabilities, it may prove to be a risk factor for deviance.
Schools must see themselves as part of the continuum of the care link-
ages to children. In a recent study carried out by Butterflies (July 2016)
we found that in schools where regular parent–teacher meetings took
place and where parents were fully engaged with the School Management
Committees (SMC), the retention percentage was high and so, were the
children’s learning levels. This lowered the barriers between parents and
the school administration. Poor parents with either primary-level school-
ing or no education felt empowered as SMC members and were able to
raise issues regarding school infrastructure, the learning levels of their
children and the need for children to get extra coaching in studies. Most
importantly, parents were able to share with the school administration
private information about their lives and the challenges they face on a
daily basis. This brought about a radical change in the attitude of the
teachers and school administration towards these children. More often
than not, the schools are alienated from the social realities of the children
they teach. It is a known fact that in most government schools, teachers
come from a better off socio-economic background from that of
their students.
The study makes clear that of the 531 children who had experience of
formal schooling, only 14.7%, with a distribution of less than 20%,
reported about the existence of Parent Teacher Associations (PTA) in
their school at their time of study. A few commented that although it
existed, the meetings were rare and too apart for it to be considered func-
tional. Children also mentioned that, for one reason or another, many of
their parents failed to attend the PTA meetings. The dominant reason
cited was that they could not afford to lose a day’s work as survival
depended very much on the income earned from their daily works.
Studies and literature show that children in the present day exhibit
multidimensional problems either specific to their developmental age, due
to the influence of overload of information and media, due to the familial
stress and strain or problems related to schools. Teachers who do not want
to deal with problematic children either ignore or exclude them from
classroom activities. This is where they go wrong; instead of addressing the
behavioural issues of the child, the school ignores the problem. Probably a
reassurance, support and guidance would have made things otherwise.
Therefore, more than ever before, today’s schools require trained counsel-
lors as part of their teaching faculty. School counsellors would be able to
support and make interventions at the appropriate time to improve their
self-regulatory mechanism and to prevent their drift to deviance.
Teachers could also engage in informal conversations with the stu-

dents to understand and find out about their inner world, their thoughts
and emotions, their problems and how they are faring. If a teacher
observes a conflict between a couple of individual students or between
two separate groups, the children could be encouraged to talk to each
other to resolve their conflicts. Creating an enabling environment where
children can discuss their problems and conflicts with each other and
resolve it, would go a long way to preventing children from dropping out
of school due to conflicts, aggressive behaviour and truancy. For the
teachers to be able to constructively intervene and address children’s
behavioural problems, they would need to be trained in basic communi-
cation and counselling skills. This would help not only in addressing the
problem, but also for the teacher to recognise that the child needs profes-
sional help.
The study showed a discouraging picture, however, as only 3% of the
children studying made any mention of the presence of counsellors in
their schools. The few elite schools that the researchers visited within
the geographical area had counsellors who were engaged in working
with children and parents to help the child to work through his or
her problems.
There is a tremendous emphasis on engaging teachers on a contract
basis as it costs less than having permanent employees. The available data
for the year 2009–10suggest that of the total teacher force, 40.9% were
employed on a contractual basis. The extended use of contract teachers
poses an issue of quality of education. Policies to upgrade and profession-
alize untrained contract teachers are therefore urgently needed if the pro-
vision of qualified teachers is to be assured for all. There has also been a
consistent increase in the level of teachers’ absenteeism. The all-India
percentage portrayed that in 2010 only 52% of the upper primary schools
and 63.4% of the primary schools reported the presence of all teachers.
According to the World Bank report, 25% of the primary teachers were
absent from any teaching responsibilities. Further, only 50% of the
teachers present were engaged in actual teaching. Absenteeism was found
to be comparatively higher in rural areas. Facilities such as toilets,
computers and playground in schools, particularly in rural areas, were
low on the ground.
4.2.4 Education and Culpability
Children’s involvement in offences cannot be viewed in the same manner

as that of adults since the intent and the nature of the former varies exten-
sively from the latter. The evidence from the study proves that more than
three-fifths of the children were out of school and most of those who
were in school prior to apprehension had poor academic achievements
with most securing below-average grades. Lower intellectual maturity
deficits in the “executive functions” of the brain, which are thought to be
associated with abstract reasoning and concept formation, as well as sus-
taining attention and concentration (Moffitt, 1993). Alternatively, it may
be expected that individuals with lower intelligence are more vulnerable
to engage in reactive-based offences, as they have a reduced capacity to
comprehend and communicate effectively, particularly to possible inter-
personal threats (Welte & Wieczorek, 1999).
Siva’s story narrates how his inability to understand the consequences of his
activities caused him to drift him into deviance acts through the influence of
others.
16-year-old Siva comes from a Hindu Dalit family. His family had migrated
to Chennai from a small village in Salem district in search of better livelihood
options and he was born and brought up in the city. His parents, who had never
attended school, were both working: his father is a rickshaw puller and his
mother a construction worker. Siva has two older sisters as siblings and had a
caring family life. Most of his needs were taken care of and he was studying in
a government school. When Siva was in the 9th grade, his father suffered a para-
lytic stroke and became unable to work. The parents decided to move back to
their village, but insisted that Siva stay with his aunt and continue his studies.
Siva was a bright student who did well in school; he was also a good
sportsperson. He represented his school in sports and painting competitions.
Recalling his years in school he says, “I had a good time in school. I had many
friends and had no problems either with teachers or class mates. I was regular
in my attendance in school, when my parents were here in Chennai.” When his
family returned to their village, however, there was an absence of parental
supervision and Siva felt unsupported since his aunt paid him little attention.
He befriended a motorcycle mechanic and spent more time with him. He slowly
began to play truant and spending time with the mechanic in his garage. In the
middle of the academic year, he dropped out of school and began to work in the
garage. For the next four years he worked at the garage, earning about Rs.3000
per month in addition to the tips from customers. Gradually, he started spend-
ing the nights at the garage and there came a point when he did not go back to
his aunt’s place. This brought him into contact with several other children who
lived on the streets and were involved in petty crimes. When in their company,
he got into the habit of consuming alcohol and drugs. Although he had lost
contact with his aunt, he kept contact with his parents and visited them
occasionally.
Siva used to frequent a mobile phone service centre to charge his mobile
phone. Hari, the shop’s owner, offered him a job at the same monthly salary he
received at the garage but the additional perk of free accommodation and meals.
Siva accepted the offer and he was given a room adjacent to the shop (which was
where Hari, the shopowner, lived). From this point, the narrative becomes
rather complicated. Hari, his employer, was in love with an unhappily married
woman . The two of them hatched a plan to kill the woman’s husband.
The employer wanted Siva’s help and so he gave him a sob story of the wom-
an’s unhappy married life and it took Hari a week to convince Siva to become
an accomplice to the murder. On the day of the murder, Hari and Siva drove
to a beach where they were to meet the woman and the unsuspecting husband.
Hari had borrowed a second bike from his friend and gave it to Siva to ride,
while he came on his own bike. The plan was to kill the husband and then for
Hari and the woman to ride away on his bike, while Siva disposed of the body
and rode back to his room on the borrowed bike. As planned, the husband was
stabbed to death by Hari. Siva disposed of the body and returned to his room.
On discovery of the body and the police investigations, Hari, Siva and the
woman were apprehended. Siva regrets the day he decided to stopped his studies.
Apart from Siva making a wrong choice about leaving school, it is unfortunate
that the aunt made no effort to find out his whereabouts, to supervise him, or,
for that matter, for the teachers not to have made any enquiries about his absen-
teeism in school and his declining performance in his studies. In this instance
there seems to have been a complete lack of concern regarding the welfare of the
adolescent.
Siva’s story highlights of how children are exploited or are lured by

adults to deviant acts. In this case, Siva was exploited by unscrupulous
adults. His adolescent immaturity in terms of cognitive development made
things worse for him as he could not foresee the ulterior motives of the
adult’s intentions or appreciate the consequences of his actions. He was

driven solely by the words of the owner rather than engaging his reasoning
faculties.
It is contrasting to note that while the nation pledges solemnly to pro-
vide free and compulsory education to all children under the age of 14
years, it fails to acknowledge the numbers of children who are out of
school or forced to leave school for economic reasons or because of the
unimaginative teaching that does not inspire children. Although the state
fails to acknowledge that had these children enjoyed the same benefit as
other children, their lives would have been different. It indicates that
prior to judging the child as a criminal, it is essential to look back and see
if they have received their due. In the case of these children, it is evident
that they were deprived of their due from the family and from school.
Under such circumstances, who should be held responsible for
their deviance?
Though family lays the foundation for the pro-social values and behav-
iours of children, schools have a vital role to play in the lives of children
as both these are spheres in the same continuum.
To quote Cohen (1955), “a teacher’s positive regard for the student
and experiences of early academic success can serve as protectors against
these risks.” Keeping the children in school is therefore the initial step to
protect them against the risk of deviance or conflict with law and proba-
bly more significant than school achievement or changes in psychological
measures. Simply participating in school could lead to changes in psy-
chological measures, interpersonal adjustment, academic performance
and vocational accomplishment. Lipsey (1992) concludes that “while
change in psychological variables and interpersonal adjustment does not
seem to be closely linked to change in… delinquency, it does seem to be
closely linked to change in… school participation which, in turn, is
linked to change in delinquency.” So it appears that increasing participa-
tion in school by young people is a key part of reducing their anti-social
and deviant behaviour.
Biological and neural experiments prove that although a normal ado-
lescent achieves cognitive development resembling the adult level by the
age of 16, his or her socio-emotional development continues to mature up
to the age of 25, implying that in the case of the above children who were
victims of deprivations are all the more prone to vulnerable situations and
risks because of their lesser development even at the cognitive level due to
the deprivation of education. It is likely that they were driven by rewards,
sensation, risk and less future orientation due to the lower level of devel-
opment of cognitive, socio-emotional faculties (Steinberg, 2004).
Examining the cases of serious offenders such as those involved in
murders, sexual violence and rape, it can be seen that the majority had
only a lower educational status implying also an undeveloped cognitive
status which impaired their ability to make logical decisions. It is there-
fore unfounded to assert that adolescents involved in serious offences
such as murder or rape have the same level of culpability as adults.
Researchers have also established clearly that sex offenders may have ten
times the percentage with IQ scores below 70 when compared to the
normal population (Guay, Ouimet, & Proulx, 2005). This confirms other
research which has indicated that sex offenders have lower IQs than non-
sex offenders (Cantor, Blanchard, Robichaud, & Christensen, 2005).
Research has also begun to examine the emotional intelligence of adoles-
cent sex offenders, with preliminary research indicating that this group
score higher on aggression and are less clear about their own feelings and
also that they have a reduced capacity to manage unpleasant moods
(Moriaty, Stough, Tidmarsh, Eger, & Dennison, 2001). Two large-scale
studies provided indications that the offence of murder is disproportion-
ately overrepresented among inmates with an intellectual disability
(Hayes & McIIwain, 1988). These researchers have also suggested that
those with a low IQ are more likely to commit other types of offences,
including against property and person such as assault, arson and theft-
related offence.
Thus, the cognitive handicap reduces their culpability and blamewor-
thiness, even if they have committed serious offences, and invites a lesser
punishment. This means that these children require an educational and
correctional punishment rather than the current form of incarceration
wherein there is every possibility of becoming recidivists as commented
by one of the probation officers, “they come as first time offenders but goes
out as prospective recidivists.”
The exclusion of more than three-fifths of the children out of school
seeks a genuine and serious look into factors that fails. Information from
a variety of sources tells us that schools neither attract nor succeed in

keeping them in school. The quality of the teaching-learning process, the
school environment, poor qualifications and the lack of teacher motiva-
tion are major challenges. Education, by its very nature, aims to give
children the freedom to be curious, imagine, learn new things, knowl-
edge and life skills. The disengagement of children from school indicate
that schools must become more “relevant” and that teachers must learn
to structure curriculum and pedagogy to make it more “interesting” and
“engaging” to those students at a risk of dropping out. The schools are
toxic to student learning and have a culture of low expectations, with
little emphasis on developing analytical, practical or life skills. Teachers
who lack abilities and skills tend to escape into more traditional form of
teaching instead of interacting with their pupils. Most subject matters are
taught in separate spheres, with no attempts made to introduce project-
based learning or subject integration. The connections between different
subjects, i.e., language, mathematics and science, are therefore not made
clear to the learners. This affects the understanding of learners and limits
their interest. The schools which these children attended did not have
school counsellors; the lack of counselling services in schools is a serious
inadequacy of the system.
Analyzing the cases of children in detention centres shows that the
failure to keep them in school by making school more relevant to their
cognitive capacity was a very significant contributory factor in their drift
into deviant and offending behaviour. It is likely that if they had been
supported and guided by the teachers or counsellors, the children would
not have dropped out of school or been drawn into risky behaviour. In
the case of those who were studying at the time of their apprehension,
probably individual care and appropriate interventions could have made
things better for the children.
4.3 Peer Influence

Children’s transition to adolescence is a time of unprecedented growth
and change on a number of levels: physical, cognitive and emotional.
John Lounsbury has aptly described this period as “The Wonder Years.”
Parents wonder if they will survive their child’s journey through puberty;
teachers wonder how to keep their students focused on learning; and
young adolescents themselves wonder if they are normal (www.learner.
org). During these years, the relationship with their peers is more impor-
tant than any others: parents, siblings and teachers. Peer affiliation is a
normal part of the growth process. But what is more important in this
regard is an adolescent’s choice of his or her friends. The wrong choice can
adversely affect his behaviour and future. Adolescents generally want to fit
in with the peer group. This is especially true of children who face strains
and challenges at home and school. They replace the lost relationships
with that of the peers. What generally happens in a deviant peer group is
that, if one in the group becomes a substance user or involved in aggres-
sive behaviour, others are more likely to follow this lead. An adolescent’s
overwhelming desire to fit in with a peer group and become accepted in
the group can cloud good judgement. Moreover, adolescents in a group
are more likely to act impulsively or on instinct when they are confronted
with stressful or emotional decisions, and are less likely to fully under-
stand the consequences of their actions. The risk behaviour of an adoles-
cent depends greatly upon whom he or she chooses as his or her friend.
The story of Sanjay, a boy residing in a special home in Odisha, self-explicates

how the erroneous choice of peers could disfigure the innocent faces of children.
A smart, handsome, altruistic and lovable 16 year-old-boy, Sanjay was at
the beck and call of everyone who needed help in the community. He was from
a middle-class nuclear family, consisting of his parents and two children, both
of whom were in education. His family survived on the income earned from a
mobile voucher shop run by his father and the family, particularly his father,
maintained a good relationship with people in the community. His self-account
demonstrates that theirs was a close-knit family as there was a strong familial
bond between parents and children. Sanjay would also occasionally assist his
father in the shop. Such visits earned him several friends from different age
groups. His father used to consume alcohol regularly with his friends, but was
not involved in any kind of quarrels or fights. Sanjay would often occasionally
consume alcohol in secret with his friends. He was quite afraid of his father
since he used to beat them for any kind of deviant behaviour.
Sanjay was an average student in school and the completed his matriculation
from one of the government schools. His schooldays were relatively uneventful
until the 9th grade in the sense that he was a regular attender in school; he had
a good relationship with his teachers and other school mates; and also took part
in several extra-curricular activities. Things took a different turn from the 9th
grade when he became acquainted with three friends who were involved in
various risk behaviours. According to Panjay, “They were involved in playing
Jua (a type of gambling), stealing and passing sexual comments on girls etc.
They also enjoyed the company of a few adult friends outside.” Although playing
Jua was only allowed during festival days of Gamba Purnima (in Odisha), his
friends used to play every evening after school. Sanjay watched them play, but
kept himself at a distance as he was afraid of his father. Gradually, he was lured
into the game: “Being with them those days, I could see how my friends made
easy money and was attracted to it. However, I was a little hesitant to start off
as my father’s face came into my mind often. Yet, one day when the adults were
absent, I played with them for fun (not for money) and I was able to win sev-
eral rounds of the game. It attracted me all the more to the game and I began
to play occasionally for money. Eventually I became a regular player. While
playing the game one day, I was caught by one of my neighbours who informed
my father. Angered at the instance, my father beat me severely. Somehow it did
not refrain me from playing. I continued to play the game in secrecy. I had no
cash to play the game in the beginning but friends gave it for me. Later, I was
forced to put cash for which I had to steal it from my parents and shop. I was
caught and punished several times. But nothing could deter me now as I was
fascinated by it”, affirms Sanjay.
In due course, they grew as a gang and they began to get involved in other
deviant activities such as stealing, watching pornographic videos and street
brawls. However, they were never apprehended. Sanjay was the youngest in the
group and during this time he continued to maintain a good relationship
among the people in the neighbourhood. Others in the group exploited him to
earn cash and he could not understand the same. On a couple of occasions, his
neighbours informed his father about Sanjay’s deviant behaviour and he used
to punish him, but to no effect. The last two years of his education at school thus
set the tone for his deviance. Since he maintained a good relationship with
teachers, students and community people, neither of them knew of his deviance
until apprehension.
Sanjay always maintained a good relationship with everyone in the neigh-
bourhood. These included Mr and Mrs Rath, a wealthy couple in their mid-
sixties, who lived on their own. Mr Rath was a retired professor and his wife a
retired teacher. They had two sons, both of whom worked as engineers in the
USA. Sanjay used to help them regularly, shopping for them, settling various
bills and accompanying them to various places. The couple treated him as if he
were their own son and gave him complete freedom. As time passed, their rela-
tionship grew and the professor made him gifts of cash and goods he brought
back from his travels overseas.
Sanjay would share all of these with his friends. As time went on, the group
hatched a plot against the family and they brainwashed Sanjay into seeing just
how easy it would be to get cash from the couple. They also urged him to steal
valuables from the home. However, at first his affection for the couple dissuaded
him from doing anything. The friends continued to prompt him, saying, “They
have enough and more by now and they won’t realize even if we take away
something from them. They are unlikely to report to the police too. Stealing from
them is therefore the easiest way to make money. You need not do anything
except to give us an entry to the house with an introduction as your friend. We
will do the rest.” Eventually, Sanjay agreed to their plan and he waited for an
appropriate occasion to carry out the theft.
In July 2014, when Mr Rath had to leave home to attend a conference, he
informed Sanjay about it and asked him to keep an eye on the family and to
help Mrs Rath while he was absent. This message was passed on to his friends,
who found it to be an ideal time to put their scheme into operation. They
decided that Sanjay was to enter the property first and was then to keep the door
open for the others.
At about 12 noon, Sanjay went to the professor’s house, where he found Mrs
Rath cooking lunch. He helped her to wash and cut the vegetables and engaged
her in conversation. Meanwhile, three of his friends entered the house and
began to steal things. Hearing noises coming from the bedroom, Mrs Rath went
to have a look and found three people collecting the couple’s valuables. She
began to scream and in a moment of panic, one of them held her mouth shut.
Meanwhile, another member grabbed his knife and stabbed her several times,
killing her. The gang then looted the house and rushed out.
When Mr Rath came home, he found the house unlocked. After a search, he
came across Mrs Rath, lying dead in a pool of her own blood. The police was
informed immediately. He tried to contact Sanjay but got no response as Sanjay
had switched his phone off. When the police arrived, Mr Rath narrated what
happened. The police tried to locate Sanjay, but could not find him. It strength-
ened their doubts regarding Sanjay and they kept a vigilant eye on his family.
One week later, Sanjay was apprehended from his house when he came back to
pick up his clothes He was kept in the police lock-up for two days for interroga-
tion. Initially, he tried to defend himself but due to the harsher methods of
questioning, disclosed what had happened. Based on the information gathered
from Sanjay, the investigation team tried to locate his friends. At the time of the
interview, however, none of them have been apprehended.
Sanjay was later produced before the JJB who, on finding him guilty, sent
him to the special home. At the special home, as in most of the cases, there were
few opportunities for the rehabilitation and restoration of children. Vocational,
educational, mental health and recreational facilities were all found to be inad-
equate in the special home. The non-mandatory schedule operated by the home
also made things worse.
Sanjay’s above narrative illustrates clearly how friends involved in devi-

ant behaviour could turn the life of an adolescent upside down. Through
his affiliation with his three school friends, he was lured into gambling
and in murdering a simple lady who depended on him and loved
him so much.
The study reveals that 58.8% in Delhi, 78.1% in Kerala, 61.6% in
Tamil Nadu and 58.9% in Odisha committed the offences in “groups”,
proving the hypothesis that involvement in deviances is frequently due to
peer pressure. A similar trend is seen across the four states; that 62% of
the children in special homes, observation homes and places of safety
reported having committed the offences in groups. Nevertheless, peer
influence is found to be comparatively lower with respect to rape cases
which again suggests that most of these offences may have actually been
instances of consensual sex between the girl and boy.
Peer influence causes one to feel and believe that there can be nothing
more important and exciting than belonging to a peer group. The fear of
isolation drives them to remain affiliated with the peer groups, even if
they indulge in a range of harmful activities. This is a phase during which
the adolescent is beginning to discover the world around and most of the
time he or she does it through a process of experimentation. If they lack
a support system to guide them in a positive manner, they end up engag-
ing in activities which they perceive as exciting without really under-
standing their potential implications.
It is evident from the above accounts that the friends one chooses to
associate with, determines, to a large extent, the child’s involvement in
risk behaviour. Friends do not make one bad or deviant. It is, however,
the choice of friends that is significant. The study shows that most of the
children (73.5%) had a very small number of friends; of this number,

