JUVENILE DELINQUENCY AND JUVENILE JUSTICE

SYSTEM

Sitti T Balangitao , Rcrim

What is juvenile ?
 Refers to a person of a tender year
 A minor, youth or those who are not emancipated by law.
 Refers to a person below 18 years of age or those or but are unable to
fully take care of themselves from abuse, neglect, cruelty, exploitation
or discrimination because of physical or mental conditions.
 A child or a young person, who, under the legal system may be dealt
with for an offense in a manner different from that of an adult
 Person below the age of majority, that is below 18 years old.
 Pursuant to R.A 6809, the law that lowered the age of majority from 21
years old to 18 for the purpose of E.O 209 Family Code of the
Philippines.
Juvenile delinquency
 It refers to anti-social act or behavior which deviates from the normal pattern of
rules and regulations, custom and culture which society does not accept and
which there justifies some kind of punishment or corrective measures.
 A delinquent is one whose behavior has brought a minor or child repeated
conflict with the law.
 An act or omission committed by a minor which is not conformity with norms of
society.
 Any act, behavior or conduct which might be brought to court and judged
whether such, is a violation of law.
 Youth behavior which is against the norms and regulations of society which left
unchecked would give rise to criminality.
DELINQUENT


 - one whose behavior has brought him into repeated conflict with the
law, regardless of whether he has been taken before a court and
adjudged a delinquent
 - one who has committed an offense that violated the approved norms
of conduct and is guilty of a misdeed
STATUS OFFENSE

 certain acts or omissions which may not be punishable socially or legally if committed
by adults but becomes anti-social or illegal because the offender is a minor, such as:
 truancy, or frequent, unreasonable absenteeism from school
 sexual or immoral conduct
 use of profane language
 running away from home
 smoking, drinking alcoholic beverages
 disobedience to parents, guardians or school officials
 association with criminal or delinquent gangs
 mendicancy or begging in the streets
ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIOR
 - characterized by disobedience to, or disrespect for, authorities

PARENS PATRIAE
 - the doctrine that does not consider delinquent acts as criminal violation, thus making
delinquents non-criminal persons and cannot be found guilty of a crime and punished like an
adult criminal
 - views minors who violate the laws as victims of improper care, custody and treatment at home
 - assumption by the state of the role of guardian over children whose parents are deemed
incapable or unworthy
 The authority of the state to act on behalf of the children
DIFFERENT APPROACH IN THE STUDY OF
DELINQUENCY
BIOGENIC APPROACH PSYCHOGENIC APPROACH SOCIOGENIC APPROACH

• Gives an • argues that the • attributes

explanation that law critical factors in delinquency pattern
violations and delinquency are to social structures
delinquency are a personality • views youthful
result of some problems, to which misdeed as a result
physical defects misbehavior is of a learning
presumed to be the process through
• advocates that response interactions with
youth misconduct is other members of
a direct result of society
faulty biology
CATEGORIES OF CHILDREN
Dependent child
• one who is without a parent, guardian or custodian, or whose parents, guardian or
other custodian for good cause desire to be relieved of his care and custody and is
dependent upon the public for support.
Abandoned child
• one who had no proper parental care or guardianship or whose parents or guardians
have deserted him for a period of at least six consecutive months (PD 603)
• Refers to the child who has no proper parental care or guardianship, or whose parents
have deserted him or her for a period of at least (3) continuous months RA 9523.
Neglected child
• one whose basic needs have been deliberately unattended or inadequately attended
physical neglect:
 malnourishment, untidy and damaged clothing, no shelter; a child is unattended when
left by himself without provision for his needs and or without proper supervision
emotional neglect:
• children are maltreated, raped, seduced, abused, exploited, made to work under
conditions not conducive to good health
• children placed in moral and physical danger
Mentally retarded children
 socially incompetent, socially inadequate and occupationally incompetent and unable to
manage their own affairs
 mentally sub-normal
 retarded intellectually from birth or early age
 retarded at maturity
 mentally deficient as a result of constitutional origin through heredity or disease
 essentially incurable
Physically handicapped children
 those who are crippled, deaf-mute, blind or otherwise defective which restricts their
means of action on communication with others.
Emotionally disturbed children
 those who, although not afflicted with insanity or mental defect, are unable to maintain
normal social relations with others and the community in general due to emotional
problems or complexes may be caused by traumatic experiences.
 Mentally ill children
 those with any behavioral disorder, whether functional or organic, which is of such a
degree of severity as to require professional help or hospitalization.
Disabled children
 shall include mentally retarded, physically handicapped, emotionally disturbed and severe
mentally ill-children (generic term).
SPECIAL CLASSIFICATION OF CHILD
MENTALLY RETARDED
• Custodial (I.Q. 25)

• Trainable (25 to 50) ¼ or ½ of average child

• Educable (50 to 75) ½ to ¾ (up to 5-6th G)

• Borderline or low normal 75 to about 89 requires some extra help.

IDIOT
• One whose mental condition is liken to a person 2 years old below.
MORON
• one whose mental condition is similar to that of seven years of age below.

