Female Juvenile: Law and Society

A million million spermatozoa; All of them alive:

Out of their cataclysm but one poor Noah
Dare hope to survive; And among that billion minus one
Might have chanced to be, Shakespeare, another Newton, a new Donne
But the one was me
AIR 1997 SC 3021 - ALDOUS HUXLEY

No doubt that when we do plead for children, they should not be categorized but it is a hard fact
which we cannot escape of that children who does exists i.e., home children and street
children. The Indian Penal Code, 1860 under Section 82 says that nothing is an offence which is
done by a child under seven years of age but Section 83 says that nothing is an offence above
seven years of age and under twelve who has not attained sufficient maturity of understanding to
judge of the nature and consequence of the conduct of that occasion. The former section is based
on the maxim doli incapax and the later section is based on malatia supplet aetatum. The
concept of juvenile justice was derived from a belief that the problems of juvenile delinquency
and youth in abnormal situations are not amenable to resolution within the framework of the
tradition processes of criminal law. The principal role of the Juvenile justice has been provide
specialized and preventive treatment services for children and young person as means of
secondary prevention rehabilitation and improved socialization. The welfare or parens patriae
model considers juvenile justice primarily in terms of interventions that foster the economic and
social well-being of young persons in contact with the legal system. The Juvenile justice system
in India contemplates the legal response with respect to two categories of children, namely those
who are in conflict with law as they have committed a crime and those who are in need of care
and protection for the children who are deprived and marginalized sections of society. The
primary framework which deals with juvenile justice is The Juvenile Justice Act, 1986, Section
2(h) defines that Juvenile means a boy who has not attained the age of sixteen years or a girl
who has not attained the age of eighteen years. This act thus provides for a special approach
towards the prevention and treatment of juvenile delinquency and provides a framework for
protection, treatment and rehabilitation of children in the purview of the juvenile justice system.
This system does keep both the male and female child under consideration, equally.
Review of The Literature
One of the most difficult area of Criminal Justice Policy lies in providing appropriate legal
mechanisms to reflect the transition from the age of childhood innocence through to maturity
and full responsibility under the criminal law ---------- Adam Graycar
The juvenile crimes are just few of the reasons which turn the teenagers into criminals there are
many more to it like parental neglect, addiction to drugs, unemployment, poverty , love revenges
and abundance of alcohol. The issue of juvenile crime should be paid more attention and some
solution should be brought to it. Not only the government but even the society should take steps
towards reducing juvenile crime. Everyone should come together and fight against this issue.
Proper facilities should be provided for the children in the juvenile homes, proper education

should be provided for the chidren who are in the juvenile homes. The child should be properly
counseled and should be talked to properly and treated like children not like criminals, only then
we will be able to bring any change and reduce the juvenile crime in the country. Because if this
issue is left untouched the condition would just get worse and there would be no way of
improving it.----- Meliza Mateo

Objectives
* Why there is an inequality and discrimination between male and female juveniles?
* Why there is less research on the field of female juveniles?
* Why there are no specific laws with relation to female juveniles?
* What is the scenario of the female juveniles?
Methodology
Research in common parlance refers to the search of knowledge. Once can also define research
as a scientific and systematic search for pertinent information on a special topic. Infact, research
is an art of scientific investigation. A careful investigation or inquiry specially through search
for new facts in any branch of knowledge. It is also a systematized effort to gain new
knowledge. The legal research methodology had been followed where the topic was categorized
with the legal issues related to the topic. It involves analytical research where the available facts
are to be critically evaluated. The qualitative approach subsequently was obtained from relevant
materials like books which are present in the library and through electronic media followed by
the content and data analysis.
Findings
Most juvenile crimes are committed by boys. Crimes committed by girls are less frequent and
less serious than those by boys, but the rate of increase of female juvenile arrests has been
greater than for boys. There is an increase in the female juvenile crimes over the past few years
who are under age of eighteen years for drug-abuse violations, liquor law violation, curfew,
larceny, runaway, prostitution and for loitering. Girls share of all juvenile arrests remained fairly
steady over time ranging from about 15% to 29%. Official measures of juvenile crime
underestimate their actual involvement and this is even more for females. Many suggests that
girls are arrested disproportionately more than boys for such status offences as running away and
curfew violations because of a tendency to sexualize their offences as running away & curfew
violations because of a tendency to sexualize their offences and to control their behavior under
the patriarchal authority of juvenile justice system. There is evidence that many young women
run away to escape sexual victimization at home and once on streets they are vulnerable to
further sexual victimization.
Female are engaged in more crimes as they have become more liberated and more are working
outside the home, thus they have more opportunities and incentives to commit crimes.
Theories On Juvenile And Delinquency