5.8% reported that they had no true friends, while the rest reported
having between one and ten friends, of whom the majority had fewer
than five friends. The trend was fairly similar across all of the states in
the study. The absence or the lack of true friends often disadvantage one
to share the stress and strain in life and to get relief out of them. In the
case of these children, the lack of true friends undoubtedly incapaci-
tated them to face it. Those whom they generally found at this juncture
were mostly those who were victims of such a hard life and who had
negatively addressed those hard realities. The friends of these children
exhibited certain common features such as school dropouts, the experi-
ence of several vulnerabilities and deprivations and a lack of adequate
parenting. Many were addicted to alcoholism, drugs and indulged in
crimes. Any child who is marginalized will seek the company of other
marginalized youths; a child who is aggressive will self-select peers that
are similar to them; a child who uses alcohol and drugs will select those
who exhibit similar behaviour (Warr, 2002; Thornberry & Krohn,
2003). This reflects the basics of attachment and social learning theories
which consider that children, in their formative years, learn by internal-
izing the experiences and interactions they have with their immediate
environment and people around them. An enlarged friendship circle is
likely to bring them into contact with friends who are pro-social and
who can support preventing the drift towards deviant groups and sub-
sequent involvement in deviant behaviour. That is why Elliott (1994)
stated that “spending time with peers who disapprove of delinquent
behaviour may curb later violence. Besides, children who seek affiliation
to particular groups are driven either by emotions or by the immedi-
ate rewards.”
Thus, “factors such as peer delinquent behaviour, peer approval of
delinquent behaviour, attachment or allegiance to peers, time spent with
peers, and peer pressure for deviance have all been associated with ado-
lescent antisocial behaviour” (McCord, Widom, & Nancy, 2001, p. 80).
It is also clear that children hanging around in non-supervised public
places increases the likelihood of deviant behaviour. Osgood and
Anderson’s study revealed that unstructured socializing with peers, mea-
sured as the average amount of time adolescents spent with their peers in
an unstructured and unsupervised setting, has a significant effect on

delinquency. Generally speaking, it may be assumed that if adolescents
spend more time in public places this reflects a lifestyle in which they are
more often presented with opportunities to offend or to be victimized
(Wikstrom, 2006). At the same time, there is evidence that aggressive
children are likely to be rejected by their peers, leading to their isolation
from mainstream peer networks and their involvement in deviant peer
networks, which can have an impact on the onset of delinquency during
adolescence.
The study finds that although most of the children (87.6%) had peers
from their own age group (16–19 years) and who were either school/class
mates or colleagues at work, a substantial number (35.2%) had friends
who were much older than them (20–45 years). It is evident from the
data that the association of children with adults or people older than
them as seen in the data is likely to make them easily susceptible to
exploitation and offending acts. Adults who are aware that children, if
found guilty, will get only a maximum of three years’ punishment are
likely to use them for their own personal gains.
Shafiq was from one of the single-parent families in Tamil Nadu (South India).
His father, who was a construction worker, had deserted the family when Shafiq
was about ten years old and his present whereabouts are unknown. Shafiq was
also unsure about the reason for desertion, although he admits that his father
was an alcoholic and used to have frequent quarrels and fights with his mother
as she always complained that he did not care for the family. The family now
survives on the income derived from the mother’s work as a construction worker.
However, the friendship that he developed with a neighbour during his job in
a jewellery shop was devastating for him.
He had studied up to the 7th grade, when he had achieved 4th position in
the class. Recollecting his school years, Shafiq says, “I was regular at school and
had no complaints about either teachers or other students.” “Nevertheless”, he
continues, “I could not continue my studies due to economic strains in the fam-
ily. With the desertion by my father, I had to shoulder the responsibility of run-
ning the family as I was the single male sibling in the family. I discontinued my
studies after 7th grade and started working.”
Dropping out of school, he moved from his village to the nearby city in
search of a job. He found a job as a helper in a jewellery shop with the help of
a neighbour who was working as a mechanic in the same city. Finding the boy
to be loyal and hard-working, the owner was kind to him and provided with
him free boarding and lodging. However, in the same city there was a mechanic,
Saravanan (name and identity changed), who ran a workshop. This mechanic
was Shafiq’s only friend in the city as he was from his own native village. He
was much older than Shafiq and acted as his guardian in the city, meaning
that he used to depend on him for everything. However, Shafiq was unable to
continue working in the city as his mother had been left alone in the village.
After six months of work in the jewellery shop, therefore, he returned home and
found a job in the construction field alongside his mother. He worked there as
a helper, earning about Rs.200/- per day. Generally, the mother, who was
working in the same work site, also collected his wages, giving him part of it
back for his own personal use. Soon afterwards, he found the mechanic had
returned to the village and set up a workshop. The pair resumed their earlier
friendship as he was indebted to him for the assistance received during his stay
in the city. They used to meet every day after work and spent time together,
chatting and consuming alcohol. One evening, Saravanan told Shafiq that he
has to go for a marriage party of one of his friends in a nearby village; he asked
Shafiq to join him. Shafiq tried to decline the request as he had not been
invited for the marriage. Nevertheless, when Saravanan compelled him, he
agreed to accompany him on condition that he would remain outside the house.
Thereafter, they went to the marriage on a two-wheeler. When they reached
the house, Saravanan went inside while Shafiq remained at the gate of the
building. Observing the surroundings of the home, he states “It did not look like
a marriage home at all as there was nothing to mark the occasion of a marriage.
But I did not ask him about it as it did not matter to me much. Moreover to my
surprise, Saravanan came back from the house very fast (approximately after
about 10 minutes) and said, we shall go and shall not participate in the mar-
riage.” Shafiq did not understand what had happened inside the house or why
Saravanan was not participating. He tried to ask him about it, but Saravanan
grew angry at the questioning. Hence, he did not ask anything further. By the
time they returned to the village, news spread that the person who they had gone
to meet has been murdered. By this time Shafiq had become suspicious. However,
he was afraid to speak about it to anyone. Meanwhile, Saravanan’s wife, who
knew about the incident, told Shafiq, “It is better to surrender to the police
because you are one of the last persons who had gone to meet him. If you do not
surrender yourself, they will for sure apprehend you and will beat you harshly
while questioning and will charge you with the murder.” She also convinced
him that Saravanan was also going to surrender and he will take him to the
station if he wants. Believing Saravanan’s words, he agreed and was taken to the
police station by him. When they got to the station, it was Saravanan who did
all the talking. Shafiq was then called in and put in the lock-up, although the
police did not question him about the incident. He then realized that Mr
Saravanan, who had some connections within the police station, may have plot-
ted a story against him and paid them for changing the murder case against
him. The police, however, made the FIR against Shafiq under section 302. By
the time his mother had enlightened him about the connections between
Saravanan and the police, he had been labelled as a murderer and detained at
the observation home. But he swears with all simplicity and tears in his eyes, “I
have not and cannot kill a person. It is true that I accompanied but I never
knew that he was going to kill that person. Now I feel angry at every one as the
one I trusted the most cheated me and spoiled my life.” He was quite unsure
about the relationship between Saravanan and the victim or the reason for the
murder.
Speaking of his traumatic experience with the police he says, “I was locked
up in the police station for two days and was beaten up badly as I did not accept
the charge laid on me. I did not kill anyone. Then why should I accept the
allegation. The police who is assumed to have taken a bribe from Saravanan,
made me accept the charge through their brutal acts of physical, mental and
emotional maltreatment.” He continues: “Later (after two days) I was pro-
duced before the Juvenile Justice Board and was ordered to be detained in the
observation home.” No probation officer came to take a statement from him.
His mother grieves at the detention and is trying to get him out on bail.
In the observation home, he lives with another thirty children in a dormitory
hall, locked up behind two iron gates. Their world is the dormitory, where they
dine, sleep and spend their entire day and night together. Although in the time-
table there is time set apart for education, vocational training and recreation,
etc., in practice nothing exists. They have their meals in accordance with the
timetable and the rest of their time is spent chatting, playing indoor games or
sleeping.
Adolescents are also exploited by their own parents and relatives, who will
often push them into deviant behaviour. The story of Nandita offers a classic
example of how her own mother used her for her selfish motives. A softly spoken
14-year-old girl Kumari Nandita, remarks that: “It is my mother who is
responsible for my fate as she instigated me to steal valuables from the house of
a rich person where I was living with my grandparents.”
Nandita is from a poor family in one of the rural villages in Tamil Nadu.
She has a younger brother, who is studying in the 6th grade. Her parents were
working in a poultry farm, earning around Rs.10000/- per month between

them. Her mother earns additional income by selling eggs. The father was an
alcoholic and a major part of his income was spent on drink. Since the poultry
farm was managed solely by her parents, the children were left to fend for them-
selves for majority of the time.
The children went to work with their grandparents, who lived in a house on
the outskirts of the city. The grandfather was working in a quarry of one of the
municipal counsellors. He was living with his family within the house of the
municipal councillor. Nandita and her brother were also allowed to stay with
them on his request. “The wife of the counsellor was lovable and kind to grand-
parents and us. She used to give us chocolates, clothes and food. In return, I used
to help her cooking, cleaning the house or assisting in other household chores”,
says Nandita. She gained the love, trust and support of the municipal councillor
and his wife, who also gave her complete freedom within their bungalow, treat-
ing her like a member of the family. Nandita’s parents rarely inquired about
them: “Father never came to meet us. Mother used to visit occasionally but would
go away very fast. We rarely had any meaningful sharing or communication.”
She was in her 8th grade at the time of her arrest. Although not a particu-
larly good student, Nandita was regular in her attendance at school. “The
teachers never showed any interest in me as I was poor in studies. They always
attended to children who are good in studies. This made education disinterest-
ing to me. Yet under compulsion from my grandparents and particularly the
wife of the municipal counsellor I continued my studies. Had it not been for the
advice or insistence of the counsellor’s wife, I would have dropped out from
school long time back”, she recalls.
She knew the places where valuables, jewellery and cash were kept, but the
concern and love shown to her grandparents and family kept her loyal to them.
However, her mother, an occasional guest to the grandparents, persuaded
Nandita to steal valuables from the bungalow. Whenever such a proposal was
made to her, however, she refused. Yet when her mother’s nagging became
unbearable, she agreed to do it. She then began to take gold from the shelf in
instalments which eventually accumulated to approximately 60 sovereigns. As
Nandita knew where the key of the shelf was kept, it proved easy for her to take
the gold. One day, when the councillor’s wife opened the locker to wear some
jewellery to attend a function, she found them missing and she told her husband
what had happened. He promptly lodged a complaint at the police station and,
as an influential politician in the area, the police investigated the matter with
considerable thoroughness. Clues proved that it was done by someone who was
familiar with the bungalow and the inquiry turned to the people working in
the house. Nandita, a minor, was also called for interrogation. Fearing the
police, she confessed about the incident at the very first opportunity. She then
gave a complete account of the events. The mother was also arrested by the police
on learning about her involvement. The gold was recovered from the woman
and handed back to the councillor. Nandita was later produced before the JJB
and sent to the observation home. She has been there for the past month and her
mother has been sent to the adult prison.
As a girl of 14 years, the police seemed to have treated her relatively kindly.
As Nandita comments, “They were not harsh to me, they neither beat nor use
any filthy language against me. I was shivering in front of the police and con-
fessed about the involvement without much questioning.” Speaking about her
life at the observation home, she says, “There are only two of us here and we
have nothing to do. We have our meals on time. Rest of the time we either sleep
or sit idle or chat.” It is evident from this case that the very same people who are
supposed to nurture and protect also exploit the innocence and immaturity of
children for their own self-interest.
The stories of Nandita and Shafiq again pose the question of who
should be held culpable for offences committed by children. As seen in
these cases, the adults, including the family members, often exploit chil-
dren for their own ends. However, when apprehended, the public and the
media make every possible effort to place the blame on children, hiding
the fact that “they are so because of others”. It is clear from the cases of both
Shafiq and Nandita that neither of them had completed their elementary
schooling; that they were victims of family disruption; and that they
depended on others’ instructions and believed and acted upon others’
suggestions without realizing the consequences of their actions. The
nexus between the real culprits and the law enforcement officials also fails
the children.
The above only proves that children do not turn to offences on their
own initiative; rather, it is the presence of negative role models, the
neglect experienced, and the abuse meted out by them in the family or
society, which lure them into committing deviant acts. While the former
case was a false allegation with the real culprit not being arrested, the lat-
ter was the instigation by her mother that made her an offender. These are
not isolated instances, but indicate a pattern of children being influenced
by older role models.
The adolescent period is marked by changes in one’s body and hor-

mones; it is a time when young people become sexually active and drift
in and out of romantic relationships. Their interest in the opposite sex is
a strong influence during adolescence. During this period, for teenagers
of both sexes, the early and intense engagement in romantic relationships
normally indicates their need for identity and status. They may experi-
ment with, or consider, a wide range of sexual orientations or behaviours
before feeling comfortable with their body and sexual feelings. The
empirical findings show that while all boys had friends among their own
gender, for a significant number of others (20.4%) it expanded to include
girls. Most reported that their relationship resulted in sexual experimen-
tation. In a significant number of the cases in our study, this was with the
knowledge and consent of the partner. However, in some cases it was
without consent.
Analysis of the cases of children involved in either rape or sexual harass-
ment highlights that many of the reported rape cases were in fact acts of
consensual sex, and that the boys were apprehended and detained based
on the complaints lodged by the parents or relatives of the girls. In several
other cases, it was the result of false accusations. In the school system,
education on sex and sexuality is taught in a most unimaginative manner,
generally by embarrassed teachers; similarly, parents do not have conver-
sations about sexual intercourse, meaning that children will tend to learn
about it from the internet, pornographic literature and movies and, of
course, from their peers.
The teenager phase is a life stage when the individual is developing and
learning through a process of exploration. Scientific, psychological and
sociological theories prove that adolescents are not yet fully evolved men-
tally to make flawless decisions or use their discretion with the desired
understanding. It is also established beyond doubt that the strong peer
affiliation fails to foresee or understand how certain negative actions will
harm his or her well-being. The lack of any support system which can
guide them in a positive manner would prevent them from engaging in
activities that they perceive as exciting without really understanding their
potential implications.
Moreover, mass media play a crucial role in the present-day lives and
behaviour of children. Media continually widen their reach into
ouseholds, even to very young children in their homes. Reports suggest

h
that of the 277 million households in India, 175 million have been pro-
jected to have TV sets catered to by cable television systems, Direct to
Home (DTH) services, and the terrestrial TV network of Doordarshan.
In 2015, the number of internet subscribers is estimated to be 302.35
million (TRAI, 2015), inferring that most of the people, irrespective of
age, are connected to the rest of the world through media. The effects of
the mass media have been found to be far-reaching and potentially harm-
ful in influencing the health-related behaviours of children, many of
whom are not yet mature enough to distinguish fantasy from reality, par-
ticularly when it is presented as “real life”. While most use television and
the internet as a powerful tool to gather information and enhancing
knowledge, its wide scope prompts many to explore and experiment areas
which can lead them to virtual “places” that are legally off-limits, and
turn them into deviants or people exhibiting anti-social behaviours, even
without their awareness that they are doing anything wrong. A total of
70% of adolescents have been exposed to pornography on the internet,
and two-thirds of college students report that they consider doing so
acceptable (Rideout, Roberts, & Foehr, 2005). Recently, the usage of
social networking sites has also grown exponentially.
Television, magazines, advertisements, music, movies and the internet
expose children to various inappropriate content such as violence, sex
and sexual messages, and images of alcoholism, drug and substance abuse.
Prolonged and repeated exposure to these could encourage and lead
young people to these acts. The social learning theory suggests that chil-
dren learn by watching, imitating and assimilation. It is estimated that by
the time a child reaches his or her 18th birthday, the average teen has
viewed close to 26,000 murders and sex scenes and 200,000 violent acts
on television. According to the website of the National Association for
the Education of Young Children, there is a violent act on television every
six minutes, something which can desensitize teenagers and make them
lose empathy for other humans. In many cases, the hero in a television
series or film will commit a violent act in the name of good. This portrays
violence as acceptable, rather than something that teens should avoid
(Davidson, 2017). Similarly, a child who views the above content has
been found to be six times more likely to try them than a teenager who
has not been exposed to the media. The use of these can also spark vio-
lence; the website of the National Survey on Drug Use and Health sug-
gests that teens who use alcohol or drugs or tobacco are 50% more likely
to commit a violent act. In spite of the negative influence of programmes
on various channels, they continue to operate in a competitive mode of
television rating points. Reaffirming the above finding, a study conducted
by Thakur and Khokhar (2001) in India described that some of the fears,
tensions, bad dreams and tendencies towards children’s delinquencies
filled with violence and torture that children view on TV and movies.
The association between TV viewing and suicidal behaviour has also been
reported from India. Both content exposure and media screen time also
contribute to an accelerated onset of sexual activity. A number of children
in detention centres revealed that watching sexual content on the internet
and other media had increased their curiosity and experimented with sex,
resulting in their apprehension. The tendencies towards delinquencies of
children are a result of frequent and a regular exposure to murder-mys-
tery movies, and stories filled with violence and terror that children watch
on TV and movies.
The anecdotes and excerpts of children in detention show indisputably
that peer pressure is an overriding factor in their lives. It is often heard
that “His friends ruined him or they got him into drugs.” Or parents will
complain: “If it hadn’t been for his friends, he would never have done
what he did.” Peer influence is evident from the fact that if one member
in the group becomes involved in crime, others are likely to follow as a
measure of peer approval. Continued weakness in parental supervision
invariably escalates the conflict at home, and it causes the children to
deepen their affiliation with peer groups. They grow more familiar and at
ease with their group members. In such cases, more than the individual
decision they are overridden by that of the group.
Peers also may provide models for behaviour that adolescents believe
will help them to accomplish their own ends. There is some evidence that
during the period of early and middle adolescence, teens who engage in
certain types of anti-social behaviour, such as fighting or drinking, may
consequentially enjoy higher status among their peers. Accordingly, some
adolescents may engage in anti-social conduct to impress their friends or
to conform to peer expectations; indeed, in one of the most influential
accounts of so-called adolescence-limited offenders, the imitation of

higher-status peers is hypothesized as a prime motivation for anti-social
behaviour (Moffitt, 1993).
Nevertheless, peer influence alone is insufficient to explain the emer-
gence and persistence of deviant acts in adolescents. The traits, values and
inclinations to peer influence are largely in place before the teenager’s
friendships have been established, if not as fully developed entities, then
as strong predispositions. They are in place not solely because of genes,
but as a result of the interactive forces of genetic and familial influence,
set in motion long before adolescence. They pick their friends because of
these inclinations.
Peers undoubtedly play a role in strengthening these pre-existing char-
acteristics, which is precisely why the influence of peers is so important.
It is unlikely, however, that peer influence leads to the initial emergence
of these traits. This aspect should be considered jointly with the relation-
ship nature of adolescents in the family and at school. A combined effect
of family factors and negative peer influence is seen in the risk of involve-
ment in offences. It would appear, however, that adolescents are most
likely to form strong attachments to peers with aggressive and deviant
behaviours when parental controls or parental attachments are weak.
4.4 Community and Offences

Neighbourhood communities play a central role in influencing the
behaviour of individuals. Children who reside in neighbourhoods char-
acterised by extreme poverty, high rates of crime and violence, gang activ-
ity, poor housing, drug availability and general deterioration could well
be predictors of violent activity (Hawkins et al., 2000). Each factor rein-
forces the others in a destructive relationship, spiralling downwards into
violence and social chaos. Existing research also points to a powerful con-
nection between residing in an adverse environment and participating in
criminal acts (McCord et al., 2001). Sociological theories of deviance
ascertain the same and state that “disorganized neighbourhoods have
weak social control networks; that weaken social control, resulting from
isolation among residents and high residential turnover that allows
criminal activity to go unmonitored” (Herrenkohl, David Hawkins,