(Henry Goddard)
Other Approaches of Juvenile Delinquency

BIOCHEMICAL NEUROLOGICAL GENETICS

Views that crime Explains that crime Explains that
delinquency , especially
violence, are the result of and delinquency occur delinquent traits and
diet, vitamins intake, because the individual predisposition to
hormonal imbalance and
other biological causes. suffers from brain criminality are
impairment or inherited from
abnormality in the parents, criminality of
structure of the brain parents can predict
learning disabilities delinquency of
such as attention children supported by
deficit hyper active research on twin
(ADHD) and minimum studies and adoption
brain dysfunction are studies.
related to antisocial
behavior .
CONTRIBUTORY FACTORS IN JUVENILE DELINQUENCY

FAMILY
• the first and most basic institution of society responsible for developing a

child’s potential in all its aspects like physical, emotional, spiritual, moral,
intellectual and social
• molds the child to learn to curb his desires and to accept rules that define

the time, place and circumstances under which highly personal needs may
be satisfied in socially acceptable ways
• ideally, a home must have the following:

NUCLEAR FAMILY EXTENDED FAMILY CONJUGAL FAMILY

Consist of father , mother Consist of father , mother and Consist of
and children children, grandparents, uncles
and aunts, cousins, nephews husband and wife,
and nieces and in laws. but do not have
child or children.
factors in the home life that may cause delinquency:
SCHOOL
• considered the second home of a child, with teachers as the second parents
• institution responsible for the training of young persons intellectual, as well as
social skills which they need for them to grow up as productive, law-abiding and
responsible citizens.
instances of deviant conduct attributed to school inadequacy:
• failure of teachers to detect and address problems of children and report such
problems to the parents
• poor academic atmosphere
• membership in school gangs
• development of friendships with the wrong crowd
• lack of facilities for curricular and extra-curricular activities
• failure of teachers in character development of the students
• failure to actually finish school, resulting to being out-of-school youths with a lot of
time to waste and do unproductive activities
• failure to get gainful employment due to lack of sufficient education
ENVIRONMENT
• the culture, norms and behavior of the child’s surroundings may very
well influence the upbringing of the child especially during their
formative years and such misbehavior learned is likely to be carried
on until the child’s maturity.

some of the behavior modification by means of imitation as brought

about by environmental influence are as follows:
• rampant drug addiction
• vices such as gambling and drinking alcoholic beverages
• association with criminal groups or gangs
• crime inducing situations
• too much sex and violence in movies, television and print and
internet.
HISTORY OF JUVENILE JUSTICE

The modern practice of legally separating adult and juvenile defenders can be traced
back to two developments in English (ENGLAND) custom and law that occurred
centuries ago: the development of poor laws and the creation of the English
CHANCERY COURTS. Both were designed to allow the state to take control of the lives
of the needy but not necessarily criminal children. This system was brought to the
United States where it was developed further until later it became the basis of the
juvenile justice system in the Philippines. (principles of parens patriae).
POOR LAWS- In 1535 statutes which mandated the appointed of overseers who
placed destitute or neglected children with the families who the trained them in
agricultural (domets of france), trade or domestics services ; this practice called
indenture. In 1601, a system was created wherein church workers with the consent of
justice of the peace identified vagrant, delinquent and neglected children and took
measures to put them to work; these children were placed in work houses until
adulthood.
 The Court of Chancery was a court of equity in England and Wales that followed a set of loose rules to
avoid a slow pace of change and possible harshness of the common law. The Chancery had jurisdiction
over all matters of equity, including trusts, land law, the estates of lunatics and the guardianship of
infants
 PARENS PATRIAE refers to the public policy power of the State to intervene against an abusive or
negligent parent, legal guardian, or informal custodian, and to act as the parent of any child or
individual who is in need of protection
 The POOR LAWS gave the local government the power to raise taxes as needed and use the funds to
build and maintain almshouses; to provide indoor relief (i.e., cash or sustenance) for the aged,
handicapped and other worthy poor; and the tools and materials required to put the unemployed to
work.
 DOMETS OF FRANCE established an AGRICULTURAL COLONY for delinquent boys in 1839 providing
housefathers as in charge of these boys. He concentrated on re-education upon their discharge, the

boys were placed under the supervision of a patron.

 INDENTURED servitude is a form of labor in which a person is contracted to work without salary for a
specific number of years. The contract, called an "indenture", may be entered "voluntarily" for

purported eventual compensation or debt repayment, or it may be imposed as a judicial punishment.

CHANCERY COURTS
 Protected the property rights and welfare of minor children who could not care of
themselves,
 The court dealt with issues of guardianship and the use and control of property
 The courts operated under the parens patriae philosophy which held that children
were under the protective control of the state
 The comprehensive juvenile court was established in Illinois in 1899 through the
passage of the Illinois juvenile court act of 1899 which set up an independent
court to handle criminal law violations by children under sixteen (16) years of age,
as well as to care for neglected, dependent, and wayward youths.
 The purpose of the act was to separate juveniles from adult offenders and provide
a legal framework in which juveniles could get adequate care and custody.
 Congress passed the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention act of 1974 to
identify the needs of the youths and to fund programs in the juvenile justice
system.
 The Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 (P.L. 93-415,
88 Stat. 1109) was the first major federal legislation to shape the content
of state policy on the juvenile court system. It was enacted in response to
sustained criticism of the juvenile court system that reached its peak in
three Supreme Court decisions in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Through
this act Congress created federal standards for the treatment of juvenile
offenders and provided financial incentives for state systems to comply
with those standards.
 The act had two main goals: (1) to remove juveniles from adult jails and
prisons, and (2) to end the practice of using the juvenile court system as a
means of sending both criminal and noncriminal minors to prisonlike
institutions for rehabilitation. The theory of rehabilitation holds that
people's behavior, especially young people's behavior, can be changed so
that individuals can reenter and function normally in society. However,
putting that theory into practice through the juvenile court system
actually had a negative effect both on individuals and society.