SOCIAL STRUCTURE THEORISTS claims that forces such as social disorganization, status
frustration and cultural deviance leads to lower class youths to become involved in delinquent
behavior. These explanations of delinquency focus on the social and cultural environment in
which adolescents grow up and on the sub cultural groups with which they had got involved.
Certain quantity of forces are also present for cultural deviances.
Three categories of social structure explanations are
* SOCIAL DISORGANIZATION THEORY was developed by Clifford Shaw and Henry
Mckay in 1942 who were social anthropologists where social changes cause a breakdown of
formal and informal controls for an increase in crimes.
* STRAIN THEORY thereby explains that delinquency is being caused by the strain or
frustration of not having an equal opportunities or means to achieve commonly shared goals such
as economic or social success. Robert Merton in 1957 formulated this policy around concepts of
anomie or normlessness and where persons who lack the means to attain goals legitimately
do so illegally, lower class persons feel strain or frustration trying to meet middle class goals.
* OPPORTUNITY STRUCTURE THEORIES was formulated by Cloward and Ohlin in
1960 which promoted the government funded policies such as head start and jobs programs for
lower class youths as a way to enhance educational and employment opportunities and reduce
delinquency.
* CULTURAL DEVIANCE THEORY which is also known as the sub cultural theory or the
third type of social structure theory states that the sub cultural theorists point to observations that
values and attitudes of lower class youth differ from mainstream middle class values. It says that
the youth violate the law because they follow the values of their lower class community as they
were always in poverty.
* SOCIAL PROCESS THEORIES These theories claim that the explanations of delinquency
focuses not on societal structures but on social interactions between individuals and
environmental influences that may lead to delinquent behavior.
* DIFFERENTIAL ASSOCIATION THEORY by Edwin Sutherland and Cressey in 1970 holds
that delinquency is a learned behaviour as youth interact closely with other deviant youth.
* CONTROL THEORIES begins with the premise that the way to understand delinquency is to
know the characteristics of persons who conform and do not engage in delinquency. Walter
Reckless in 1961 defined the self-control and external factors of control.
* SOCIAL REACTION THEORIES does focus more on how society and social institutions
and governmental officials react to crime and delinquency than on why offenders commit crime.
The premise of this theory is the deviance and initial delinquent behavior are perpetuated and
made worse by reactions of society and juvenile justice officials reactions to crime and
delinquency.
* LABELLING THEORY says that the understanding of most youth does engage themselves
in deviant acts and it finds reports to study them.
* CONFLICT THEORY or the critical theory says that social and political institutions are the
causes of crime rather than individual characteristics.
* DEVELOPMENTAL LIFE-COURSE THEORIES studies the differences among youth who
begin offending at an early age and continue offending, compared with others who begin in

adolescence and grow out of it.

* GENERAL AND INTEGRATED THEORIES combines the strengths of rational choice,
strain, social control and social learning theories to explain delinquency and drug use.
Apparent Increase In Violence Among Girls
* Changes in law enforcement policies such as responses to domestic violence may explain the
increased arrests rather than actual increases in assaults by girls.
* Family dynamics may contribute to gender differences in juvenile arrests for assault.
* Research indicates that girls fight with family members or siblings more frequently than boys.
* Policies of mandatory arrest for domestic violence provide parents with a method for
controlling their unruly daughters.
* School officials zero tolerance policies toward youth violence may increase the number of girls
referred to police for fights at school that previously were handled internally.
Causes For Juvenile Crimes
FAMILY the family people does rebuke and scold their children for which the child wants to
indulge in crimes. They have been to poor socialization skills, totally neglected, the constant
quarrel between husband and wife which does leads to broken house and divorce.
CHILD ABUSE child abuse both physically and mentally takes place with the peers leads to
deviance.
PEERS poor behavior between the cousin and several relatives,
SCHOOLS class mates does tend to behavior as enemies,
GANGS children join in vulnerable activities in groups,
ALCOHOL & DRUGS indulgence does leads to health and mental problems.
POVERTY poor conditions of living and food tends children to deviate moral behavior and
rather from leading palm they snatch their needs.

Legislative Enhancement
* CONSTITUTIONAL MANDATES ARTICLE 15(3) - Nothing in this article shall prevent
the State from making any special provision for women and children.
* ARTICLE 39 (E) &(F) that the health and strength of workers, men and women, and the
tender age of children are not abused and that citizens are not forced by economic necessity to
enter avocations unsuited to their age or strength; and that children are given opportunities and
facilities to develop in a healthy manner and in conditions of freedom and dignity and that
childhood and youth are protected against exploitation and against moral and material
abandonment.
* ARTICLE 45 AND 47 - Provision for free and compulsory education for children and it is the
duty of the State to raise the level of nutrition and the standard of living and to improve public
health.