Chung, Hill, & Battin-Pearson, 2001, p. 221). Re-establishing the above,
Control Theory stated that “delinquent acts result when an individual’s
bond to the society is weak or broken” (Hirschi, 1969, p. 16). The term
“social bond” here referred to the connection between the individual and
the society through social institutions. It has four distinct elements:
attachment to others; commitment to conventional activities; involve-
ment in conventional activities; and a belief in general conventional
value. Attachment referred to the psychological and emotional connec-
tion, one felt towards other persons or groups and the extent to which
one cared about their opinions and feelings. Commitment meant the
investments accumulated in terms of conformity to conventional rules
versus the estimated costs or losses of investments associated with non-
conformity. Involvement referred to participation in conventional and
legitimate activities. Belief involved the acceptance of a conventional
value system.
These social bonds within the neighbourhood are expected to provide
three essential conditions to children: supervision; recognizing deviant
behaviours; and correcting the behaviours. These can be achieved through
intergenerational closeness which occurs when adults and children in a
community share a strong bond. The conditions can also be attained
through “reciprocated exchange”, the strength of interfamily and adult
interaction when it comes to parenting techniques for the community
(Teasdale & Silver, 2009). However, when parents do not provide these
conditions, as seen in the case of Ashok, then an upsurge in adolescent
offending overtakes the neighbourhood. This implies that neighbour-
hoods which exhibit a strong bond act as a protective measure for the
child against all deviances and exploitations. On the other hand, com-
munities which are disintegrated or disorganized through frequent vio-
lence and fights tend to induce children and adolescents to be in conflict
with the law.
The story of Ashok, a boy of 18 years of age, explicates how neighbourhoods

contribute in luring children into risk behaviours. Expressing little remorse, he
remarks, “Apprehension and detention was not a big deal for me. There were
days when I had nothing to eat or drink. It was only these adult friends from
the streets and slum who gave me both food and money. They were very sup-
portive and joining them for stealing was a means of survival for me.”
Ashok was from a slum in Tamil Nadu (South India) torn by frequent fights,
gang wars, alcoholism, drug abuse and drug selling. He has an elder sister and
a younger brother. His father was a coolie and mother was a domestic worker
(both of them unskilled workers). His elder sister eloped with another man in
the slum and her whereabouts are unknown. His father was addicted to alcohol
and used to have regular fights with his mother which, at times, led to physical
assault. The situation in the family provided little space for any development of
pro-social values. The busy work schedule of the parents and frequent fights
within the family left him on his own most of the time. There was no one to
supervise or guide him. He had studied up to 5th grade in a government school
adjacent to the slum, but had never been particularly interested in education.
“I was very poor in studies and my place in the class used to be always in the
back row as teachers themselves categorized/labelled me and a few others as
problem makers. They never used to care about us. Their main concern was
about children who are good in studies. This encouraged us to do things that we
liked and often it was against the rules of the school. I used to steal other’s
belongings from the time I was studying in the 4th grade. A few times I was
caught and was either beaten or sent out of the school for a day or two. However,
I used to re-enter the class by bringing my mother. While studying in the 5th
grade, I stole the bag of my class teacher and was caught by the headmaster. This
incident marked the end of my education as I was suspended from the school”,
recalls Ashok.
From the age of 12, he started to work in a peanut shop, earning about
Rs.150/per day. During and after work he associated himself with other boys in
the slum who were into crime and eventually lured him into a life of violence
and offences. Most of these people were adults with risk behaviours—the con-
sumption of alcohol, substance use and other violent activities. They used to give
him alcohol and drugs. Since there was no one to supervise or correct him, he
was habituated into these habits. The major portion of his earnings was there-
fore spent on alcohol and drugs. Under intoxication, he used to harm himself to
show his adventurism.
Showing black scars on his body, he states, “It is exciting to inflict self-injury
under intoxication of drugs. The encouragement from adult friends enthuse me
to do the same in a more aggressive manner.”
Although he had been engaged in risk behaviour from the age of 9, he was
only apprehended in his 14th year for stealing three mobiles from a mobile
shop on three consecutive days. Three of his friends were also involved. Noticing
the missing mobiles on the first and second days, the shopkeeper appointed a
watchman to keep a vigilant eye on the customers. Ashok and his friends did
not know about it and so while flicking the mobile on the third day and hand-
ing it over to his friend standing outside, they were apprehended by the watch-
man. They were subsequently beaten up by the shopkeeper and watchman.
Police was informed and an official complaint was registered regarding the
loss of the two other mobiles. When interrogated, they confessed the entire epi-
sode of stealing mobiles and they were recovered from their residences. The
children were later produced before the JJB and detained at the observation
home. However, Ashok was bailed out by his parents within a week. Asked his
feelings at this incident, he commented without remorse, “It was not a big deal.
There were days when I had nothing to eat or drink and there was no one to
support me. It was these adult friends on the streets and slum who gave me both
food and money. They were very supportive. Engaging with them was a means
of survival for me.” He was apprehended and sent to the observation home on
three other occasions for stealing gold, mobiles and cash from different places.
In all of these instances his father came and bailed him out, assuming that he
would mend his ways. However, the environment in which Ashok lived
remained the same and he was lured back into similar activities. He reports
that although he was involved in more than 15 offences within a span of 4
years (from his 14th year to his 18th year), he was apprehended only three
times.
His current detention was for assaulting a shopkeeper and robbing his money,
mobile and gold chain. He and his friend had attacked him at an isolated place
and robbed him while the shopkeeper was returning home after closing the
shop. The mobile and gold chains were sold and the cash was used for alcohol
and drugs. The victim lodged a complaint at the police station and Ashok was
apprehended on suspicious grounds as he was a regular offender in the area. He
was detained at the police lock-up for a day and was beaten up for not telling
the truth. On accepting the offence, he was produced at the JJB and was
detained at the observation home. The other person who was an adult was also
apprehended and is now in the adult prison.
In the special home vocational training and educational classes were avail-
able to Ashok. As these were not compulsory, however, he did not participate in
them. The superintendent of the home, a psychologist, took a keen interest in
providing therapies and psychiatric treatment to children. Through the applica-
tion of his psychological approach, he was able to bring about verifiable changes
in the lives of a few children. However, Ashok did not respond to the superin-
tendent’s approaches.
Things had changed, however, following the demise of his mother while he
was in detention. The father, who was angry about Ashok’s continuous involve-
ment in theft, did not allow him to participate or do the ritualistic last rites of
his mother, an action which depressed Ashok immensely. However, just a couple
of days later, the superintendent, who showed him considerable kindness,
allowed him to visit his mother’s burial place, along with an escort and to per-
form rituals for the repose of her soul. This gesture of special consideration by the
superintendent changed Ashok’s attitude and he has now begun to show keen
interest in the activities of the home. He actively attends a course on electrical
works and wishes to lead a normal life when he comes out of the special home.
At the same time, he expresses his fears in the following words, “Even though I
am learning electrical repair work and want to keep myself away from deviant
ways I am not sure if I will succeed as the atmosphere and environment where
I am going to live, remains the same. However, I hope for the best.”
Ashok blames his environment for his pathway to deviance. Negativities

surrounded and experienced by him seemed to be societal norms.
Committing offences hence did not cause any feeling of remorse or guilt
in him. None of his immediate social institutions, family, school or
neighbourhood, supervised or corrected him when he first showed signs
of risk behaviour. Rather, he was ignored or isolated cutting a path for his
entry into deviant behaviour.
The study findings portrayed that of the 605 children from various
detention centres in four states, almost 50% of them have grown up,
witnessing violence either of a communal nature or among individuals.
In this regard, the state of Delhi had a higher representation (56.6%),
followed by Tamil Nadu and Odisha. It is worthwhile noting here that a
considerable number of children in Delhi lived in congested slum areas
which are known for its conflicts. In Tamil Nadu, most of the violence
was communal in nature. When children are chronically exposed to high
levels of environmental violence or fights, they are likely to model after
them and internalize these behaviours, which makes them aggressive and
revengeful, leading them to be parties in such violence. This is re-
established by the fact that around 16% of the children across the four
states affirmed their involvement in several of the conflicts that occurred
in their communities. Tamil Nadu reported a greater representation in
this regard, with a figure of 24.3%.
Although these engagements or involvements may not entirely and

invariably lead to a deviant career path, the experiences of stress, anxiety
and the aggression are likely to be internalized by them. And it is proba-
ble that they, being in their formative years, model themselves after those
whom they meet or what they witness in their immediate environment
which gradually influences them into deviant behaviour. The immaturity
in cognitive, socio-emotional development accelerates their learning
from the immediate environment, whether it be pro- or anti-social. Often
the frequent occurrences of such instances may lead them to believe that
such acts of violence are an acceptable behaviour in society and may
encourage or prompt them to have recourse to violence when similar
situations arise in life. Bandura’s social learning theory satiates such
behaviour. It also implies that children are handicapped in their abilities
to make proper assessments of events or conditions. Subsequently, if their
experiences happen to be negative, they are likely to absorb and repro-
duce them and vice versa. The data thus suggest that community violence
and fights may have had its influence on these children.
Cohesiveness and bonding, which were the hallmarks of earlier com-
munities, are slowly disappearing today with people increasingly retreat-
ing into their own private spaces. Such isolated and nuclear living has
eroded the social bonds which once existed in communities, resulting in
the deterioration of the internal control mechanism that acted as protec-
tive armour against unrest and tensions. The failure of such virtual super-
vision of an internal control mechanism tends both to invite and to
promote criminal activities. Studies prove that children who observe and
come into contact with these negative influences are likely to be attracted
into deviant behaviour.
It is observed from the empirical data that 19.2% of the children inter-
viewed, with a distribution of 13.2% in Odisha, 15.6% in Kerala, 16.6%
in Delhi and 22.5% in Tamil Nadu, came from communities that were
characterized by the presence of “gangs”. Gangs are often defined as peer
groups, that is, groups consisting of members who share similar social char-
acteristics in terms of gender, social class, age, and ethnicity. Explanations
behind gang behaviour involve sociological, structural factors, particularly
social disorganization and economic decline. Social and economic inequal-
ities can lead to a sense of frustration and discouragement with m ainstream
society and its accepted means of achieving success and recognition. Most
gang members lack strong social bonds with their families and school, and
the gang becomes a substitute for these bonds in society. Gang members
also tend to stay with these groups for longer periods of time when eco-
nomic situations worsen, and this seems to be occurring more often today
than in the past. Some join a gang for protection; some others because
friends and relatives were gang members. Children who grow up seeing
the functioning of gangs and the luxurious lifestyles followed by gang
members are likely to become attracted to such groups, especially when
they are faced with surmounting hardships within the family.
The story of Rohit, a boy of 18 years convicted for three years for kidnapping
and murdering, reiterates how a community contributes to an adolescent’s
growth into deviance. He says, “I am certain that if I was living in some other
community my fate would have been different. I would have never experienced
what I had to suffer in the hands of police.”
Rohit was from a slum area in Delhi. His parents have their roots in Bihar,
but had migrated to Delhi several years earlier in search of a better life. He has
two younger brothers: one of whom is blind and the other is in school. Rohit’s
runs a small confectionery shop, which was the family’s only source of income.
Since both of his parents were illiterate, and the family’s economic situation was
precarious, he had begun to work part time even while he was at school. The
money he earned was primarily used to meet the livelihood expenses of the
family.
His neighbourhood was beset with constant fights, rivalry and violence. It
was also known for gang conflicts, and the trade in illicit drugs and alcohol. “I
could hear the sound of abusive words, quarrels, fights and screaming. One
night two people in the slum had a fight and in the middle of the fight one
killed the other man. No one knew the reason for the act”, says Rohit. As con-
flicts and quarrels were quite a normal occurrence in the community, no one
bothered to come for any help or asked questions about the event. Moreover, the
community was in fear of the gangs and even the police were reluctant to inter-
fere in the quarrels.
He had tough and hard years at school. “I had to work and study simultane-
ously due to the economic strains of the family. From the age of 8 years I was
engaged in work. I continued so until my 10th grade. I was an average student
and never failed in any grade. However, I was not very good in many of the
subjects”, he says. After failing the 10th grade, he discontinued his studies.
Later, he supported his father in the shop for some time and by the age of 16
years he had become a security guard at one of the DDA flats. His working day
went from 6 o’ clock in the evening to 8 o’clock the following morning. In the
afternoon, he assisted his father in the confectionery shop.
The community where his family lived was also notorious for frequent kid-
nappings and murder. Two years earlier, while he was going to the confectionery
shop to assist his father, he was apprehended on the allegation of having mur-
dered a person in the community. Recalling his apprehension, Rohit observes, “I
was flicked [taken] away in the jeep to the police station. I did not know for
what I was taken but later I learnt that a person was murdered in the com-
munity the previous night and an eye witness gave a sketch of the culprit which
seemed matching to mine resulting in my apprehension.” However, he swears
that he was falsely accused and that he was at the DDA flat at the time of the
incident.
The police did not believe his words; they accused him of being a terrorist and
handed him over to the Anti-Terrorist Squad. Describing his experience in their
hands he narrates, “They put laathis between my legs and asked me to sit and
stand for a number of times; they made me stand on my heads for hours, never
gave a glass of water; used all kind of filthy language against me. They made me
to sign 30–35 blank papers. The torture continued for seven days until I agreed
to their version of offence.” He was taken to the Rohini court and detained at
the adult prison as his physique resembled that of an adult. Life over there was
another nightmare: “I was beaten up by adult prisoners, sexually abused and
mentally torn”, says Rohit. He stayed there for four months and only later, when
his age was determined as 17 years, was he moved to the observation home. He
has now been sentenced to three years, although he continues to maintain his
innocence. Today he stays at a place of safety. He rarely takes part in any of the
recreational or vocational activities at the centre. Even though vocational train-
ing is offered three times a week by an NGO, very few of the inmates are inter-
ested. “Most of us spent time either by chatting or by playing indoor games.”
Although he feels angry at the whole system which seems to have been unjust to
him, he says “on completion of three years I am planning to go and stay with my
uncle as he has assured me a job. I want to live a peaceful and happy life.”
It is evident from the above account that violence, conflicts and devi-
ant activities in the neighbourhood had its influence on his detention.
We are unsure if he has been involved in the crime, but what matters in
this case is that in either case it is the neighbourhood characteristics that
lead to his apprehension and detention, implying that these factors do

play a role in leading children deviant behaviours or detention.
Data explicate that several children (9.6%) who are in detention cen-
tres are active members of one or other gangs that are involved in crimi-
nal activities. These children joined others, particularly adults, in
committing crimes to earn easy money on one hand and to gain a sense
of belonging, on the other hand, as most of these children are victims of
multiple deprivations. In the company of peers, children gradually learn
to exploit individuals to whom they feel no responsibility or obligation.
The continued weakness in parental supervision invariably escalates the
conflict at home, and this increasing conflict and related family problems
cause children to deepen their affiliation with criminal gangs.
Being a gangster can be deleterious to the lives of children. The life of Rashid,
from the state of Kerala, captures what harm it does to their lives by being a
member in a gang. In this instance he was apprehended for murdering a mem-
ber of a rival gang.
Rashid, who turns 18 next year, was arrested and apprehended along with
six other adult gangmates on April 2013 for the murder of a gangster in Kerala.
While he was apprehended and detained in the observation home, all of the
others were sent to the adult prison. Rivalry between the gangs is reported to
have resulted in the murder. However, in the FIR he is charged with two cases:
one for murder and the other for breaking the nose of a lorry driver who had
questioned him and his friend while they took water from his lorry. At the time
of the interview, the trial has not yet begun. Although apprehended for the first
time, this was not the first time he had committed an offence. He was involved
in several fights and thefts.
Rashid was from a middle-class family in Kerala, where he lived with his
parents and his elder brother. His parents were only educated upto high school
level, but both were now employed in private firms: His father worked as an
electrician and his mother as a masseuse in a hospital using Ayurvedic medi-
cine. In addition, his elder brother was working as an electrician. The income
from their combined employments was enough to live a decent life. However,
they had neither a house nor their own land.; they were still living in a rented
house. The atmosphere in the family was also inconducive for appropriate
growth and development as the father was an alcoholic and chain smoker,
which often resulted in severe quarrels and fights at home. Because of his fam-
ily’s busy schedule, Rashid was left to himself most of the time. They rarely
enquired about his movements and activities, giving room to do whatever he

wished. Again, it was probably this lack of supervision that lured him into the
company of a group of young people who were older than him and involved in
all types of deviant behaviour. They all have certain common characteristics:
disrupted families; dropping out of school; and substance abuse. It is this asso-
ciation with the above deviant group that changed the course of his life.
Neighbours who saw the deviance of Rashid informed his parents who, in turn,
tried to correct him by scolding and advising him. However, by that time he
was out of their control and he reacted aggressively to their advice and scolding.
He used obscene language and threw out household utensils to show his displea-
sure which often silenced the parents. He then continued his association and
involvement with the deviant group and their activities.
The disobedience and abhorrence expressed at home continued at school,
leading him to being suspended and then dismissed from schools. Indeed, his
aggressive behaviour resulted in frequent changes of school: “I had to change my
school four times within a short span of six years of my education.” He dropped
out of school during the 6th grade. He had previously been an irregular attender
in the school as he usually skipped classes to spend time with his gang by con-
suming alcohol, gambling and taking substances. On several occasions, he was
caught and cautioned for his use of substance in the school. His suspensions
from the schools were mostly for his involvement in severe fights with other
students and his use of tobacco products. He was a below-average student,
which caused him to repeat three grades. His social life in school was limited as
he had very few friends. Moreover, his aggressive and hostile behaviour isolated
him from other children and even teachers. He was ignored by all of the teach-
ers. Parents’ interaction with the teachers and the school authorities were lim-
ited to occasions on which they were called to report about the misbehaviour of
the child. It could be concluded from the narration of his school years that he
never had a proper education at school. Traits of his aggressive behaviour were
observed from his younger days, but no one paid much attention to correct them
which resulted in his pathway to deviance.
Dropping out from school he became an active member of the gang of
between six and eight adult members with whom he used to spend his free time.
Initially, they began to work under a contractor who used to undertake roofing
work and give them about Rs.500/- per day. In addition to the work, they were
engaged in criminal activities (beating, stealing, wounding and even killing).
However, while working with the contractor they have behaved well. The work
was in a way a place to hide their deviant face. Whenever they did not have
work, they spent their time watching movies, roaming around, gambling and
taking substances. The income earned from work was spent for meeting their
expenses for their illegal and unlawful activities. As per the police reports, they
were also engaged in selling drugs. Although the parents did not approve of his
friends, he was unwilling to change. Eventually, this group grew to be a notori-
ous gang in the vicinity. His neighbourhood was also notorious for gang fights,
thefts and drug trafficking and he himself was a drug carrier and seller.
Although his gang was involved in several fights and criminal activities, he
was never apprehended by the police. However, his adult friends were involved
in several pending cases. According to police records, they were notorious crimi-
nals in the area. What led to his apprehension and detention is narrated by him
as follows: “There are two gangs in the suburban area of his residence, one led
by a person named Jibi (name changed) and the other by Ashraf of which
Rashid was also a member.” They took up jobs of recovering vehicles, money
lent, or to settle scores. They were considered as “dons” in the area and had
godfathers in the political parties. Politicians also seemed to have used them to
settle scores with their opponents and these connections helped them to come out
from various cases registered against them. The rivalry between the two gangs
resulted in frequent fights and quarrels in the area. These grew in intensity
when more people went to Ashraf ’s gang for assistance. Jibi’s gang had the upper
hand in the area and used to harass and grab substances from the members of
Ashraf ’s gang. It so happened that one day Rashid was asked to bring drugs for
Jibi and his team. This enraged Ashraf, and he took it upon himself to retaliate
when appropriate. Ashraf ’s team was looking for an opportunity to get Jibi
alone; a few days later, they found him making phone calls from an isolated
place. Immediately, Ashraf passed on the message to all of his gangmates, who
came rushing and surrounded him with big swords and other weapons. They
attacked him before he could make a move. They stabbed him several times, cut
his right hand and made sure that he was dead. They were sure that if he
remained alive, he would avenge the attack.
All of the attackers fled after the attack and the incident became a sensa-
tional one in the state and media. It was regarded as a particularly shocking
incident, especially since it took place in broad daylight and in the heart of the
city. A separate investigation team was set up by the rural police and a prompt
and thorough investigation was undertaken. The investigation made progress
by tracking the phone calls of the suspected rival group of Ashraf. A couple of
days later, Rashid was apprehended from one of the gang hideouts. He was
questioned in the police lock-up, and was thoroughly beaten up by his interro-
gators. Unable to withstand the torture, he disclosed all he knew about the
incident. When asked about the whereabouts of the other gang members, he
could not answer as he was ignorant about their locations. However, within a
short period, police apprehended had all of them from different parts of the
district.
As he was only 17 years old, he was produced before the JJB and detained at
the observation home. The others were sent to the sub jail. Under questioning,
he revealed another incident which had occurred a week ago in which he had
broken the nose of a lorry driver when the latter questioned him for taking
water from his lorry without permission. This case was also added in his FIR.
Although he says that he feels guilty and repentant about his crime, his ges-
tures do not display any such remorse. This impression is reinforced by the
authorities at the observation home. However, he reported that if he is released
from the home he would never again become involved in any offending or
criminal activities; rather, he would join his brother in electrical work and
would live a decent life. At the same time, he is quite sure when he remarks “It
will not be easy for me to come out of this case. Even if I am released from here
I am sure I will not be allowed to live as the victim’s gang is waiting to avenge
the act.”
In the observation home, he idles away his time. They are not allowed to
come out of the building for security reasons. Their world is the two-storied
building which is well protected by locked gates. Our study noted that there
were no recreation, vocational training, counselling or other behaviour modifi-
cation interventions or therapies in the home.
A child should be seen in an ecological perspective wherein he is devel-

oped through his interaction and transaction between people and their
physical and social environment. In the case of Rashid, the deviant behav-
iour could be viewed as the influence of the negative aspects of his physi-
cal and social environment, i.e., family, community, school and peer
group. Nevertheless, the role of the family stands at the apex since the
values and cultural norms transmitted and the care and attention shown
during the early childhood years could have an enduring effect on the
child. A timely intervention either by the family or the school could have
probably protected or prevented him from taking the path of crime.
Family and school are the two immediate environments through and
from which a child absorbs the values and norms of society. In the life of
Rashid, both of these structures failed to provide the required care and
attention which naturally led him to have contacts with peers who are
deviants and who indulged in all kinds of vices. The influence of these
peers, and the deviant environment around him, accelerated his matura-
tion into deviant behaviour. Of course, there are other subsidiary factors
such as the peer and community influence along with his individual
traits. Yet the life of Rashid could have been different if appropriate and
timely intervention and counselling had been offered to him.
Adolescents who are in their growing and developmental stage learn
from and imitate the role models they get from their immediate sur-
roundings. Children who grow up observing people taking drugs or who
are involved in gangs may be lured into such behaviour by the fantasies
projected by them. The ecstatic experience of having drugs as narrated by
the users, the easy money through thefts and the fearful respect that oth-
ers gives them increase the immediate attraction to gangs and other
harmful habits. Adolescents also rarely stop to consider the consequences
of their choices and are tempted to fall victim to the fantasies projected
by these adults. Older gang members may also use them consciously for
illegal activities such as selling illicit drugs, alcohol and involving them in
fights and violence. As discussed earlier, adolescents are less future-
oriented and in search of immediate rewards and so they may be easily
attracted to such offers and in the process fall into the vicious circle of
crime. Moreover, in neighbourhoods in which gangs are feared, gang
membership may generate loyalties that increase the likelihood of violence.
The easy availability of drugs was seen as another factor for children
consuming substances and indulging in petty crimes to fund their habit.
The empirical study results show that drugs were available in the com-
munities of 33.6% of the children with a higher representation from
Odisha (61%) followed by Delhi (37%). Correlating the same with the
nature of offences showed that between 40% and 46% of the children
who were involved in serious offences like murder and rape were from
communities where these illegal drugs were available, indicating the
probability that they were habituated to drugs. The affirmative responses
of more than one-quarter of the children do imply that this might have
had an influence, although not a direct one. It is reported that many
adolescents who commit offences are substance abusers and consumers of
illegal drugs. The negative influence of drugs or tobacco products on
adolescents has been well articulated by Loeber, Huizinga, and Thornberry
(1996) as “that under the influence of drugs, individual may often do

things they would not do ordinarily or otherwise; that most drugs are
expensive and young people may commit crime in order to obtain the
money to buy them; that many young people begin using drugs as a way
to be accepted by their peer group.”
“Friendship with Aslam and his gang opened my doors to the world of risk
behaviour- consuming alcohol and substance abuse. Consumption of these
enthused and gave me extra energy to get involved in adventurous and risky
activities”, says Mohammad (name and identity changed) aged 18 years, who
has been convicted for murder and robbery.
Mohammad is from a middle-class family who lived in a central part of
Tamil Nadu (South India) and he has two younger sisters who are in educa-
tion. His father is an electrical mechanic in a private company and also runs
an electrical shop, taking up independent electrical works like house wiring and
repairing of electrical equipment. His mother works as a supervisor. As his
father was engrossed in his profession, he had little time to supervise his chil-
dren, particularly Mohammad, his only son. His mother also had little time as
she was engaged with household chores. He was left to himself for most of the
time, leaving the door open for him to become involved in deviant behaviour.
He had studied up to the 8th grade. Education was of little interest to him and
he was an irregular attender at school, inviting severe punishment from the school
authorities. He used to skip classes and roam around, which lured him to
adolescents from a similar background. He gradually became addicted to
substance abuse and involved in criminal activities. His parents were called by
school authorities to discuss his continued absence. His father used to scold and
beat him for his truancy and involvement in deviant activities, but to no avail.
Mohammad was suspended from school by the end of his 8th grade for substance
use in school. He remembers his teacher saying that: “He is a threat to other chil-
dren. He draws others to risk behaviours. We cannot afford to have him in school.”
Although his father tried to enrol him in another school, he objected to this, saying
that, “I am not interested to go and sit listening to lectures.” However, his father
insisted on pursuing some technical studies and enrolled him in an electrical
course in an ITI. It looked interesting to him and even while studying he assisted
his father in his electrical work in various residences and repairing household
appliances. Eventually, he established himself as an independent electrician,
which meant that, for the first time, he had his own personal income. As his earn-
ings increased, his circle of friends widened and he treated them with food
and beverages. In due course, their interest and activities shifted and they began
to consume alcohol and take various illicit substances. These drugs were supplied
by one of the vendors who befriended Mohammad and his friends.
He was first apprehended for stealing a two-wheeler and riding recklessly. At
this time, Mohammad was only 16 years old. Police booked him for reckless
driving and on questioning found that he had stolen the bike. He was then
produced before the JJB and detained at the observation home. His father
bailed him out within a week. Angered and provoked at the apprehension and
detention, he set fire to four other two-wheelers that were parked at the railway
station, resulting in him being caught and handed over to the police again. He
was detained for the second time and was again bailed out. His father, fearing
his increased association with deviant groups, he was then sent to another city
to live with a carpenter and his son, who were personal acquaintances of the
family. In his new home, he and his friend (the carpenter’s son) fought with the
employer over the wage issue and stabbed the employer with a broken bottle. He
survived the injuries, but Mohammad and his friend were apprehended and
once again sent to the observation home. He was again taken out on bail after
two months and taken back home. However, he refused to return and remained
with his friends in the village. They used to meet in a funeral ground and
gamble, consume alcohol and take drugs. One day while gambling, one of them
got into a quarrel with Mohammad over cheating, an event which divided the
group into two separate factions. Although the issue was settled, the grudge
remained and it increased when one of the gangmates of Mohammad’s rival
group was alleged of an illicit relationship with the sister of one of the gang-
mates of Mohammad. They attacked the group and Mohammad hit one of the
members with a stone. The wounded member was rushed to the hospital by
people who heard the screams, but he died of his injuries. Mohammad, as some-
thing of a repeat offender, was apprehended on the grounds of reasonable suspi-
cion. Interrogation using harsher measures revealed the whole story and he was
detained at the observation home. In the centre, he and a few of his friends
attacked and injured the officials of the home over a food issue, resulting in
Mohammad being locked up in a cell. His parents, although they were informed,
no longer took any interest in bailing him out. However, he was bailed out with
the help of a lawyer arranged by Mr Vinod (the drug peddler) who used to
deliver him and his gang the drugs.
One month later, he was again apprehended for his involvement in a case of
assault and robbery. He and two of his friends had attacked the owner of a
textile shop and robbed him of his daily cash takings when he was returning
after closing the shop. The night patrol, having found him lying wounded on
the roadside, rushed the shopkeeper to hospital. Later, based on the complaint
lodged by the victim, police investigated the case and they apprehended
Mohammad and his friend. He was then adjudged guilty and sentenced to
three years.
As Mohammad was a recidivist, on this occasion the police treated him quite
harshly when they apprehended him. In two apprehensions, he is reported to
have been kept at the police lock-up for interrogation. On a number of occa-
sions, he is reported to have been beaten up during interrogation. At the deten-
tion centre (observation home), he was a hero and used to narrate his experience
to others. There were educational, vocational, recreational activities, but the
adolescents rarely participated in them. He did not join any of the activities of
the centre as he was locked up in a cell.
It was quite surprising to see that after all this time Mohammad showed no
sign of remorse for his action, which is reflected in his response to the query
about his future plan. He states, “Once out from here I want to finish off Kranti
another member of the rival group who leaks their plans. I hope and pray that
he be kept alive till I am released from here.”
Examining Mohammad’s life, it is evident that while, on the one hand,

the environmental factors lured him to deviance, the lack of an effective
intervention to reform him at the first or second apprehension and deten-
tion contributed to his maturation as a persistent offender. His entry into
an observation home for six to seven times and his continuous involve-
ment in offences indicates the failure of the system to reform the chil-
dren. In the life of Mohammad, dual factors contribute to his reoffending:
(1) the failure of the detention centre in rehabilitating and reforming
him; and (2) the unchanged situation of the environment in which he
goes back to live. Both these aspects contribute to his drift and continu-
ance in deviant path, making him to be persistent and a habitual offender.
Strong social bonding is protective armour against deviance.
Participation in community activities or clubs, religious activities and
participation in sports promotes cohesiveness of communities which, in
turn, assist adolescents in desisting from unlawful or non-conforming
behaviours. However, data from the empirical study dispel that only a
small percentage of children (16.4%) under study were involved in any
social activities of the community or part of cultural or sports groups,
indicating a lesser attachment to community and subsequent weak
c ontrol of community over them. The state of Kerala reported a higher

participation in this regard, with 47% as compared to other states that
recorded the participation at 6% to 20%. In Kerala, most of the religious
groups have their own associations for children, aimed at personality
development and religious education. In many such associations, there is
compulsory participation. This might have resulted in higher levels of
participation. Among the serious offenders of rape and murder cases also,
participation in the above activities was low, denoting their low bonding.
The estrangement from the community due to their non-participation
and non-involvement in activities could have led them to seek solace in
companies and groups that accept them. People who come together in
their discontentment are likely to express and exhibit their anger, rage
and stress through deviant and non-conforming behaviour. The more
they remain attached to the community, the less chance there is for them
to be involved in unlawful activities.
Sport and physical activity programmes provide an effective vehicle
through which personal and social development in young people can be
affected positively. It is one thing to participate, but what is more impor-
tant is how one participates. In the former, it is found that 51.6% of the
children in detention centres with a variance of 40% to 60% across the
states, self-reported about their participation in games frequently.
However, there is very little evidence as to how they participated.
Indubitably, sports and games has the potential to promote a broad spec-
trum of life skills and values such as team-building, following rules, com-
munication, decision making, problem solving, self-esteem, personal
responsibility, empathy, resilience and socio-moral development. It can
also contribute to improve young person’s school attendance, behaviour
and academic achievement.
Bearing in mind the immense benefits of sports and physical activities,
countries around the world have promoted the use of various sports and
games to re-engage people in education and society. Among the most
effective programmes that can be mentioned are initiatives such as
“Positive Futures”, the Youth Sport Trust/BSkyB “Living For Sport” and
the HSBC/Outward Bound project in the UK, focussed on using physi-
cal activities to enhance personal development: these have included
“Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility” (Hellison, 1995), “Sport
Education” (Siedentop, 1994) and “Sport for Peace” (Ennis, 1999)

in the USA.
Sport is considered to be a powerful means of promoting health, but an
even more powerful means of building social capital, and perhaps the most
effective system outside of the family, to provide children and adolescents
with positive adult role models and mentors and opportunities for positive
development and improved emotional well-being. Sport could help them
on a positive life course and equip them to meet future challenges; could
strengthen the communities by bringing people together and building
trust and inclusion; could foster economic development by building skills,
attracting tourism, and making communities more attractive to workers
and companies that want to employ them; and could provide a platform
and leadership in the promotion of environmental sustainability. It also
helps to: enhance an individual’s confidence and sense of self-worth
(Nichols, 1997); promote the capacity for collaborative work (Priest &
Gass, 1997); facilitate positive socio-moral development (Larson &
Silverman, 2005); instil a sense of personal and social responsibility
(Martinek, Schilling, & Hellison, 2006); and help to address problems of
disadvantage and social exclusion through the generation of social capital
(Crabbe, 2006). In addition, sports and physical activities increase social
interaction and can improve interpersonal and communication skills.
Moreover, good sport reinforces the importance of commitment, honest
effort and hard work in the pursuit of excellence. Children who engage in
sporting activities are likely to learn pro-social values and subsequently less
likely to turn to deviance and offending. Reiterating the same, Morris,
Sallybanks, and Willis (2003) state that participation in constructive
sporting and physical activities can assist in the development of pro- social
peer associations by providing appropriate social environments.
Results of research studies from around the globe also confirm that
children who are involved in organized sports both within school and
outside school were less likely to engage in anti-social behaviour than
participants who were not involved in such activities. These results sup-
port social bond theories. However, sport and physical activity alone are
unlikely to have a major impact in reducing anti-social behaviour. Yet
they do form a relevant mechanism through which personal and social
development can positively affect behaviour.
Community factors, though not found to be so strong in the present

study, also have an important role to play in risking deviant behaviour.
This should not be undermined as most of the children’s behaviour is
learned through associating, observing and interacting with their imme-
diate environments, including community. Neighbourhoods influence
children’s behaviour by providing the values that lead them to perceive
how to act. The theory of differential association suggests that people
acquire their behavioural orientations by learning to define experiences
through the eyes of their associates. It justifies the argument that improv-
ing conditions and services in high-risk communities might be the best
way to combat delinquency. Although many such community-focused
interventions have been attempted, little is known about their long-term
impact because the appropriate research designs are so difficult to imple-
ment. The lack of more community-based approaches on the proven and
promising lists may be due more to the difficulties of evaluating them
rather than to their underlying effectiveness.
Nevertheless, modern society has fewer roots than it is used to have
(Karen, 1995). This rootlessness may leave a child unattached and less
caring about the rights and property of others. In addition, today’s soci-
ety values popularity and success but ignores whether this was gained
positively or negatively. Society emphasis on success leaves many children
out; those who are failures in school for one reason or another believe
their home is a failure and so is their society. These children may turn to
aggressive or violent behaviour to gain attention and prove their worth.
This reflects a breakdown of social bonding, close proximity and cohe-
siveness which were once the trademarks of the village life which acted as
a social control mechanism. However, the new development paradigm
that intruded greatly into the family and village life has deteriorated this
mechanism and its control mechanisms, giving rise to their involvement
in anti-social behaviour.
The frequent conflicts and unhealthy habits cited above aggravate this
sense of rootlessness. Thus, families and children who reside in such con-
ditions characterized by weak control and bonding are likely to be lured
into deviance. The gang membership of children and their involvement
in conflicts indicate that the conditions prevalent in the neighbourhoods
do influence their lives and may train them to be habitual or persistent

offenders.
In these chaotic conditions, the parental supervision of adolescent and
pre-adolescent children is almost impossible. Children living in these
neighbourhoods are more likely to learn, accept and use physical violence
to satisfy their wants and needs. Collective efficacy, the strength of social
connections within a neighbourhood and the extent to which residents
monitor or supervise each other’s children, can influence outcomes in a
positive direction (Sampson, 1997). A combination of nurturant,
involved parenting and collective efficacy can discourage adolescents
from association with deviant peers (Brody et al., 2001).
However, this does not mean that all families and all children in vio-
lent and crime-ridden communities are deviants. There are studies which
show that even in violent and crime-ridden neighbourhoods, “stable fam-
ilies” are winning the battle. It is observed that even the troubled family
is winning and coming out of violence, crime and deviance. Moreover,
the offenders need not be persistent offenders, but may turn to be one if
they are not provided with a chance to reintegrate into society.
Communities are often ignorant of this fact, that if offenders are not
reintegrated into society, they reoffend and this results in a vicious circle
in which the community members themselves suffer the consequences.
Both the victims and offenders need to find a way of reintegrating the
offenders back to society in a manner which will encourage offenders to
take responsibility.
This can also prove to be beneficial to society, because offenders can be
used to motivate other children against offence. Another important
aspect is the fostering of a young person’s connection to their community
through involvement with community activities, belonging to sports,
interest or cultural group leading to “social bonding”. It can describe the
quality of relationships between young people and adults and also how
young people feel about their schools and, as they grow older, their com-
munities. It reflects an understanding that when young people have a
genuine stake in their families, schools and communities, they are less
likely to commit anti-social activities that place that relationship
in jeopardy.
The analysis on the factors that predispose children to being in conflict

with law thus propels that no single factor can be pinpointed to rational-
ize for children’s involvement in offences. It is often the compound and
accumulated effect of several factors which cause children to drift into
offences. However, familial factors most specifically inadequate parent-
ing, absence or lack of parental supervision and involvement, had an
upper hand in this regard. Families which socialize children to pro-social
values and norms are more likely to live law-abiding lives. On the other
hand, if they are provided with negative role models and experiences,
they are likely to drift to deviance. In the lives of most these children in
detention centres, it is learnt that the majority of them were victims of
multiple deprivations in a family. Almost all were deprived of adequate
parenting which denied them either critical or nurturing or both parent-
ing. Such deprivation and vulnerabilities affected their lives at school as it
is seen that while a good number never saw the school premises, another
segment were dropped out at various phases of their school life for one
reason or the other. Deprivation also determined their friends or peers.
As seen from the data, most of the children who experienced neglect, a
lack of education and adequate parenting, associated themselves with
children who had similar experiences. Such association is natural as the
tenets of theory of attachment speak about the same. Such association
with deviant groups propels their likely involvement in deviance.
Similarly, children who experience a difficult or hard situation at home
are also likely to experience the same in the community. Today, the com-
munities are disintegrated with a reduction in social bonding which were
once the culture of the Indian villages and communities. Such disorgani-
zation destroyed the virtual supervision of community on their children
which, in turn, gave rise for their involvement in deviance.
It is therefore impossible and hard to isolate one factor and to say with
certainty that any one of them invariably causes deviance among c hildren.
It relies on a mix of individual traits, family experiences, school experi-
ences, peer and the community. Different theories, including social learn-
ing theory, differential association theory, attachment and biological
theories, attempt to explain the phenomenon, but none of them is solely
able to explain the phenomenon in a complete manner. But all converge
to suggest that the lack of attachment, negative environment and role
models which children observe and experience in life may adversely influ-
ence his or her life, risking them to deviance and non-conforming behav-
iours. It also suggests that if children remain attached to their family,
school and community, they are less likely to go astray and that they are
likely to live a life of law-abiding behaviour. However, their attachment
depends on the positive experiences and the role models provided to them.
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5
The Juvenile Justice System: A Pathway
for the Restoration of Children
in Conflict with the Law
Within the juvenile justice system, offences are dealt with in two different
ways. One focuses on ‘the attitude of hostility toward the lawbreaker or
children’, which ‘brings with it the attitudes of retribution, repression,
and exclusion’ and which sees a lawbreaker as an ‘enemy’. The other is the
‘reconstructive attitude’, which tries to ‘understand the causes of social
and individual breakdown, to mend the defective situation’, to determine
responsibility by ‘not placing punishment but by obtaining future results.’
The Juvenile Justice System follows the second path, wherein the child in
conflict with the law is treated with the intention of reforming and reha-
bilitating him or her.
Biological and developmental researchers and neuroscientists have
established that children differ from adults in terms of their cognitive and
socio-emotional development in ways which make them susceptible to
peer influence, impaired decisions and adventurism. They lack the ability
to foresee the consequences of their actions, with many of them being
unable to realize the permanence of their actions, including killing some-
body. It is also conceived that adolescence is, to a certain extent, a “train-
ing period” during which adolescents, by dint of their developmental
state, are likely to involve in non-conforming behaviours, at least once

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-16589-5_5
before they reach the age of 18. Recognising the formative stage, and the
‘unfinished’ status of children, it has been shown that children in conflict
with law are amenable and can be reformed and reintegrated into society.
The involvement of children in offending acts brings them into con-
tact with the adjudication process, which involves their experience with
the police, the Juvenile Justice Board and the detention centre. Any psy-
chological, physical and mental trauma inflicted upon them by any of the
structures of the Juvenile Justice System during this process of adjudica-
tion could have an adverse impact on the child and push him or her into
reoffending. Rehabilitation, restoration and reintegration is the central
tenet of even the adjudication process. However, such proper rehabilita-
tion/restoration does not happen automatically. Rather, it requires appro-
priate and adequate assessment, planning and intervention in their lives
by the various stakeholders of the system.
Although an in-depth study of the juvenile justice system was not the
objective of the study, considering and recognizing its immense value and
significance influence on the future lives of these children who are in
conflict with the law, a rapid assessment of the experience of the children
with the police, the JJB and detention centres was done from the observa-
tions of the research team, the responses of the children in conflict with
the law, superintendent and caregivers of home and probation officers, to
understand the extent to which the system has progressed in its restor-
ative mission.
5.1 T
he Police and the Juvenile Justice
System
The police represent the most visible public sign of formal justice in soci-
ety. Within the juvenile justice system, the role of police differs from that
of the adult criminal justice system primarily because children are mal-
leable and any physical or psychological harm can be detrimental to
them. Hence, the police, who represent the primary contact point of
every child in conflict with the law, determines, to a large extent, the
perceived success or failure of the system. The police are generally
considered to be a fear factor, even for adults. This has probably prompted
5 The Juvenile Justice System: A Pathway for the Restoration… 201
the law to specify specialized juvenile police units in the police depart-
ment to deal with issues relating to children. The officers in these units
are expected to be experienced in matters concerning child development
and delinquency as well as juvenile laws and procedures. The law also
provides a range of discretionary powers (including diversion) to police
while dealing with these children. They have several options when wit-
nessing or being told of an offence by a child and can, for example, issue
a warning, or citation, and let the juvenile go. They may take the adoles-
cent to his or her parents as part of the warning; or they may decide to
apprehend the child, that is, take him or her into custody. Often the
exercise of their discretionary powers results in mechanical apprehension
or arrest, abusive interrogative techniques and the framing of false cases.
This unfortunately brings a substantial number of children into a system
which is already overstretched and under-resourced.
In dealing with Children in Conflict with Law (CCL), the main pur-
pose will be not only the security and protection of society and the victim
but also the rehabilitation of these children. Accordingly, the police are
expected to treat them not as criminals, but as children who need care
and protection. However, the experiences of several children in detention
centres (as outlined in this study) and reports of several reviews tell a dif-
ferent story as they relate their traumatic experiences at the hands of
the police.
Many of them reported that they were handcuffed, beaten up, forced
to confess or falsely charge-sheeted, and that they were kept in police
lock-ups for days, alongside adult criminals who posed a threat to them.
Narrating his experiences with the police, Pandey, a boy of 17 years who was
accused of murder, states, ‘They dragged me out of the house, threw me into the
jeep, kept me in the police lock up and beat me brutally to make me accept a
murder case which I was not even aware of.’
His account of the incident is that, ‘One night a policeman came to his
neighbourhood (a slum) in Delhi to serve a warrant to one of the persons resid-
ing next to his residence. He was living with six other friends in a rented room
in the slum. The slum was a congested neighbourhood notorious for violence.
On seeing the warrant, the family got into a heated quarrel with the police
officer. At this point the people of the neighbourhood gathered and surrounded
the police. The mob got violent and beat up the police officer and in the process
killed him. The news spread like wild fire and a police force came rushing to the
neighbourhood. It was a rampage thereafter. Many were taken into custody and
many others were beaten up badly. A tight police vigil was maintained to
apprehend all those involved in the act’. About his apprehension Pandey nar-
rates, ‘My friends and I were not in the neighbourhood at the time of the inci-
dent. We came in late at night and were about to sleep when the police came
dashing to the room screaming who killed the police man? Before we could utter
a word, we were dragged out of the room and thrown into their jeep. They took
us to the police station lock up.’ ‘It was a nightmare thereafter’, continues
Pandey. ‘I don’t remember what all they did to my body. They stamped me with
their boot, beat me with their laathis, when I asked for water they beat me
more. They continuously tortured me and other friends for about 12 hours until
they made us to agree that we had killed the policeman though we knew noth-
ing about the incident. I thought I won’t see the next day.’ The day after his
apprehension he was brought before the Juvenile Justice Board. He was detained
at the observation home and after conviction, was moved to a place of safety.
Pandey’s family had migrated to Delhi from Bihar several years earlier. He
was born in Delhi and had dropped out of schooling after completing the 5th
grade. He has no father and was brought up by this mother. His two older
brothers were married and stayed separately. Pandey was not interested in stud-
ies, although he had been a regular attender in school. The teachers tended to
overlook him as his performance was below average. His mother preoccupied
with the struggle to provide for the family, which meant that she spent less time
with her son and so she had little influence on his upbringing. She was, there-
fore, unaware of her son’s activities after school hours. While roaming the streets,
Pandey befriended a group of young persons, all of whom were school dropouts.
They were substance abusers and involved in petty crimes. Within a short period
of time Pandey had moved out of his home and was living with his friends.
Together, they rented out a room in the slums.
Soon after he left school he got a job in a small plastic factory, earning about
Rs.100/- per day, which was just sufficient for his expenses, including his drugs.
Pandey, although he was a member of the gang, was not involved in any of their
criminal activities, except that he took drugs in their company.
Describing his experience at the place of safety, Pandey states that although
they were expected to follow a daily schedule, this was not mandatory and so
most children became involved in activities that interested them. The activity
schedule includes time for studies, training in vocational skills and music
classes. The extent of these activities is not clear, however, since they are not
compulsory. Vocational training is reported to be given by an NGO but is given
only once or twice a week so it seems to be largely paying lip-service to the idea.
At the place of safety, three or four children shared a room. There is some space
for recreational activities and a small number of the residents played either
cricket or volleyball, although this was not a particularly structured activity.
Observations during the visits showed that the boys sat around idly, chatting
and resting while others watched television. It is found that children were
largely left to their own devices, provided they did not create problems. The
timetable, which listed a wide range of activities, was only for the benefit of
visitors. In practice, the timetable has not been followed strictly. They are left to
themselves within the high-walled and double-gated compound. It was also
learnt from the responses of children that they used to get tobacco products and
even alcohol through their friends from outside, who used to throw them inside
the compound from the nearby buildings. It was observed that the place of
safety is surrounded by high buildings and the central part of the structure of
place of safety is open. However, in recent times the management of the homes
are making a roof for the open space in an attempt to prevent such acts.
When the researcher met him at the detention centre Pandey spoke
contemptuously about police officials as they had subjected him to brutal
beatings. The failure of the detention centre to provide any counselling or
mental health programmes or behaviour therapies make things worse,
leaving very little chance for any reformation of his behaviour by the time
he leaves the detention centre.
In another case, Arun, a 16-year-old boy, who had been apprehended
for an alleged murder case, narrates his experience at the hands of the
police: ‘I had been picked up from my home at midnight on false preten-
tion and was taken to the police station. I was kept in the police station
lock up for two consecutive days for questioning. I was beaten up by two
police men, filthy swear words were used to taunt me and forced to con-
fess that I have raped and murdered my aunt, though I pleaded that I
have not done the act; they made a fake charge sheet against me; pro-
duced me before the JJB and was detained at the observation home.’
In a similar vein, Manu, a 16-year-old boy from a fishing community,
gives an account of his own experience: ‘In a fight between my younger
brother and uncle, I intervened to stop my uncle from beating my
brother. Angered at my intervention, my uncle went to the police station
and lodged a false complaint, stating that I had encroached into his house
and physically assaulted him for money. Based on the complaint, I was
taken into custody. I was kept in the police lock up for one night and was
forced to accept the commission of the offence.’ The caregivers of the
observation home are also quite convinced of his innocence. Yet the boy,
who has been subjected to multiple deprivations, is undergoing a trial for
an offence which he is not reported to have committed. Where has the
system gone wrong?
Another inmate, Suresh, recalls his experiences with the police as a
nightmare:, ‘they slapped me, dragged me on the floor, threw me into the
police lock up, questioned me continuously for three days, made me stand
on my head, I was made to stand naked, hurt my penis, forced me to stand
and sit by placing laathis between my legs.’ Suresh was charged with a
murder which he swears he did not commit. Originally from Uttar Pradesh,
he has been living in Delhi with his family for several years. At the time of
his arrest he left schooling and was working as a security guard at a jewel-
lery shop. Speaking of his routine life he says, ‘I start my security work at
night, return home in the morning and sleep till 12 noon. In the after-
noon, I help my father at his small kiosk. I am back at the Jewellery shop
at six in the evening. My family and I live in a congested slum which has
tension. Gang fights, frequent violence and several deaths were reported.’
The police see apprehending adolescents and booking them on charges
of crimes as being the easiest way to solve a case. One of the media reports
from Delhi states that ‘The Delhi police has a history of rounding up
large numbers of kids in the 16–18-year-old age group and passing them
off as adults thereby forcing them to spend extended time in Tihar jail
amongst hardened criminals’ (http://www.rediff.com/news/column/
does-the-juvenile-justice-act-need-amendment/20140728.htm).
Yet another recent Right to Information (RTI) appeal done by HAQ
(a child’s rights organization based in Delhi; it is an Urdu word for rights)
showed that 114 kids in a span of eight months have been transferred
from Tihar jail to the Juvenile Justice Board because they were underage.
Similar age enquiries were pending for 1,247 kids. Most of these juve-
niles were arrested for robbery, theft and sexual assault which are not
small enough to be passed off as petty offences. The report also pointed
out that juveniles are being falsely accused in a growing number of rape
cases, but in fact between 70–80 per cent are cases of elopement (ibid.).
There is also very little documented proof regarding how many states
have really implemented the guideline of constituting special juvenile
police units in the states as per the structural format specified in the
model rules on juvenile justice law. Information on the website of the
Ministry of Women and Child Development shows that many states are
yet to implement the same. Even in states where it has been constituted,
these police officers deal with both the adults’ and children’s cases and
while dealing with children, therefore, there are chances that many of
their actions by habit turns out to be harsh. The experiences reported by
children substantiate and verify the same. Even though the Juvenile
Justice Law stipulates that the police act in the children’s best interests,
excerpts from children and other mini-studies and reports suggest that
their mindset still remains unchanged.
The results of the study highlight that though there are some sensitive
police officials, these are the exception. The general picture is quite disap-
pointing and a considerable number of children gave accounts of their
traumatic experience with the police. Ignorance and lack of training in
the police force in handling children stands as a stumbling block in ensur-
ing a child-friendly approach to these children. Although the law envis-
ages special juvenile police officers in every police station, in practice it is
a designated post with a general police officer in the station acting as
juvenile welfare officer when a child’s case arrives at the police station.
This often results in equal treatment for adults and children as they are
unable to differentiate the person who comes for adjudication. It is essen-
tial, therefore, that we develop a separate cadre of police officials to han-
dle cases involving children. Furthermore, to ensure the effectiveness and
efficiency of their services, adequate incentives should also be provided to
these officers by way of further training in established institutes either
within the country or overseas.
Unfortunately, the failure to implement the guidelines in its totality as
suggested in the law doubly victimizes these children, who are already
affected by various deprivations. As most of the children are first-time
offenders and happened to get involved in deviant acts due to their spe-
cific developmental features, they may be unable to withstand the physi-
cal and emotional trauma they may experience at the hands of the police.
This may prevent their restoration or reintegration and may contribute to
recidivism. The current situation therefore demands a close review of the

police treatment of juvenile justice cases and ways to render a sensitive
and just treatment to children who come into contact with the adjudica-
tion process with a prime focus on their restoration and resocialization
into society.
5.2 T
he Juvenile Justice Board and the Justice
System
The law stipulates that any child who is apprehended should be brought
before the Juvenile Justice Board within 24 hours of apprehension, and
that any case shall be completed within four months (JJ Act, 2000). The
law also lays out the constitution of JJBs in every district. However, data
from the field suggest a partial neglect by the states in this regard.
Secondary sources reveal that while all the revenue districts of Kerala had
constituted JJBs, in the other states in the study, viz., Tamil Nadu, Delhi,
Odisha had only eight, two and ten JJBs, respectively, to handle the cases
of children in conflict with law of thirty-two, nine and thirty districts. In
places where they did not have JJBs in every district, the cases of children
in conflict with law were handled by the JJBs of the neighbouring district
resulting in their automatic detention at the police lock-ups due to the
delay in producing the children before JJB within the stipulated time.
The state of Kerala, by contrast, has constituted JJBs in every district and
the cases were handled more quickly. In other states where there were
JJBs in operation, it was found that children were detained at the police
lock-ups for more than 24 hours under the pretext of questioning. This
happened, for example, in cases of murder and rape. Evidence shows that
many children reported to have had the experience of police lock-ups and
brutal questioning methods for about three to five days, either to elicit
truth from them or to make them accept the charges.
The observations on the physical ambience of JJBs and its sitting
depicted an intra- and interstate variance in the functioning of the boards.
While none reported about a witness box, a few JJBs, even in the absence
of a witness box, resembled a courtroom wherein children were made to
stand in the middle of the room, in front of the panel and respond to the
queries of the board, primarily the Magistrate. The entire atmosphere

resembled like that of any other courtroom, except for the fact that there
was no physical fencing. In the case of one or two JJBs, the panel was
even seated on an elevated podium. By contrast, the JJBs in Kerala fol-
lowed a much friendlier atmosphere wherein the child and those who
accompanied him or her were made to sit on chairs in front of the panel
and discuss the case and its progress in an informal and unstructured
manner. In addition, while most of the hearings were open to the public,
a few were closed to public. In Tamil Nadu, Orissa and Delhi, the atmo-
sphere was formal.
The children remained silent during the process; all of the questions
were posed to the legal advisor. In many instances, the children were bewil-
dered and did not comprehend what was happening. However, it is clear
from the silence observed by the children in front of the JJBs and the legal
advisor that children played no role in the adjudication process, except that
of mere presence and silence. Scott and Grisso (2005) elaborates three
broad types of abilities implicated under the Dusky standard for compe-
tence to stand trial: (a) a factual understanding of the proceedings (defen-
dant’s knowledge and awareness of the charges and his understanding of
available pleas, possible penalties, the general steps in the adjudication pro-
cess, the roles of various participants in the pre-trial and trial process, and
his rights as a defendant; (b) a rational understanding of the proceedings
(the defendant’s ability to comprehend the implications, relevance, or sig-
nificance of what they understand factually regarding the trial process; and
(c) the ability to assist counsel (the ability to receive and communicate
information adequately to allow counsel to prepare a defence (ibid.).
However, studies done by the MacArthur Network Foundation has proved
that children by virtue of their intellectual, psycho-social immaturity are
likely to undermine the understanding of the process and implications of
the trial, deficits in the defendant’s ability to respond to instructions or to
provide important information to his lawyer, such as a coherent account of
the events surrounding the offence (Mac Arthur Foundation, 2014).
The probation officers have a critical role to play in enabling the chil-
dren to participate effectively in the adjudication process. One of the
responsibilities of the probation officer to develop an individual care plan
for each child, mentoring, supervision, and reporting the progress of each
juvenile. However, the extent to which they were proactive and pro-
children is a matter of serious contention. Evidences and reports reveal
that most of the probation officers fail to act efficiently and effectively to
support the process and show a pathway for the reintegration of these
children into mainstream society. Responses from the children in the
detention centres revealed that the probation officers never approached
or interacted with them to understand their background or to ascertain
their version of the alleged offence. They were also ignorant about the
existence of any individual care plan prepared for their rehabilitation and
restoration into the society.
When interviewed, one of the probation officers commented that: ‘we
are entrusted with a number of other assignments which limit our time
for the prompt preparation of the social investigation report and care
plans for each and every child who enter into the system.’ It is also
observed that in some places there are an insufficient number of proba-
tion officers. Accordingly, in some instances, the district probation offi-
cer, who is already overburdened with the matters of adult prisoners, and
the supervision of various other welfare programmes of the Social Welfare
or Social Defence departments, are assigned with the duties related to
juvenile justice. The workload of the district probation officers often
make them unequipped to pay particular attention or to play a proactive
role in the case of children in conflict with law who require to be treated
in a different way. It also risks or delays the proper execution of their
roles related to children in conflict with law, including any social inves-
tigation report, the preparation of a care plan and adequate supervision.
In the case of probation officers appointed under the Juvenile Justice
system, a lack of commitment to children and inefficiency in preparing
various reports also stifles justice as well as proper rehabilitation and
reintegration of children in conflict with the law. In the process of
research, it was also observed that in most of the JJBs, the two social
workers who constituted the board (apart from the Magistrate) seemed
to have no specific role to play, their views were rarely entertained by the
Magistrate, who made all the decisions. A consultative and discussion
format in the decision-making process was quite absent in the board.
This suggests the need for either training or a clear specification of the
roles of social workers on the board and its meticulous implementation
in order to make the system more pro-children and to work in the best
interests of children.
It is one thing to create a friendly atmosphere at JJB; it is another thing,
probably most importantly, to make the proceedings and allied activities
more proficient and effective. In the former, the system seemed to have
made some progressive move. Nevertheless, in the latter, the system is still
found to be struggling. The absence of any adequate probation system and
the inadequate interaction between the children and the probation officer
highlight the limitations and inefficiency of the system. To achieve its
stated objective of reformation and rehabilitation of children, it is essential
to strengthen the role of probation officers, particularly their role of con-
stant interaction with children, for draw up the social investigation report
and the individual care plan. The prevailing situation calls for a separate
cadre of probation officers and even judicial magistrates with adequate
training for the administration of justice to children in conflict with law.
5.3 D
etention Centres and the Juvenile
Justice System
Article 37 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child
specifies that children should not be unlawfully or arbitrarily deprived of their
liberty which could be used as a measure of last resort and for the shortest
appropriate time. Even in the case of detention, the overarching aim should
be that of restoration, rehabilitation and reintegration of the children into
society. The detention centres are to play the role of a pathway for the chil-
dren in conflict with law in their journey towards reintegration into main-
stream society (United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989).
However, the system still seems to be thinking in terms of detention,
as its use is pervasive in a manner of common practice. It means a delay
in processing, resulting in the detention of juveniles in detention centres
for months together. The time limit of four months has not been strictly
adhered to dispose of enquiries. It is evident that the majority of children
wind their way through a full adjudicatory system unnecessarily and
spend most of their time in juvenile justice board hearings and in the
waiting hall with an adverse impact on their continuation of schooling
and the speedy resolution of the case.
The law directs for the establishment of a separate institutional struc-

ture for children in conflict with law, which include the institution of
short-term accommodation-observation homes that serves child popula-
tion who await the JJB hearing and long-term accommodation, special
homes and places of safety, designed to house and care children who are
found guilty or who are between the ages of 18 and 21 years (JJ Act,
2000). Each of these institutions is expected to play a bridging role
between the society and the child in conflict with law whereby they are
properly reintegrated into society. To facilitate a smooth transition of
children to the mainstream of society the Model rules 2016 elaborates
on the facilities to be provided to the children in detention centres for
their physical, mental, psychological, cognitive and spiritual develop-
ment. This spells out that children shall be classified and segregated
according to their gender and age; that the homes shall not look like jails
or lock-ups; that the daily routine shall provide, inter alia, for a regulated
and disciplined life, personal hygiene and cleanliness, physical exercise,
yoga, educational classes, vocational training, organized recreation and
games, value education, group activities, prayer and community singing
and special programmes for Sundays and holidays. It also has provisions
to refer such children as require specialized substance use prevention and
rehabilitation programmes to an appropriate centre administered by
qualified personnel where these programmes shall be adopted to the age,
gender and other specifications of the concerned child. The Rules also
mandate that every institution shall have the services of trained
counsellors or shall collaborate with external agencies such as child guid-
ance centres, psychology and psychiatric departments of hospitals or
similar government and non-governmental agencies, to provide special-
ized and regular individual therapy for every child in the institution; that
a mental health care plan shall be developed for every child by the child
welfare officers in consultation with mental health experts associated
with the institution and integrated into the individual care plan of the
concerned child; that every institution shall provide education to all
children according to the age and ability, both inside the institution or
outside, as per the requirement. Furthermore, every institution is to
provide gainful vocational training to children; that a provision of guided
recreation that include indoor and outdoor games, music, television,
picnics and outings, cultural programmes and library shall be made

available to all juveniles or children in the institutions.
However, evidence and excerpts from the interviews conducted with
children in detention centres suggests not only that detention has been
pervasive as a norm, but also that it fails in developing and implementing
appropriate care plans or road map for every child who enter into the
detention centres with the overarching aim to rehabilitate, restore and
reintegrate to the family and society. Micro-studies, evidences and litera-
ture are replete with gaps in the implementation of the law, both in its
absence of adequate facilities and infrastructure and also in its effort
to reform.
The narrative of Rohan in the detention centre for the ninth time throws light
to a great extent on the reality of the services provided by the detention centres
and its effectiveness in achieving the stated objectives of these centres. He says, ‘I
have been involved in 15–20 theft cases; apprehended and detained at the
observation home 9 times. I am turning 18 now and I am sure that if I engage
in any offences again I will be landing up in an adult prison.’
Rohan hails from a poor family in Central Delhi. The family lives in a
rented apartment. His older sister is a Catholic nun, his father is a driver and
mother a domestic worker to a number of households in the vicinity. There was
disruption in his family because of his alcoholic father’s violent temper.
According to Rohan, his father used to torture his mother. He narrates, ‘unable
to withstand such instances I used to get out of the house whenever father came
and used to spend my time along with a few friends in a village in South West
Delhi. We used to spend time chatting and smoking. These friends belonged to
different age groups and were also of similar vulnerabilities and deprivations’
Parents never bothered about him and he in turn never shared anything with
them too. He went home only to have his meals and to sleep. Rohan had no
respect for his father and so he did not heed his admonishments or advice. His
mother was a subdued person and Rohan lived life on his own terms. He was
suspended from school when he was in the 9th grade for conflicts and his violent
behaviour and subsequently he left home to live on his own.
Once living on his own it was a downward spiral to deviance. He was
involved in thefts and burglary from the age of 13. In a span of just 3 years, he
was involved in 15 thefts. This is a classic example of how a disrupted family
life pushed an adolescent to leave home and marked his initiation into offend-
ing behaviour. In this instance, if there have been family therapeutic care,
including addressing the dual abuse of father’s violence and aggressive behav-
iour of Rohan, it would have been a different narrative.
Speaking about his life he says, ‘I got involved in stealing and burglary from
my 13th year onwards. I, along with 5 others who were older than me, focussed
on DDA apartments to steal. We did a recce of the DDA apartment area and
marked houses where people have gone on vacations and then tried to loot the
house especially valuables, money and jewellery. We used to have a set of dupli-
cate keys that opened any lock with us apart from a few iron sticks. We used
either of these to open the doors and cupboards. Normally we go in a group of
three. While one keeps a watch, two of us get inside and loot. If someone comes
prior to completion of our mission, a warning signal would be given and we
escape. The money earned was spent on food, clothes, mobiles, alcohol and
drugs.’
He was apprehended for the first time when he was 15 years of age. He,
along with two others, looted a DDA apartment and stole about Rs.50000/-.
The owner lodged a complaint at the police station and the investigation led to
his apprehension, based on the sketchy information given by the local people.
He was apprehended, produced before the JJB and detained at the observation
home. His mother bailed him out after one week. The other persons were
absconding, however. Once outside he again, joined the gang by contacting
them over phone and continued their offending behaviour. He says, ‘Prior to the
current apprehension I was apprehended for similar offences of thefts and steal-
ing and was detained at the observation home for about eight times. This is my
ninth apprehension and subsequent detention at the observation home. Each
time I am detained my mother usually comes and takes me on bail within two
weeks. My father never used to come to bail me out. Hence I hate him.’
Speaking about the current apprehension and detention he cites, ‘One day
one of my friends and I were roaming in the neighbourhood of DDA apart-
ments in Delhi. We noticed an elderly couple locking their doors and going out.
The apartment was on the third floor.’ Rohan and his friends watched them get
into a car. Soon after, they went to their apartment and broke open the doors
and stole Rs.75000/-, a laptop and two gold chains. While they were coming
out with the booty a person who was going to the fourth floor saw them. He
became suspicious of the children’s strange behaviour. Moreover, they were not
residents of the apartment building. When questioned, Rohan and his friends
pushed the person and rushed downwards. Meanwhile, the residents shouted
and screamed which alerted the residents who chased and caught them. They
were beaten up by the people. The police was informed and they were taken to
the police station. They were later produced before one of the JJB members and
were subsequently detained at the observation home for the 9th time. The other
person, who was above 18 years, was taken into police custody.
This time his mother did not come either to see him or to take him on bail.
But he says, ‘She phoned the superintendent the other day and reported to have
told him that she will take me after one month provided I go to my sister’s place
in Faridabad and stay there.’ He is quite sure that she will come and take him
out as he says, ‘she loves me so much that she will come but want me to experi-
ence a harsh life inside so that never again I will do such things.’
Police have beaten him up whenever he was apprehended because of his
continuous involvement in offences and they have also used abusive language
against him. ‘I never used to say anything. Instead I used to accept and obey
whatever they say. Hence, the intensity of their torture is tolerable’, he cites
about his experience with them. He was produced before the JJB on nine occa-
sions, and on eight times he was bailed out. However, this time the magistrate
told him that if he gets bail and commits any offence and comes back he will be
sent to adult prison and not to any of the observation home. He is also quite
aware about it as he says, ‘I am turning 18 and if I engage in any offence again
I will land up in adult prison. Hence, I will not engage in any crime. Rather
go to my sister’s place and earn my livelihood. She has agreed to help and to find
a job and a place to stay,’ says Rohan.
Speaking about his experience at the detention centre, he says, ‘I spend my
time by chatting with two or three friends. I also share with others about the
things that I have done. I am quite familiar with all the security guards and
other officials of the home. They treat me quite well. In front of them I don’t
create any problem and instead they seek my assistance to solve issues between
children particularly fights between them.’ It is reported that there are frequent
quarrels and fights among the children causing even serious injuries. His ges-
tures and posturing reflected that of a bully and all others in the home showed
respect to him. It could also be observed that even the security persons showed a
differential treatment to him.
He had his own comments about everything in the detention centres. Speaking
generally about the home, he comments, ‘the caregivers severely beat up children
if they commit some mistakes. They provide educational classes but very few
attend them because it is really boring to sit listening to a teacher who talks
about alphabets and grammar. I have completed my ninth standard and how do
they expect me to sit there and listen to their teaching of alphabets. It is only to
show to visitors that they are giving us education.’ His opinion regarding voca-
tional training is also almost the same. Regarding his participation in the activi-
ties at the home he laughs, ‘I actually do not participate in any of these as
nothing of their programmes attracts me. I spend my time chatting with others.’
It is clear from his words that he sarcastically pushes aside all the activities meant
for the rehabilitation and restoration of children. He also admitted that he used
to smoke inside but was unwilling to disclose how he accessed the cigarettes.
On his future he says ‘I am sure this is my last chance and if I am involved
in any of these acts one more time I will be Tihar as I will be above 18 years.
Hence, I plan to shed my offending path and live a normal life by staying with
my nun sister who has agreed to support me.’
His narration is clear evidence that his detention on eight separate

occasions had absolutely no effect on his behaviour. It is clear that every
time he was released from the centre he went back to his life of crime. All
of the superintendents whom we interviewed confirmed that adolescents
involved in thefts reoffend. They also mentioned that a significant num-
ber of them started stealing as early as 12 or 13 years of age.
These are the words of Manikandan, a 16-year-old, who has been involved in
more than 30 theft cases and apprehended 10 times. ‘My father used to beat my
mother every day when he come home after having his drinks. I too used to have
fights with him and when neighbours interfered I used to shout at them in
abusive and derogatory language. I hate everyone.’
This is his 11th detention. Speaking about his engagement with offences, he
narrates, ‘I have 10–15 friends in the neighbourhood where I live. They are
between 18 and 20 years and we have common characteristics, like dropped out
of school, had familial problems and hailed from poor families. We used to have
regular alcohol drinks and brown sugar. We financed our addiction by pick-
pocketing. I was involved in more than 30 thefts but was apprehended only 10
times. Each time of apprehension and detention, my mother comes and bails me
out. But I rarely went home as it was a hell with frequent fights between my
parents. I spent most of my time with my friends on the streets. They are smarter
than me, they rarely get caught by the police.’ Commenting on his current appre-
hension and detention he says: ‘The incident leading to the present situation
occurred in the year 2011, when I tried to steal a motorbike from the railway
station. I was roaming around the railway station and found one motorbike
parked quite far away from the parking area and there was no one standing by
it. While I was trying to unlock the handle lock, a railway police officer noticed
me and apprehended me. I was charged and produced before the JJB and was
detained at the observation. Later, I was sent to special home after my conviction’.
He was a problematic child and the family was unable to manage him;
consequently, they excluded him emotionally from them and also from
the wider community. However, his behavioural problems were a result
of his experiencing family violence from a very young age. He grew up
witnessing verbal abuse and physical violence. The role models, which he
had observed from his childhood, were negative which naturally made
him view them as normal behaviour. The situation was exacerbated by
the absence of parental involvement and supervision. It is seen that even
the detention centres failed to restore and rehabilitate him. As seen from
his narratives, he has been apprehended on many occasions and spent
several years in detention, yet there were no positive changes in his behav-
iour. This poses a serious question about the effectiveness of the detention
centres and suggests the need for a review of the functioning of these
institutions. It is reported that during his detention in the observation
homes, he was given no serious counselling sessions, no group therapy
nor any sessions with his family.
Both of these above narratives, from Rohan and Manikandan, suggest
that non-reformation or restoration is a pervasive situation across most of
the detention centres in the four states. They raises two significant ques-
tions: What has failed the reformation of Rohan and Manikandan? And
why have they continued their involvement in offences? The partial
answer to the above could be found in a review of the services provided
by these institutions in restoring and rehabilitating the children that
come into conflict with the law.
It is clear from the interaction, secondary sources and research obser-
vations that although the law advocates the establishment of detention
centres in every district with the prime object of a close interaction
between child and immediate relatives, except for the state of Kerala,
none of the others in our study had established the same structure in
every district. Instead most of the states had one detention centre for a
cluster of districts. Tamil Nadu, Delhi and Odisha states have thirty-
two, nine and thirty districts, respectively but had respective totals of
only eight, three and three observation homes to house children who are
awaiting trial. For children who are found guilty, all states (with the
exception of Odisha) had only one special home each for boys and girls.
However, Odisha had three special homes which functioned as part of
the three observation homes. Such a small number of homes is likely to

cause congestion of homes, on the one hand, and improper management
on the other. The findings illustrate that the number of adolescents in
each centre varied between 2 and 108 children. The lowest number of
inmates were to be found in the observation homes of Kerala, which
reported a minimum of two and a maximum of eight across the centres.
This was mainly due to the fact that JJBs were concerned about the dis-
ruption in education if they were to be sent to the observation home and
therefore granted immediate bail to the children. Nevertheless, the situ-
ation of the observation homes in other states differed widely; it was
found that most of them housed more than 40 children which, at times,
went above the capacity. Five observation homes had between 60 and
100 residents, clearly a higher number than the sanctioned strength,
causing congestion and unhygienic conditions. It also meant that they
were understaffed. With respect to special homes in the study (with the
exception of Odisha) all the others had only one special home, which
housed between two and twenty children against the stipulated capacity
of fifty children. In contrast, the state of Odisha had three special homes
which functioned as part of the three observation homes of the state and
housed about four or five adolescents in each special home. It is inferred
from the figures given for special homes that the numbers of children
who are found guilty of the offence was comparatively lower across all
states under study. This meant that either the adolescents were falsely
charged or that they were found guilty of minor offences and were let off
with a warning.
The general picture of the homes is that most of them accommodated
children either in locked large dormitories or in rooms which accom-
modated four or five children. The majority of these dormitories were
used as multi-purpose halls, in addition, as recreation rooms, rest rooms,
dining halls and to dry laundry during the rainy season. Children were
only rarely allowed to step out of the locked-up dormitories or rooms in
most of the observation homes. There were also cells in most of the
homes to punish and isolate children who were viewed as aggressive and
troublesome. However, only in three homes were children found in
these cells. The overall situation, however, varied from one home to
another. It was quite appalling to observe that in the dormitory of two
observation homes in Odisha which accommodated between thirty and

forty children there were just two toilets.
The purpose of the detention centres was to restore them to the society
through the provision of a variety of services and individual care plans
which included educational, vocational skill training, mental health,
counselling, behavioural therapies, sessions with parents and other family
members. The law has been thoughtful, even in the name given to the
detention centres. It referred to the centre as a ‘home’, indicating that
children should have an experience of home than jail so as to avoid any
kind of mental and physical trauma that may act adversely for their res-
toration and rehabilitation. However, in reality, even the structure of
these homes failed to bear any resemblance to a home; they seemed much
more like a prison, with high walls and two to three iron gates manned
by several security personnel. Indeed, in one of the homes, the entire
structure is surrounded by security personnel armed with guns. Prima
facie, preventing the escape of children rather than reformation seemed
to be the ultimate aim of all these homes. It was same in the case of the
special homes. However, it showed a variance in Delhi, where four chil-
dren were locked in single rooms which could accomodate three to four
persons. They were permanently locked behind iron bars and were under
CCTV surveillance. Security personnel was deployed in front of the cell
to guard them. In Kerala, children in the special homes enjoyed better
freedom as one of them went to a higher secondary school outside the
premises of the home. He took the school bus in the morning and walked
back in the evening. This boy did not run away, even though he had every
opportunity to do so. He did not do so, as he felt cared for in the special
home. The superintendent of the special home gave him every possible
encouragement to study. The adolescent was undergoing therapy at the
psychiatric department of the government hospital for anger manage-
ment and dual dependency. He was keen to complete his high school and
to continue his university education. He wished to do graduation in
education as he wanted to be a schoolteacher. The superintendent men-
tioned that the Kerala state government had reserved seats in professional
courses in universities for children who are part of the juvenile justice
system and who would like to pursue higher education courses. In gen-
eral, however, the prevention of escape seemed to be the prime concern
of the homes, whether it be observation home or place of safety or special

homes. Accordingly, incarceration or under lock was the general trend
followed in all the homes.
5.3.1 Educational and Vocational Programme
A systematic and well-structured educational and vocational training pro-

gramme was generally missing from the detention centres of various states.
Nevertheless, in line with the law, all detention centres were trying to pro-
vide some educational programme. Its delivery, however, varied from one
state to another. In Kerala, for example, there were no educational pro-
grammes in the observation home as it was found unnecessary since most of
the children were granted bail within a week or two and avoided any real
disruption of their education and there were, in any event, only very few
children in the homes. Majority of the children were granted bail and their
parents were asked to produce the child at every hearing. In all other states,
however, education programmes were provided. But the question is: what
do they teach and what is the quality of the education provision? Do chil-
dren gain anything from it? And what relevance does it have in responding
to children’s educational aspirations? As seen from the profile of the children
in various detention centres, each centre accommodates children of various
ages and with different educational background, indicating a wide variance
in cognitive development and educational aspirations. Yet what most homes
provide is a uniform blanket provision, which included basics like learning
the alphabet, grammar and general knowledge. For most children who have
completed elementary education or higher grades, these offer nothing new.
There is no assessment test administered at the time of admission to assess
the children’s relative learning levels. It is presumed that all are illiterate.
Therefore, a significant number of residents do not bother to attend these
classes. As one remarks: ‘It is ridiculous to sit in the classes provided here. I
have completed my 10th grade and what is the use of sitting in a classroom
listening to alphabets and some stories at this age. It is useless and worthless.’
For most centres, it was a mere fulfilment of the guideline or a gap-
filling activity in the time schedule of the home in order to show to the
public what they provide to the children rather than the real intent of
reforming and rehabilitating them. Yet there are a few good examples
observed from a few detention centres wherein the superintendents
assessing the interests of the children have made provisions to continue
the regular education or getting a certificate of education by making
them appear for examination through non-formal educational streams.
As stated earlier, in the special home in Kerala a higher secondary student
is permitted to study in a regular higher secondary school outside the
home. The student can attend school and then return, thereby benefiting
from a good standard of academic studies. In the special home in Delhi,
one of the adolescents is continuing his higher secondary education pri-
vately and another is being supported to prepare for the 10th grade exam-
ination through NIOS. In Odisha, one student is being supported to
write his 10th year examination privately. Furthermore, in another of the
observation homes in Odisha children below the age of 12 years are pro-
vided regular classes based on the state school syllabus; they are made to
write state-level examinations but there are no documents to verify their
learning outcomes. It is learnt that in most of the observation homes
across the states children spent most of their time either sleeping or chat-
ting or watching TV or simply idling away their time.
The general picture was that the administrators of the centres were
mostly concerned about the prevention of escape by children rather than
addressing their educational aspirations and cognitive development. In
places where it existed at least in rudimentary form it was found to be
ineffective.
One reason cited for the ineffectiveness of the services in this regard is
that the education imparted does not correspond to the aspirations and
capacities of the children. It does not challenge their cognitive capacity.
Moreover, the teaching methods were also uninspiring and did not engage
the interest of children. Probably, more of discourse, debate and project
oriented learning with compulsory and mandatory attendance could
make the stay of the children in the observation home and special home
more productive. It is presumed that facilitating issue-based discourse
and debate could make the classes more attractive, interesting and enrich-
ing. Similarly, an effort to assess and identify the capacity and interest of
each child and thereby provide a tailored programme in a systematic
manner was quite absent from all homes.
One limitation of the system at present is that participation in many

of the activities is left to the children’s choice. Many of these children
need routine and discipline in their lives as most have lived life outside
the family; those who did live within a family structure were unsuper-
vised and largely left to their own devices. Such a strategy will also be
instrumental in teaching children the importance of following rules, dis-
cipline and routine in their lives.
The situation is almost same with regard to vocational training pro-
grammes. None of the observation homes and special homes in the states
in the study provided effective vocational training programme which
showed a pathway to earn a future livelihood once they have returned to
society. Most of the superintendents and caregivers claimed that they pro-
vide adequate vocational training. Yet observations and interactions suggest
otherwise. Several questions need to be asked to seek an answer with respect
to vocational training in the detention centres: What skills are taught? How
useful are they? Has there been any study to ascertain how many of the
adolescents on leaving the detention centres have gainfully used this train-
ing? The provision of vocational training varied from state to state. In
Kerala, none of the observation homes provided any vocational training
programmes as the stay of children in the homes were short. In Odisha, it
was mentioned that a tailoring course was offered. In Tamil Nadu, observa-
tion homes provide no vocational training, but special homes provide voca-
tional training in computing, electrical wiring, motorcycle repair, drawing
and tailoring. In Delhi, observation homes, special homes and places of
safety deliver training in tailoring, culinary and automobile repair through
the services of certain NGOs. However, it is inferred from the observations
and responses of children that most of these were only an effort to keep
them occupied rather than a genuine attempt to give them a skill that
would help them earn a living. It is thus evident that vocational training,
which has been identified as one of the principal means to rehabilitate chil-
dren in conflict with law, has been either rudimentary or entirely absent in
all detention centres. Wherever it is reported, it was more of a guideline
fulfilment than a real commitment to the benefit of the children.
Any educational programme provided should be tailored to the needs
and capacities of children. However, homes lack a proper assessment of
the needs and interests of children, which naturally leads to the failure of
any programme they may have in place. The authorities’ inability to name
any child who has been rehabilitated or restored or reintegrated into fam-
ily or society after having left the detention centre speaks volumes about
the failure of the educational and vocational training programmes.
When science says that children are amenable and can be rehabilitated
it does not mean that this will happen automatically. What it does mean
is that they need to be adequately supported, with worthwhile pro-
grammes and relevant interventions. However, the information from the
field, as seen above, highlights that the system has failed to achieve a bare
minimum result in this regard, a situation which merits a serious review
and a re-examination of the functioning of the various detention centres
under the juvenile justice system.
The rehabilitation and restoration of adolescents into society is impos-
sible without their proper behaviour modification through various inter-
ventions such as mental health, counselling, behavioural therapies and
drug and alcohol rehabilitation services to address problems around medi-
cation. However, it can never be a blanket application and should be tai-
lored for the needs of each individual. The individual care plan, as suggested
by the law, is expected to include such intervention if required. However,
the failure to prepare and administer an individual care plan for each child,
whether in detention centre or on bail, is a serious limitation Observations
and interactions revealed that none of the centres in our study provided
any of the services cited above. In two observation homes, the superinten-
dents and caretakers mentioned about the provision of counselling services.
The probation officers with whom the researchers had interaction also
confirmed the absence of an individual care plan for each child. Many of
them suggested that they were overburdened with a number of tasks,
which restricted their ability to prepare individual care plans for children
in observation and special homes. In the words of one of them: ‘We are
quite aware that if the provisions of the law are implemented effectively,
it could to a large extent contribute to the reformation and rehabilitation
of children. But lack of time, lack of adequate facilities and committed
and qualified staff in the home restricts the results.’
The role of superintendents, caregivers and welfare officers are all
pivotal to the achievement of the objects of the law, particularly the
reformation and rehabilitation of the children. Unfortunately, all of them
confine their role to mere administrative and security aspects. Many con-
sider their appointment in homes as punishments. Similarly, a few of the
appointments, other than the superintendents, are temporary, which lim-
its their commitment to the assigned roles. Developing a separate cadre of
officials across the different agencies related to the juvenile justice system
is therefore essential to make it work as a system. Anecdotes from one of
the special homes show that the creative intervention strategies adopted
by the concerned superintendent, who is a trained psychologist, has
proved to be successful in reforming the lives of many children. Narrating
his experience with children, the superintendent says: ‘I don’t do anything
special. I just show my concern to every problem they share with me.
Moreover, I spend a good deal of time listening to them, mingling with
them, encouraging when they do something good and showing displea-
sure through gestures when they do something wrong. Being present
amongst them distances them from indulging in misbehaviour. I encour-
age them to learn a trade. Today most of the children in special home in
Tamil Nadu are engaged in trades like electrical repair, electrical wiring
and motorbike repairing. Those who show interest in studies are encour-
aged and made to enrol in NIOS and write their exams. I try to listen to
their aspiration and try to assist them staying within my limits and getting
the support of the department as well as well-wishers in the community.’
These words of the superintendent denote that the interest and com-
mitment of the officials could work wonders in the lives of the children.
As most of the children detained in special homes and observation homes
are those who had a neglected and deprived childhood, the feeling that
someone cares for them, brings about a great deal of change in them.
Juvenile detention needs a new focus and a new rationale. The detention
period ought to be used to begin to draw together resources necessary for
constructive change, whether or not the juvenile is convicted. There is
abundant evidence that detention has failed as an isolated interlude between
those more dramatic parts of the juvenile justice system: arrest and trial or
disposition. Society in general, and the JJ system in particular, fails to per-
ceive or address the problem of juvenile delinquency in a holistic manner.
The results of the study have shown that there is no single reason why
children fall prey to offences. Multiple factors related to families, schools,
neighbourhood and peer groups are to blame for children going astray.
However, this does not mean that nothing works in the case of these
children. Success stories reported from ECHO Bangalore and Butterflies
Delhi maintain the stand that children can be reformed and rehabilitated,
if provided with a robust and practical, supportive mechanism to address
the psychological and developmental needs of children. ECHO, which
runs a government observation home in Karnataka, has assisted a number
of children in conflict with law through legal aid, counselling, vocational
training (Traffic warden, computer education) and job placement, to set-
tle in their lives (http://echoindia.org/). Similarly, ever since 2009,
Butterflies, at the request of the Delhi High Court, have been involved in
delivering a programme for children in conflict with the law in one of the
observation homes in Delhi. The programme included sessions in life
skills, sports and recreation and children’s committees. In addition, the
organization also conducts follow-ups on the released children who suffer
from emotional imbalances, loneliness and depression. Children are also
provided counselling, guidance in continuing education and vocational
support. Interested children among them are invited to join the profes-
sional culinary training course at the Butterflies School of Culinary and
Catering (BSCC). We have also initiated family therapeutic intervention
programmes for these children and their families. Observations of the
interventions show that the majority of the children who have been sup-
ported take their lives seriously and strive to live a law-abiding life.
Underlying the importance of home visits and the success of community-
based supervision, the study in the USA argues that ‘community-based
supervision is effective as a component of aftercare for youth who have
committed serious offences, and offenders who receive community-based
services following incarceration are more likely to attend school, go to
work, and reduce offending’ (Mulvey, P.E.www.prisonpolicy.org).
5.4 Restorative Justice: A Way Forward

The world today is therefore more concerned with the question of appro-
priate justice. They make their discourses concluded by stating that the
justice process should be more about restoration than retribution.
Restorative justice means to restore or make restitution, that is, to bring
back to an original condition or to put (someone) back in a former posi-

tion. It is centrally concerned with restoration: restoration of the victim;
restoration of the offender to a law-abiding life; and restoration of the
damage caused by offence to the community. Restoration is not solely
backward-looking; it is equally, if not more, concerned with the con-
struction of a better society in the present and the future. According to
Braithwaite, ‘restorative justice is a process where all stakeholders affected
by an injustice have an opportunity to discuss how they have been affected
by the injustice and to decide what should be done to repair the harm.
With crime, restorative justice is about the idea that because crime hurts,
justice should heal. It follows that conversations with those who have
been hurt and with those who have inflicted the harm must be central to
the process’ (Braithwaite, 2004).
It is a problem-solving approach to the offence which involves the par-
ties themselves along with the general community, in an active relation-
ship with statutory agencies. It is not any particular practice, but a set of
principles which may orient the general practice of any agency or group
in relation to an offence. Recognizing the effectiveness of restorative jus-
tice, currently an increasing number of countries have been trying to
introduce and incorporate restorative elements into their justice system.
In USA, the New York Juvenile Justice Initiate has adopted three
intensive community-based therapeutic programmes to restore children
involved in offences. These are: (a) Functional family therapy (FFT),
wherein a small team of highly trained therapists provides therapy to the
entire family, which includes engaging and motivating young people and
their families; Developing and implementing long-term behaviour plans
for each family member; and Strengthening families’ capacities to utilize
community resources; (b) Multi-systemic therapy (MST), where thera-
pists use cognitive, behavioural and family therapies to address issues
relating to substance use, family dysfunction, negative peer influences
and poor school attachment; and (c) Multi-dimensional Treatment Foster
Care (MTFC), where children are placed with a specially trained foster
family which becomes, alongside a family therapist, part of the young
person’s therapeutic treatment team. The goal is to prepare the parents for
their child’s return home while increasing positive relationships in
the family.
Another initiative, called the ‘Blue Sky Pilot Project’, utilizes all three
interventions described above as a continuum. Children may move from
one to another and back again, depending on the child and family’s needs
and their response to each programme. Each child is given a standard
probation order and is allocated to one of the programmes based on an
assessment of their probation report and the risk of reoffending
(PRI, 2014).
In England and Wales, under the Youth Rehabilitation Order (YRO),
courts are required to consider two high-intensity requirements, Intensive
Supervision and Surveillance and Intensive Fostering, as alternatives to
custody for the most serious offenders. The Anti-Social Behaviour Act
2003 introduced Intensive Fostering, whereby courts can require young
offenders to reside with a foster family for up to twelve months in cases
where their offending behaviour was largely attributable to home circum-
stances and lifestyle. Young people are awarded points for good behaviour
in return for certain privileges, such as watching television. The foster
placement is accompanied by intensive supervision and support for the
young person, with social workers, family therapists and liaison officers
on call. In 2013, this extended to many states. The evaluation of the pro-
gramme claims that young people in Intensive Fostering are five times
less likely to reoffend than those sentenced to custody; he believes the
programme offers good value for money and that this would increase if it
could be scaled up (ibid.).
Another initiative known as Harmful Sexual Behaviour Project
(HSBP), which is run through the Ministry of Justice, UK, is for children
aged between 12 and 17 years of age who are charged or convicted of
harmful sexual behaviour, as well as those who have been identified as at
risk of committing sexually harmful behaviour. The stated aims of the
project include reductions in the harm caused to children and vulnerable
adults by sexual offences, in criminal prosecutions for sex offences com-
mitted by youths and in the costs associated with remand and custody. It
also aims to build the capacity, skills and expertise of staff and to reduce
the delay of responses in order to prevent escalation of behaviour.
Her Majesty’s Prison (HMP) Grendon in the UK offers another exper-
iment in rehabilitation, providing specialist intervention for prisoners
with moderate to severe personality disorders and complex emotional
and other problems. Grendon provides a structured programme which

makes therapy part of everyday life. This includes small group therapy (of
about eight members), full community meetings (that feed into the day-
to-day running of the community), feedback sessions, special groups,
complementary therapies and business and sensitivity meetings.
Treatment encourages a safe, respectful environment where people learn
as they live and actively monitor the behaviour of all members (ibid.).
Canada follows Intensive Rehabilitative Custody and Supervision
(IRCS) to provide a therapeutic sentencing option under the Youth
Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) for youth suffering from a mental illness or
disorder, a psychological disorder or an emotional disturbance and who
are convicted of a serious violent offence (murder, attempted murder,
manslaughter or aggravated sexual assault).
The justice system for children in Northern Ireland is centred on the
principle of restorative justice, built around a mainstream, statutory-
based youth conferencing system which introduced under the Justice
(Northern Ireland) Act 2002. The system relies upon the use of ‘youth
conferences’ at which the victim and the victim’s supporters (or victim
representatives) are brought together with the offender and offender’s
supporters in a structured meeting facilitated by professionals. All
participants have an opportunity to speak at the conference, in order to
fully discuss the offence and its repercussions, and to agree on an action
plan for the offender. In the case of serious offences, the process is over-
seen by a Priority Youth Offender Team. The child is supervised inten-
sively, with contact up to seven days a week, and helped to complete their
restorative plans through an approach known as ‘circles of support and
accountability’ (ibid.).
In South Africa, the Child Justice Act (75 of 2008) 2010 establishes a
distinct procedure for children in conflict with the law, providing numer-
ous safeguards to limit their exposure to the possible harmful effects of
prosecution and detention. Section 53 of the Child Justice Act provides
an extensive list of diversionary measures, which can be applied depend-
ing on the seriousness of the offence. For less serious offences (such as
common assault without bodily harm, contempt of court, blasphemy,
defamation and trespass), responses can include oral or written apologies,
formal cautions, supervision and guidance orders, compulsory school
attendance, family time orders, peer association orders, good behaviour

orders and referrals to counselling or therapy. In response to more serious
offences (including murder, arson, kidnapping or abduction, sexual
offences and human trafficking), diversion options include: (a) compul-
sory attendance at a specified centre or place for a specified vocational,
educational or therapeutic purpose, which may include a period or peri-
ods of temporary residence; (b) referral to intensive therapy to treat or
manage problems that have been identified as a cause of the child coming
into conflict with the law, which may include a period or periods of tem-
porary residence; and (c) placement under the supervision of a probation
officer on conditions which may include restriction of movement…
without the prior written approval of the probation officer (ibid.).
In Finland, children are detained on only very rare occasions: there
were only six children in detention in 2008, three in 2007 and just two
in 2002. The data reveal a complex picture in which large percentages of
children and young people in Finland are placed in secure facilities, but
within settings that are welfare-based rather than labelled as custody or
imprisonment By viewing offences as a symptom of broader social prob-
lems and evidence of individual emotional or behavioural issues, Finland
avoids criminalizing and incarcerating their youth, instead taking a
rehabilitation- and treatment-based approach to offending by young peo-
ple. Perhaps surprisingly, Finland does remove a significant number of
children from their homes, and places them in a broad range of facilities,
including special psychiatric units, youth detox clinics, shelters, reforma-
tories and foster care. As such, the Finns have a low rate of imprisonment,
but a high degree of involvement in the lives of young people (ibid.). This
can be problematic, as the decision to remove a child from his or her fam-
ily rest with the state, which can be misused, thereby impinging on the
right of the child to remain with her family.
In Austria, the idea to promote compensation by the offender to the
victim has been a long tradition. The institution of so-called active repen-
tance was established in the criminal code in 1787 and is still in force for
offences explicitly mentioned in the code, especially in the case of offences
against property. If the offender manifests repentance by compensation
or reparation of the overall damage resulting from the offence, no punish-
ment shall be imposed (MoJL, 2010).
In Italy, the Juvenile Justice Department of the Ministry of Justice has

started to support systematic mediation practices. Juvenile criminal
mediation is initiated mainly on the basis of the assessment of the offend-
er’s personality. Mediation can be used from the pre-trial phase of inves-
tigation or could be used during the court proceeding by the judge. In
2008, a guideline was issued to regulate the mediation services. The
guidelines clarify and guide in systematization of practices, mediation
services, the mediation process, documentation and coordination (ibid.).
Ireland follows two methods of juvenile diversion which are conducted
by the Irish national police force and by the probation service.
(1) A juvenile liaison officer scheme has been in existence since 1963
for diverting juveniles on a non-statutory basis. (2) The Children Act
(2001) places diversion programmes on a statutory basis. The Act created
the position of Director of Diversion programme for co-ordinating the
diversion services. Section 18 of the Children’s Act provides that every
child under 18 years of age shall be considered for admission to the diver-
sion programme provided that the juvenile accepts responsibility for
offending behaviour and consents to participate. The mediation process
mentioned in the Act included family conference (Sec. 78), restorative
caution (Sec. 26) restorative conference Sec. 29) (ibid.)
In the Czech Republic, according to the Youth Justice Act (2004),
criminal liability starts at the age of 15 and a juvenile is a person who is
between 15 and 18 years of age. According to the act, the Probation and
Mediation Service (PMS) Officer has to receive special training on meth-
ods of working with juveniles their families and on cooperating with
other professionals. Measures (protective, education and penal) are intro-
duced to replace punishments. The PMS also uses activities aimed at the
settlement of harms when mediation cannot be carried out (ibid.).
In Croatia, the Juvenile Justice Act (2001) introduced a pre-trial pro-
cedure based on the principle of opportunity. According to this, the pub-
lic prosecutor for minors may decide not to request criminal proceedings
be instituted for criminal offences punishable by detention. It should be
based on public prosecutors’ estimation. Victim–offender mediation was
promoted in Croatia through the project Alternative Interventions for
Juvenile Offenders’ out of court settlement developed by the Ministry of
Health and Social welfare (ibid.).
In China, the Juvenile Protection Law of 1991 expanded juvenile

rights to include confidentiality and private courts. Most of the police
serve as social workers who visit the homes and schools of troubled youth.
Police are also trained in counselling and mediation, and will a juvenile
be taken into custody only if a serious crime is committed.
Community-based supervision is found to be effective for youth who
have committed serious offences, and offenders who receive community-
based services either following incarceration or without it are more likely
to attend school, go to work, and reduce offending. Increasing the dura-
tion of community supervision reduced reported reoffending. In addi-
tion, although returning offenders, generally received supervision only,
rather than treatment, the research showed that in the six months follow-
ing their release, youth who were involved in community-based services
were more likely to avoid further involvement with the juvenile justice
system (Chung, Schubert, & Mulvey, 2007).
Similarly, substance abuse treatment reduces both substance use and
criminal offending, at least in the short term. Research has consistently
shown that substance use among adolescents is linked to serious juvenile
offending. The adolescent offenders profiled in the Pathways to Desistance
study reported very high levels of substance use and related problems.
This was linked to other illegal activities engaged in by the study partici-
pants and it is a strong, prevalent predictor of offending. The presence of
a drug or alcohol disorder and the level of substance use were both shown
to be strongly and independently related to the level of self-reported
offending and the number of arrests (Mulvey, Schubert & Chassin,
2010). The good news, however, is that treatment appears to reduce the
levels of both substance use and offending. Youths whose treatment lasted
longer and included significant family involvement showed significant
reductions in alcohol use, marijuana use, and offending (Chassin, Knight,
Vargas-Chanes, Losoya, & Naranjo, 2009).
Evidences from various studies across Western countries and many
other countries that implemented restorative justice have shown that it
has reduced recidivism among the adolescents and that it has resulted in
the easy and effective reintegration of children into society. It is quite
dismaying to note that while the whole world is moving towards the
promotion of restorative justice, even for adult criminals, India, which is
trying to match the developed nations on the economic front, is unen-

thusiastic with regard to delivering restorative justice. The recent Juvenile
Justice Act 2015, passed in the Indian parliament, includes several provi-
sions which revert the system to retributive justice rather than restorative
justice, harsh punishment rather than humane treatment.
The discussion, discourse and debate about the juvenile justice system
should centre therefore on being more reformative rather than more
reformative. It is observed that detention should be replaced with com-
munity service, victim offender mediation and the increased use of pro-
bation service. Such means are likely to make them more accountable for
their acts. Detention should be resorted to only at a bare minimum level.
In the case of children in detention centres a workable strategy of reha-
bilitation should be designed for each child and discharged through a
strict adherence to the individual care plan. Rehabilitation measures
should include strategies such as individualized care plans, medical and
psychiatric treatment, intensive individual counselling, specialized refer-
ral services (e.g., for a juvenile with special needs—special education,
pregnancy and childcare service for girls, de-addiction programmes, sex
education, dealing with addiction to pornography, and behaviour modi-
fication to help juveniles disengage from gangs and peers). Structured life
skills programmes focused on anger management, understanding and
expressing sexuality in safe, healthy and socially acceptable ways, building
a positive self-image, self-esteem, empathy and forgiveness for self, vic-
tim, family and others, family counselling for significant others in the
juvenile’s family, parenting skills, educational, vocational and
employment-based interventions, monitoring, review of progress by a
multidisciplinary team, follow-up and support services post-release and
mainstreaming (NLSU) should be mandated and tailored for the chil-
dren in detention.
The concept of restorative justice, in terms of diversion, community
services, victim offender mediation, family conferences and group ther-
apy, is not fully appreciated across the country. Information on any such
efforts could not be identified during the research, indicating that the
system continues to be custodial in nature. This is the case when coun-
tries in the West and Asia today hold restorative justice as more effective
not only in reforming, but also even in reducing rates of recidivism.
The significance of restorative justice doubles as studies have proven

that incarceration is not the most appropriate or effective option, even
for many of the most serious adolescent offenders. Longer stays in juve-
nile facilities do not reduce offending levels; indeed, institutional place-
ment even raised offending levels in those with the lowest level of
offending. Youth who received community-based supervision and after-
care services were more likely to attend school, go to work, and avoid
further offending.
The study further states that given that community-based supervision
may reduce offending and promote pro-social attitudes and behaviours,
and that continued substance abuse treatment may be needed to prevent
long-term relapses, integrating substance abuse treatment into
community-based services may realize greater benefits in terms of reduc-
ing serious adolescent offending while providing more efficient and effec-
tive delivery of services (OJJDP). What is required at this juncture,
therefore, is to move the law forward by making it more restorative in
nature; this will, in turn, ensure dignity to the person and make him or
her responsible for every action which he or she commits.
References
Braithwaite, J. (2004). Restorative justice: Theories and worries (Resource Materials
Series, No. 63) (pp. 47–56). http://www.ncjrs.gov/app/publications.
Chassin, L., Knight, G., Vargas-Chanes, D., Losoya, S., & Naranjo, D. (2009).
Substance use treatment outcomes in a sample of male serious juvenile
offenders. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 36, 183–194.
Chung, L., Schubert, C. A., & Mulvey, E. P. (2007). An empirical portrait of
community re-entry among serious juvenile offenders in two metropolitan
cities. Criminal Justice and Behaviour, 34(11), 1402–1426.
Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act of 2000. Retrieved from http://wcd.
nic.in/childprot/jjactactrules2007.pdf.
Mac Arthur Foundation. (2014). Less guilty by reason of adolescence. MacArthur
Foundation Research Network on Adolescent Development and Juvenile
Justice. Retrieved from www.adjj.org.
Ministry of Justice and Law Enforcement (MoJL). (2010). European best prac-
tices of restorative justice in criminal procedure. Budapest: Republic of Hungry.
Mulvey, E. P., Schubert, C. A., & Chassin, L. (2010). Substance use and offending
in serious adolescent offenders. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice,
Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
Prevention.
Penal Reform International (PRI). (2014). When the crime overshadows the child:
International standards and national practice in reconciling serious crime and
childhood. PRI & UNICEF.
Scott, E. S., & Grisso, T. (2005). Developmental incompetence, due process,
and juvenile justice policy. North Carolina Law Review, 83, 793–845.
United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. (1989). Retrieved from
http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/pdf/crc.pdf.
6
Summary and Conclusions
Globally, children in conflict with the law is a subject of heated debate and
discourse. It tends to overreact when a serious offence occurs and the dis-
cussions and debates which succeed it suggest that these adolescents may
pose a threat to the fabric of society. There are no absolute and error-free
statistics on children in conflict with the law, to substantiate whether or
not the offences by children are increasing. The only available official sta-
tistics from the NCRB, however, do not depict a marked hype in their
commission of offences as it formed only 1.2% of the total IPC crimes, a
figure which has remained broadly the same over the past three years.
Moreover, quoting NCRB data to establish the increase in crimes will be
erroneous because it is based on an FIR (of those who are accused) rather
than the figure of those who are found guilty. Several figures reported in
NCRB statistics 2015 question the accuracy of the data collected. For
example, 48 children have been apprehended for ‘breach of trust’ and five
children under the ‘Essential Commodities Act 1955’. In both of these
cases, a person below 18 years cannot be booked. In several of the regis-
tered cases, it is quite difficult to believe that a child under the age of 12
years could perform those acts. Many are sceptical, wondering if they
really are in conflict with the law: are they perhaps victims who got wrongly

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-16589-5_6
documented as offenders? These discrepancies point to the lack of clarity

in documenting a child as an offender. Concerns are also raised regarding
the underreporting of cases as a result of political pressure and states fail-
ing to furnish data whereby states that furnished are projected as juvenile
crime hubs. The above indicates that the nation is yet to develop a proper
mechanism to ensure appropriate data-gathering methods in order to pro-
vide flawless and unbiased data concerning crimes committed by children
(Asha Mukundan, 2016). Yet recent times have seen an upsurge in the
cries by the media and a segment of the population now call for the harsher
punishment of children in conflict with the law with the misconception
that there has been an increase in the number of serious and heinous
offences committed by children.
The findings from the empirical study suggest that although children
from all economic groups involve themselves in offending acts, the juve-
nile justice system is disproportionately populated by children from
lower-income groups. Those from the upper class generally escape the
adjudication process through out-of-court settlements, giving an impres-
sion that only children from lower socio-economic strata are involved in
offending acts. Thus, those who reach the adjudication process are chil-
dren who are ‘made voiceless’ due to their multiple deprivations, includ-
ing inadequate housing, parenting, care and protection, education,
employment and caste discrimination.
The narratives of the 605 children interviewed make clear that the
roots of deviance lie not with children, but on those who failed in their
role to socialize them to pro-social values and norms. The family’s role
and responsibility in creating an environment of care and protection for
children is fundamental in this respect. No child is born a criminal; he or
she is influenced and socialized by his or her immediate environment.
Most of the children apprehended came from disrupted families, and had
little attachment to their parents. Within such families, parents found
little time to involve themselves with their children as they had to strug-
gle to provide life’s basic necessities. Contrary to the above, the children
of those who belong to the well-off sections of society are facing a differ-
ent kind of problem. Their parents may tend to be unaware of their chil-
dren’s activities because of their full engagement in their jobs. Their work
pressure and desire for career advancement leave them with less time to
6 Summary and Conclusions 235
be involved with their children. These pressures have an adverse impact

on the lives of their children. Violence experienced by children in their
lives made them react in a negative manner. All of them had deep resent-
ment against their parents at one level and at another they were the only
anchor in their lives. Working parents were unable to contain their anger
because of reasons such as a poor work–life balance, a lack of sleep and
even health conditions such as Vitamin D and micro-nutrient deficiency
and thyroid disorders. Given all of these pressures, they vent their anger
on the most vulnerable member of the family: the child. For their part,
the child often copes with his or her parent’s aggressive behaviour by
throwing tantrums and disobeying instructions, actions which may
worsen in later years. Angry parents create angry children. If the father is
violent, there is a higher chance of the child also being violent (Menon,
2016). Family therapeutic care is one way to make the family stable.
These may involve anger management therapy for parents and, in some
cases, children, and treatment to tackle drug and alcohol rehabilitation.
However, in families where the protective factors such as parents who
demonstrate love and care for their children, who are involved in chil-
dren’s activities, and who monitor and supervise their children’s behav-
iours and who attend parent–teacher meetings at schools were less likely
to be truant or a dropout or to drift into deviance.
Disengagement with schools and education also contributes to pushing
children into risky behaviours. Keeping them engaged in school for a lon-
ger time protects them from interaction with deviant groups. However,
interactions with the children in detention centres highlight the fact that
schools have failed to provide adequate infrastructure facilities, quality
education, play and sports, and proactive and enriching teaching. Even
though the Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009 states that
it is the right of every child to get free and compulsory education up to the
age of 14 years, but the majority of the children in detention centres could
not enjoy this right. It was not the issue of accessibility, but the experiences
of humiliation and alienation in the school that pushed these children out
of the schools. Schools can make an immense contribution to the success-
ful development of children by providing resources and developing coop-
erative social relations and psychological skills. They are expected to
reinforce appropriate social and classroom behaviour which will reduce
early aggressive behaviour and will change the developmental trajectory,

leading to multiple problems later. Schools promoting structured recre-
ation, vocational and life skills, entrepreneurship and education during
non-school times have the potential to lower substance abuse, school drop-
out, conflicts and violence. Teachers have a pivotal role to play in the lives
of each and every child. At present, however, it seems that although they
have undergone basic training in communication and counselling, they fail
to engage with children through conversations to understand them, their
problems and their inner world of thoughts and emotions. Teachers should
be given regular refresher courses on communication and counselling
skills. They should also be trained in conflict resolution skills, which will
assist them in dealing with conflicts that arise between students. Moreover,
the thoughts, actions and problems of children are so different today that
children often require professional assistance. Teachers who are primarily
engaged in academic work tend to concentrate on the academic achieve-
ments of the student and are disconnected with the child’s social and emo-
tional well-being. Trained and qualified counsellors are part of the school
faculty in some but not all private schools, but they are not present in the
majority of government schools. The teacher training curriculum should
include basic instructions in counselling and communication. It is learnt
that teachers who care about students and demonstrate concern for their
students’ social, emotional and academic growth also help to ensure their
successful development. Every child needs a significant adult in their lives:
A person who mentors, guides and supports the child in his/her growth
and development. The teachers have a significant role to play in the lives of
children. When children are prepared for school, succeed in school, and
are committed to the education system, they are less likely to become devi-
ants. The school is one of the significant socializing institutions in a child’s
development.
Mass and social media expose children to unfiltered information on
violence, sex, pornography, sexual messages, and crime extensively.
Prolonged and repeated exposure to these could encourage and lead
young people to these acts. The social learning theory suggests that chil-
dren learn by watching, imitating and assimilation. There is a violent act
on television every six minutes, which can cause teens to lack empathy
for other humans. In many cases, the hero in a television series or film
will commit a violent act in the name of good. This portrays violence as
acceptable, rather than something that teens should avoid (Davidson,
2017). Similarly, a child who views the above content is six times more
likely to try them than a child whose parents make sure to block some
sites. The use of social media by children is prevalent across all classes.
They are hooked on to Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and other such
applications which is also a factor in children experimenting with vio-
lence, the abuse of friends and the exclusion of some from the social
network. There is extensive research done on this subject in the USA and
Europe, which makes it evident that we need to address this with
urgency in India.
Migration of both or either parents to other countries and provinces
of the nation handicaps appropriate parenting to children. It has been
shown that the absence of husbands or fathers due to migration may (or
can) have an influence on children’s behaviours. The left-behind wives of
male migrants in the Gulf reported considerable ‘insecurity’ (32.6%),
‘loneliness’ (85.8%), ‘added responsibilities’ (86.7%) and ‘difficulties in
bringing up children alone’ (38.6%) (Zachariah & Irudaya Rajan, 2009).
In houses where the mother is absent, girls may face comparatively
higher problems.
Communities in the past were places of simplicity, social bonding and
close interaction between members. It acted as an agent of virtual super-
vision on its members, including children. However, present-day com-
munities are changing rapidly. They have limited interaction and have
become more withdrawn. Children who had previously engaged in com-
munity activities, sports or cultural are now spending an increased
amount of time in the virtual world.
The nature of the offences committed by adolescents show that the
majority of them become involved in property-related offences. The
numbers of those involved in serious offences, such as murder or rape,
were comparatively low. It is also observed that those who were involved
in such serious offences were first-time offenders and got into these
activities primarily due to their impulsiveness, adventurism or by their
unique developmental characteristics. Many of them are there because of
the exploitation by adults for their own selfish interests or are
falsely accused.
While these are the facts about children’s involvement in offences or

deviances, who should be punished or held culpable? Are the children
solely responsible? Although it is a contentious matter, it is evident that
the multiple deprivations and the exploitation by adults naturally make
the children less culpable and blameworthy, although it does not exempt
them from their accountability.
Considering the vital role that the family, the school and the commu-
nity plays in the life of children, the individual care plan for the rehabili-
tation of these children should include intervention and work with all
stakeholders associated with children. Reintegration requires that the cir-
cumstances should change. It is observed that one of the reasons for chil-
dren becoming a recidivist is that the conditions that contributed to their
delinquency before they were incarcerated may continue to affect their
behaviour upon release. In addition, these pre-incarceration factors may
now be interacting with post-release variables in the community to fur-
ther compound the delinquency-producing forces in a child’s life. Hence,
every order passed at the JJB should reflect an effective pathway for the
rehabilitation and reintegration of the children into society, meaning that
it should include the parents, school and even the victim. The study,
therefore, suggests that the orders of the JJB should include a wider range
of restorative measures, including family conferencing, group conferenc-
ing, counselling, victim–offender mediation and community service
under probation officer supervision.
It is also significant that while we determine about fair and appropriate
sanctions against the child, it is also essential to rebuild the community’s
fabric. Decentralized governance machinery existent in the country could
play a crucial role by assessing and identifying the families that exhibit
unrest, violence and conflict that has a negative impact upon children
and make appropriate interventions in association with various govern-
ment line departments. Moreover, child welfare and juvenile justice pro-
fessionals should work in tandem as their priorities are interlinked.
Looking at various offences committed by children, recidivism and the
functioning of the system generally tend to conceive that in terms of their
reformation and restoration ‘nothing works’ in the case of children in
conflict with the law. However, continued research and investigation of
the application of adequate and appropriate treatment in the lives of
these children across the world have led to the conclusion that some pro-
grammes do indeed work. One reviewer of numerous treatment and pre-
vention programmes for juveniles concluded saying ‘as a generality,
treatment clearly works. We must get on with the business of developing
and identifying the treatment models that will be most effective and pro-
viding them to the juveniles that they will benefit’ (Lipsey, 1995, p. 78).
What works for each child is a matter of serious concern for the resto-
ration efforts. The risk factors and the needs of each child vary exten-
sively. It demands needs-based design and the administration of tailored
intervention and service packages in order to achieve the objective or
reformation and restoration of children and to reduce their reoffending.
The challenge, however, is to get the right mix of services to each adoles-
cent. It can be achieved successfully only if the juvenile justice profession-
als, make appropriate risk and needs assessment to make the right and
workable service and treatment package, which includes measures to
evaluate the criminogenic risk factors and mental health needs of young
offenders, provide treatment for substance use disorders, and integrate
residential treatment services more closely with community-based
after-care.
Studies and experiences suggest that in a large proportion of cases pro-
viding appropriate services, including mental health services, would, irre-
spective of its serious nature, stabilize the individual, reduce his or her
involvement in anti-social behaviours and thereby reduce the chances of
being arrested. Children involved in serious offences have a constellation
of problems, and therefore they may require to be treated for substance
use problems, addressing risk factors, and providing specialized mental
health care to bring about a significant reduction in future offending.
The findings and discussion so far suggest that the prevention of devi-
ance by children cannot be achieved through the mere enactment of laws,
but requires adequate budgetary allocations and human resources who
are qualified. In order to achieve this, a specialized cadre of committed
officials and co-ordinated efforts across various departments involved in
the process of the rehabilitation of these children should be put in place.
Often it is the overload or inefficiency or lack of commitment of the
authorities responsible for implementation that fails the system. A sepa-
rate and specialized cadre of officials who are trained in child psychology
and juvenile laws from various departments associated with the adminis-
tration of JJ system is likely to lead to a more successful system.
One important concern in relation to detention centres is what hap-
pens to those children who are released from the custody of these facili-
ties: Does the experience of living in a correctional institution change a
young person’s attitudes and behaviour? There is currently a complete
absence of longitudinal studies and documented evidence to ascertain the
well-being of these children after they have left the juvenile justice sys-
tem. Oral accounts from superintendents tell us that many have landed
up in adult jails. The recidivism rates, as seen in the empirical data, also
seem to highlight the ineffectiveness of the services provided by these
centres. The data show that many children who have been released do
persist in committing offences. However, very few of these children were
involved in serious offences such as murder and rape. It infers that those
involved in property offences need to be treated with appropriate inter-
ventions, as they reach the system only after the commission of several
offences which were previously ignored.
The present need, therefore, is to double the efforts to promote preven-
tive strategies that will reduce risk factors and develop the protective fac-
tors that are absent from a child’s environment. The strategies and
programmes should focus not on reducing offences, but rather on target-
ing risk factors that predict the deviant behaviour of children.
As seen earlier, the risk factors associated with deviant behaviour are
not limited to any one system. A child is surrounded, influenced and
shaped by a multitude of systems. Therefore, children should be viewed
and treated with an ecological approach where the work is addressed to
all systems that influence them. This approach assumes that the most
proximal influence on children is the family; however, both children and
families are interactive members of a larger system of social institutions
(Zigler, Taussig, & Black, 1992). Targeting various systems, rather than
just a single one, is likely to fully aide in the appropriate prevention of
children from deviant behaviours.
Preventing children from deviance would mean addressing issues of
safe community environment, and the engagement of children, adoles-
cents and youth in community activities. Healthy growth and develop-
ment are most likely to occur when protective factors are sustained
throughout these areas of influence. A nurturing family, positive friend-

ships, a good education and career opportunities combine as important
factors to ensure positive outcomes for adolescents, not only in prevent-
ing delinquency but also in preventing substance abuse, violent behav-
iour and rates of school dropout. Parents should attempt to provide their
children with this constellation of protective factors continuously over
the course of their development. When families find time to be together,
this will increase the possibility for positive outcomes. By taking an active
interest in their children’s lives, parents are in an incredibly powerful
position to help stave off deviance. Educating parenting skills, including
conflict resolution, either through schools or health centres could act as a
preventive measure.
Helping children to achieve their full potential is the best way to pre-
vent their involvement in risky behaviour. Focusing on strengths rather
than failings is the underlying principle for the same. The public image of
adolescents, much of which is created by the media, is projected as sug-
gesting that all adolescents are involved in deviant behaviour. Adolescents
need to see themselves portrayed as more than a series of problems to be
prevented or addressed. Communities should consider children as
resources and be reconnected with them, in such a way as the community
becomes a safety net.
Mentoring is another method which could be adopted to deter or pre-
vent children from deviant ways. Locally respected individuals, schools of
social work, schools of drama and music, sports clubs, local business per-
sonnel and NGOs could all mentor these children and support them
until they are rehabilitated. This has been found to be quite effective in
the USA, where the use of mentors for youthful offenders or at-risk youth
is often connected with the development of an organization called Big
Brothers, which later became known as Big Brothers Big Sisters of
America (BBBSA). Studies carried out in the USA have found it to be
having positive effects in restoring children in conflict with the law.
All of these suggestions could be summed up in the Igbo and Yoruba
(Nigeria) proverb ‘It takes a whole village to raise a child.’ Forty years ago,
the neighbourhood had a feeling of a community, there was bonding, a
sharing of resources and, most importantly, children were protected and
watched over by the adults in the community. Children felt cared for and
protected. In today’s world, this is even more essential. Families and com-
munity members need to begin having conversations with each other,
bonding together and sharing values.
References
Asha Mukundan, K. P. (2016, September 9). NCRB data: Handle with care. The
Hindu, p. 6.
Davidson, Jeremi. (2017). Media influence on juvenile delinquency. Retrieved
from http://oureverydaylife.com/media-influences-juvenile-delinquency-
15299.html.
Lipsey, M. W. (1995). What do we learn from 400 research studies on the effec-
tiveness of treatment with juvenile delinquents? In J. McGuire (Ed.), What
works: Reducing re-offending-guidelines from research and practice (pp. 63–78).
Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons.
Menon, P. (2016, September 20). When dad is always mad, and mom too. The
Times of India, p. 12.
Zachariah, K. C., & Irudaya Rajan, S. (2009). Migration and development: The
Kerala experience. New Delhi: Danish Publishers.
Zigler, E., Taussig, C., & Black, K. (1992). Early childhood intervention: A
promising preventive for juvenile delinquency. American Psychologist,
47(8), 997–1006.
Glossary
Child A child is an individual aged 18 and under. The terms above are used
interchangeably with the word child throughout this report.
Child in conflict with the law A child is in conflict with the law when he or she has
committed, or has been accused of having committed, an offence.
Dalit The word “Dalit” comes from the Sanskrit root dal—and means “broken,
ground-down, or oppressed.” It refers to one’s caste rather than class; it applies
to members of those lower castes, which have born the stigma of “untouch-
ability” because of the extreme impurity and pollution connected with their
traditional occupations.
Delhi Development Authority (DDA) It is an agency established to promote and
secure the development of the city of Delhi.
Id, ego and super Ego These are three parts of personality structure, as set out by
Sigmund Freud (1923).‘Id’ is the primitive and instinctive component of
personality. It operates on the pleasure principle (Freud, 1920) It consists of
all the inherited (i.e. biological) components of personality present at birth,
including the sex (life) instinct—Eros (which contains the libido), and the
aggressive (death) instinct—Thanatos.‘Ego’ is ‘that part of the id which has
been modified by the direct influence of the external world.’ (Freud [1923])

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-16589-5
244 Glossary
It is the decision-making component of personality.‘Superego’ consists of two

systems: The conscience and the ideal self. The conscience can punish the ego
through causing feelings of guilt. The superego’s function is to control the id’s
impulses, especially those which society forbids, such as sex and aggression.
Juvenile justice system It consists of laws, guidelines, customary norms, systems,
professionals, institutions and treatment, specifically applicable to children in
conflict with the law.
‘Laathi’ A heavy stick (often bamboo) bound with iron; used by police in India
Observation home An institution under the Juvenile Justice Act, for temporary
reception and care of any child alleged to have committed an offence while
enquiries are being made.
Probation officer (PO) “Probation Officer” means an officer appointed by the
State Government as a probation officer under the Probation of Offenders
Act, 1958 or the Legal-cum-Probation Officer appointed by the State
Government under District Child Protection Unit.
Restorative Justice Programme A programme which uses any process in which the
victim and the offender, and, where appropriate, any other individuals or
community members affected by a crime, participate together actively in the
resolution of matters arising from the crime, generally with the help of a
facilitator. Restorative processes may include mediation, conciliation, confer-
encing and sentencing circles.
Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe These are official designations given to vari-
ous groups of historically disadvantaged indigenous people of India. The
terms are recognized in the Constitution of India. The SCs and STs comprise
about 16.6% and 8.6% respectively of India’s population (2011 census). The
Constitution (SC) Order 1950 lists 1108 castes across 29 states in its First
Schedule and the Constitution (ST) Order 1950 lists 744 tribes across 22
states in its First Schedule.
Special home An institution under the Juvenile Justice Act, for housing and pro-
viding rehabilitation services to children found to have committed an offence.
The HSBC/Outward Bound (HSBC/OB) and Youth Sport Trust/BSkyB ‘Living for Sport’
(Sky Living for Sport) projects Corporate-sponsored initiatives that aim to use
physical activity to re-engage disaffected young people in the school context
The HSBC/OB project is a five-year programme that funds residential out-
door/adventurous activity experiences for pupils from five schools in the
Docklands area of London (the location of HSBC’s UK head office)
Glossary 245
United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) A comprehensive,

internationally binding agreement on the rights of children, adopted by the
United Nations General Assembly in 1989. It is ratified by all countries, with
the exception of the United States of America. It sets out the civil, political,
economic, social and cultural rights of children. The United Nations
Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) is the body of indepen-
dent experts that monitors the implementation of the Convention on the
Rights of the Child by its State Parties.
Index1
A B
Adolescents, v, vi, 2, 5, 9, 21–24, Behaviour modification therapies,
26, 37, 40, 47, 48, 58, 72, 71, 82, 90
74–76, 79, 80, 82–89, 95, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America
99–103, 105, 108, 109, (BBBSA), 241
113–115, 119–123, 126, 127, Biological and neural experiments, 156
132, 134, 135, 137, 143, 145, Broken home, 7, 132, 137, 142
147, 151, 155–157, 159, Butterflies, 9, 30, 151, 223
162–164, 166, 169–173, 178,
184, 185, 187, 189, 191, 199,
201, 204, 211, 214, 216, 217, C
219–221, 229, 231, 233, 237, Cause, 6–8, 42, 44, 64, 65, 84, 85,
239–241 93, 94, 112, 120, 127, 145,
Adult criminal justice system, 85–90, 151, 162, 171, 176, 180, 192,
200 199, 216, 227, 236
Anti-social behaviour, 21, 37, 77, 78, Child/children in conflict with law
95, 105, 109, 114, 122, 126, (CCL), 3–6, 9–17, 21–45,
128, 136, 137, 140, 144, 163, 85–90, 93, 131, 144,
170–172, 189, 190, 239 199–231, 233, 234, 238, 241
Note: Page numbers followed by ‘n’ refer to notes.

1

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-16589-5
248 Index
Child Justice Act (75 of 2008) 2010, 116, 118, 119, 127, 133, 134,
226 138, 139, 144, 151, 162,
Child–parent involvement, 108 176–178, 184, 201, 202, 204,
The Children Act, 228 206, 207, 211, 212, 215, 217,
Children and crime, vii, 5, 17, 38, 219, 220, 223
52–55 Delhi Juvenile Justice Care and
Child Welfare Committees (CWC), Protection Rules 2002, 11
11–13, 15, 78 Delinquent behaviour, 48, 120, 134,
China, 229 143, 163
Classical theorists, 7 Department of Social Defence, 12
Cohesive families, 34, 36, 115 Department of Women and Child
Community and offences, 172–193 Development, 11, 15
Conflict, vi, vii, 3, 9, 10, 21, 23, 25, Detention centres, vi, 4, 16, 22, 23,
42, 44, 54, 61, 68, 74, 78, 86, 26, 27, 30, 31, 33–36, 38, 39,
94, 96, 100, 114–123, 128, 41–43, 50, 58, 71, 72, 77–80,
140, 142, 143, 148, 149, 151, 93, 99, 101–105, 107–110,
153, 156, 171, 173, 176, 113–116, 118, 122, 127, 128,
178–180, 190, 192, 200, 208, 133, 134, 140, 146, 147, 151,
211, 215, 223, 227, 233, 236, 158, 171, 176, 180, 187, 188,
238, 241 192, 200, 201, 203, 208–223,
Consensual sex, 55, 64, 72, 75, 162, 230, 235, 240
169 Developmental psychology, 75
Criminal deviance, 7 Deviant behaviour, v–vii, 8, 9, 16,
Criminal justice system, 6, 85 22, 24, 31, 37, 42, 48, 49, 76,
Criminology, 37, 75, 95 93–95, 97, 100, 102, 105,
Critical theory, 8 108, 110, 111, 113, 115, 119,
Croatia, 228 121, 122, 128, 130–132, 142,
Culpability, 21, 47–90, 154–158 145, 147, 156, 159, 160, 162,
Custody of children, 34 163, 166, 172–174, 176, 177,
Czech, 228 180, 181, 183–185, 190, 240,
241
Disciplining, 105, 110, 113, 114,
D 120, 121, 123
Dalit, 50, 50n1, 59, 154 Disrupted families, 34, 36, 108, 127,
Data collection methods, 17 133, 181, 211, 234
Delhi, 10, 11, 16, 17, 22–28, 30, 33, Disruption theory, 142
34, 38, 40, 41, 50, 52, 55, 56, Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health
66, 76, 78, 80, 100–102, 105, and Development Study, 76
Index 249
E Influence of Cinema and TV, 7

Economic profile, 38–39 Intensive Rehabilitative Custody and
Edinburgh Study of Youth Supervision (IRCS), 226
Transitions and Crime Ireland, 226, 228
(ESYTC), 128 Italy, 228
Educational performance, 145–147
Education system, 148–153, 236
J
Joint family system, 7, 41
F Justice (Northern Ireland) Act 2002,
Family, 1, 25, 48, 94, 226
201, 234 Juvenile, v, vii, 2–9, 11–15, 17,
Family disruption, 37, 113, 124, 22, 24, 39–40, 43, 51, 52,
132–142, 168 54, 55, 65, 85–90, 95,
Faulty educational system, 7 97–115, 199–231, 234,
238–240
Juvenile delinquency, 2–5, 8, 22,
G 22n1, 145, 222
Genetic traits, 128 Juvenile delinquents, 2, 7
Gulf Wives, 135 Juvenile justice, 3, 6, 11, 17,
22n1, 24, 58, 64,
206, 208, 224, 228,
H 238, 239
Harmful Sexual Behaviour Project Juvenile Justice Board (JJB), 11–13,
(HSBP), 225 15, 57, 61, 67, 70, 75, 82,
The Hindu, 55 98, 101, 107, 112, 118, 125,
Human Development Index, 130, 139, 141, 162, 166,
13, 14 168, 175, 183, 186, 200,
Human rights, 3 202–204, 206–209, 212–214,
Humiliation, 150, 151, 235 216, 238
Juvenile Justice (Care and
Protection of Children) Act,
I 2000, 12
Id, ego and super ego, personality amended in 2006, 4
structures, 84 Juvenile justice system, v, vii,
Indian Penal Code (IPC), 4, 5, 4, 9, 43, 60, 78, 85, 86, 89,
51–53, 54n3, 60, 60n6, 72, 90, 98–115, 199–231, 234,
233 240
250 Index
K O
Kerala, 10, 11, 13–14, 16, 17, 22, Objectionable, 1
24, 25, 28, 33, 34, 40, 41, 52, Observation homes, 4, 11, 12, 15–17,
72, 78, 80, 102, 111, 123, 22, 24n2, 25, 36, 57–63, 67,
133, 135, 141, 144, 151, 162, 70, 71, 73, 74, 78, 82, 83, 98,
177, 180, 188, 206, 207, 100–103, 107, 110–112, 118,
215–220 125–127, 130, 133, 138–141,
150, 162, 166, 168, 175, 179,
180, 183, 186, 187, 202–204,
L 210–213, 215–223
Labelling theory, 8 Occupational status, 38–40
Law of homicide, 84 Odisha, 10, 14–17, 22–27, 30, 34,
Limitations, 18, 209, 220, 221 40, 50, 68, 72, 78, 80, 82,
102, 119, 133, 144, 151, 160,
162, 176, 177, 184, 206,
M 215–217, 219, 220
Marital instabilities, 142 Offence, v, 2, 3, 5–10, 17, 18,
Media, 2, 5, 24, 55, 63, 65, 85, 87, 21–31, 33, 38, 40–44, 47–90,
103, 149, 152, 168–171, 182, 93–193, 199, 201, 204, 207,
204, 234, 236, 241 208, 211–216, 222–229, 233,
Mental torture, 151 237–240
Migration, 7, 26, 135, 237
Ministry of Justice, UK, 225
P
Parental criminality, 126, 127
N Parental deviance, 123–132, 140
National Crime Records Bureau Parent–child relationship, 140
(NCRB), v, 4, 5, 50, 52 Parenting, vii, 9, 31, 36, 76, 95, 99,
National Survey on Drug Use and 100, 102, 104, 106, 109,
Health, 171 112–115, 122, 131, 134, 137,
Nature of offences, 47–90, 133, 144, 149, 163, 173, 191, 192, 230,
151, 184 234, 237, 241
Neglect, 44, 94–115, 120, 143, 147, Pathways to Desistance Study,
168, 192, 206 89–90, 229
Neuroscience, 75 Police and juvenile justice
Non-conforming behaviour, 22, 114, system, 60
115, 122, 127, 187, 188, 193, Probation and Mediation Service
199 (PMS), 228
Index 251
Psychoanalysis, conditioning and Special home (SH), 4, 11, 12,

psychopathology, 8 14–17, 22, 23, 36, 68, 71, 72,
Psychological victimization, 86 78, 80, 83, 85, 96, 98, 102,
103, 110, 123, 126, 127,
129–131, 133, 139, 144, 149,
R 150, 159, 162, 175, 176, 210,
Rangarajan Report of 2014, 43 214–222
Rational choice theory, 8 Special Juvenile Police Units (SJPU),
Rehabilitation and restoration, 139, 11, 13, 205
162, 208, 214, 221 Strain/anomie theory, 8
Religion and caste, 33
Restorative justice, vii, 90, 223–231
Rights to development, 6 T
Right to Education Act, 2009, 145 Tamil Nadu, 10–13, 16, 17, 22,
Risk factor, vi, 34, 39, 41, 42, 44, 24–26, 28, 30, 33–35, 38, 40,
94, 95, 112, 114, 121, 122, 41, 50, 73, 76, 78, 80, 102,
151, 239, 240 103, 111, 118, 119, 123, 127,
133–135, 139, 140, 144, 151,
162, 164, 166, 174, 176, 177,
S 185, 206, 207, 215, 220, 222
Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Teenage brain, 47
Tribe, 14 Theories of physiognomy,
School Management Committees phrenology and atavism, 7
(SMC), 152 Trends in offences, 10, 52
School of Criminal Justice, 88
Selection of respondents, 16
Sense of security, 1 U
Single parent families, 34, 113, UN Guidelines for Action on
127, 133–135, 137, 142, Children in the Criminal
164 Justice System, 4
Social control theory, 8 Union of India, 10
Social disorganization theory, 8 Union Territory of Delhi, 10–11
Social Justice Department, 13 United Nations Convention on the
Social learning theory, 8 Rights of the Child (UNCRC),
Social values, 7, 29 3, 15, 209
Societal dynamics, 2 United Nations Guidelines for the
South Africa, 226 Prevention of Juvenile
Special and Local Laws (SLL), Delinquency (The Riyadh
4, 5, 50 Guidelines), 3, 22, 22n1
252 Index
United Nations Rules for the 141, 147, 148, 151, 163,
Protection of Juveniles 192, 211
Deprived of their Liberty (The
Havana Rules), 4
United States of America (USA), v, W
54, 55, 86, 89, 160, 189, 223, World Bank, 153
224, 237, 241
University of Pittsburgh School of
Medicine, 37 Y
Unprotected sex, 47 Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA),
US Centers for Disease Control, 89 226
Youth development, 48
Youth Justice Act (YJA),
V 228
Violence in the family, 120, 123, 215 Youth Justice Board/Ministry of
Vulnerabilities, vi, 33, 44, 64, Justice, USA, 55
78, 90, 97, 98, 138, 140, Youth Justice Statistics, 55

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PALGRAVE ADVANCES IN CRIMINOLOGY

AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE IN ASIA

Children and Crime

More information about this series at

Children and Crime

Palgrave Advances in Criminology and Criminal Justice in Asia

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2019

Cover illustration: Alamy ACTG0F

The book—Children and Crime in India—is being published at a time

e­nvironmental factors, beginning during foetal development and con-

New Delhi, India Rita Panicker

Writing these words of gratitude is the greatest thing that we can do at

We also thank Mr S. Kannayiram, Probation Officer (Retd), Tamil

2 The Socio-economic Profile of Children in Conflict with

3 The Nature of Offences and Culpability 47

4 Factors Predisposing Children to Offences 93

5 The Juvenile Justice System: A Pathway for the Restoration

6 Summary and Conclusions233

BSCC Butterflies School of Culinary and Catering

Table 2.1 Age-wise distribution of children in detention centres 23

Children are life’s precious gifts, to be treasured and carefully nurtured:

© The Author(s) 2019 1

some potentially harmful. Children often take advantage of illegal oppor-

In India, every person below the age of 18 is classified as a child. The

Juvenile Delinquency (“The Riyadh Guidelines”), the 1990 United

According to the NCRB report of 2014, the number of total crimes by

c­ommunities and society. Their lives, choices and opportunities are

Nevertheless, probing the real reasons for the involvement of children in

such as psychoanalysis, conditioning and psychopathology. These theo-

• To gather quantitative and qualitative data on the profile of children in

1.2 Research Areas

1.2.1 Profile of the Areas

1.2.1.1 Union Territory of Delhi

about 11,297 and this figure is alarming as it is a much higher density

1.2.1.2 Tamil Nadu

homes (11 by the government and 20 by NGOs) are also established to

officer. A selection committee has been constituted at the state level to

The state of Odisha, formerly known as Orissa, is located in the north-­

In the state of Odisha, the Department of Women and Child

1.3 Research Methodology

offending/deviances are the monopoly of the children from lower socio-­

1.3.1 Selection of Observation Homes and Schools

Both non-probability and probability sampling methods were used to

1.3.2 Selection of the Respondents

1.4 Data Collection Methods

• Secondary literature review: The research proceeded based on the collec-

1.5 Limitations of the Study

© The Author(s) 2019 21

2.1 Social Profile

Adolescence is a period in a child’s life that is characterized by hormonal

Table 2.1 Age-wise distribution of children in detention centres

The media interest in the involvement of adolescents in deviant behav-

2.1.3 Place of Residence

Children’s involvement in non-conforming/unlawful behaviour is not

various detention centres, the majority of them (56.4%) were residing in

Table 2.2 Place of residence

2.1.4 Education of the Child and Their Parents

Poor educational achievement, a low level of interest in education, having

environmental factors, beginning during foetal development and con-

New Delhi, India Rita Panicker

2 The Socio-economic Profile of Children in Conflict with

3 The Nature of Offences and Culpability 47

4 Factors Predisposing Children to Offences 93

5 The Juvenile Justice System: A Pathway for the Restoration

6 Summary and Conclusions233

Table 2.1 Age-wise distribution of children in detention centres 23

communities and society. Their lives, choices and opportunities are

1.2 Research Areas

1.2.1 Profile of the Areas

1.2.1.1 Union Territory of Delhi

1.2.1.2 Tamil Nadu

The state of Odisha, formerly known as Orissa, is located in the north-

1.3 Research Methodology

offending/deviances are the monopoly of the children from lower socio-

1.3.1 Selection of Observation Homes and Schools

1.3.2 Selection of the Respondents

1.4 Data Collection Methods

1.5 Limitations of the Study

2.1 Social Profile

2.1.3 Place of Residence

2.1.4 Education of the Child and Their Parents

2.1.5 Religion and Caste

2.1.6 Custody of Children

2.1.7 Family Background

2.2 Economic Profile

2.2.2 The Employment of Children

family members. Family bonding was sparse, with limited interactions

2.3 Poverty and Offending

3.1 Deviance and Crime/Offence

3.2 Extent and Nature of Offences

3.3 Culpability and Blameworthiness

3.3.2 Future Orientation

3.3.3 Peer Influence

4.1 Familial Factors