* UN CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD - advocate for the protection of

childrens rights, to help meet their basic needs and to expand their opportunities to reach their
full potential.
* UN STANDARD MINIMUM RULES FOR ADMINISTRATION OF JUVENILE JUSTICE
1985 (BEIJING RULES) deals with the international human rights instruments pertaining to
the rights of young persons.
* JUVENILE JUSTICE ACT 1986 The JJ Act designed for the care, protection, development
and rehabilitation of neglected and delinquent juveniles, as well as for the adjudication of and
disposal of certain matters related to them.
* JUVENILE JUSTICE (CARE AND PROTECTION OF CHILDREN) ACT, 2000 has created
for a separate system of justice dispensation for instances where children are accused of
committing offences distinct from the criminal justice system for adults,
* JUVENILE JUSTICE (CARE AND PROTECTION OF CHILDREN) RULES, 2007 RULE
16 has established separate observation home and special home for boys and girls.
Juvenile Justice Board
Juvenile Justice (Care & Protection of Children) Rules 2007, in Section 4 has initiated the
juvenile justice boards. There shall be one or more Juvenile Justice Boards in every district,
which shall be constituted by the State Government as per section 4 of the Act. The Composition
of the juvenile justice board is thereby given in Section 5 of this Act where there will be a
Principal Magistrate must be of the level of Metropolitan or Judicial Magistrate of first class
under whom the members will be working who are the two social workers of whom one shall be
a women who will be appointed by the State Government on the recommendation of Selection
Committee. The functions of the Board is to ensure that the juvenile has not been subjected to ill
treatment, adjudicate cases where juveniles are in conflict of law and solve cases at a speedy
trial.
Recommendations And Suggestions
The State shall make a separate legislation for female juveniles where special care will be
taken for them,
There must be a board for speedy disposal of juvenile cases,
Organizations should take care of juveniles, not police and education must be imparted to the
children who do have to become literate in order to earn livelihood,
Homes must have tailoring and cooking training for girls along with the special care,
Homes must have proper counseling and rehabilitation classes for girls,
Family care and human research development and planning should take place,
Formulation of special standards for girl juveniles where they are discriminated and inequality
takes place,
National Commission for Juveniles must be formed.
Discussion Based On Findings
On the findings, the text is well presented and details are given in clarity. It takes the reader from
a non-system to considerations for a future in juvenile justice. The work had been done as for

giving a view point of unbiased desire between the genders in the thought of provoking
introduction to juvenile justice, juvenile delinquency, challenges of reducing juvenile crime and
providing equal and fair justice for all juvenile offenders.
Conclusion
Children are all around us. They represent about a quarter of the worlds population. They are not
equipped to defend themselves, they must depend on what is given them. They are victims of
circumstances. They bring us joy, they bring us tears, they are our reason to hope. They are your
children, they are my children. They are the children of the world. We must get the right service
to the right kid at the right time. The past twenty years have been a tumultuous period for the
Indian juvenile justice system. The most recent moral panic over juvenile delinquency and the
myths associated with it such as that an epidemic of youth violence was taking place and that a
new breed of juvenile super predators was emerging which led to dramatic changes in juvenile
justice policies and practices and their influences are still in evidence. Punitive measures have
been very wide and new laws had been framed and thereby girls must be given some extra relief
in gender specific regulations.
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References
1. Howell, James, C. Preventing And Reducing Juvenile Delinquency, A Comprehensive
Framework. Sage Publications India Pvt. Ltd., Second Edition, 2009.
2. Per-Olof H. Wikstrom, David A. Butterworth. Adolescent Crime, Individual Differences And
Lifestyles. Willan Publishing, Usa, Reprinted Edition, 2007.
3. Barry Goldson, John Muncie. Youth Crime And Juvenile Justice, Juvenile Corrections.
Volume 2, Sage Publications, Croatia, First Published 2009.
4. Steven Cox, J.M. Allen, R.D. Hanser, J.J. Conrad. Juvenile Justice, A Guide To Theory, Policy,
And Practice, Sage Publications, Usa, 6th Edition, 2008.
5. Gus Martin. Juvenile Justice, Process And Systems, Sage Publications, Usa, 2005.
6. John Muncie. Youth And Crime, Sage Publications, 3rd Edition, Usa, 2009.
7. R. Lawrence, M.Hesse. Juvenile Justice, The Essentials, Sage Publications, Usa, 2010.
8. Vijay Hansaria, P.I. Jose. Juvenile Justice System. Universal Law Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd,
New Delhi, 2010.
9. Ved Kumari. The Juvenile Justice System In India, From Welfare To Rights, Oxford Unversity
Press, New Delhi, First Published 2004.
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# Gaurav Jain v. Union of India.
# Juvenile Justice: Before and After the Onset of Delinquency in Sixth UN Congress on the
Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, Caracas, Venezuela, A/CONF.87/5, 4TH
JUNE 1980.
# Australian Institute of Criminology (Nov. 2000).
# UNICEF PROJECT LITIGATING THE RIGHTS OF STREET CHILDREN (1998).
# The Advanced Learners Dictionary of Current English, Oxford, 1952, p.1069.
# L.V. REDMAN AND A.V.H. MORY, THE ROMANCE OF RESEARCH, 1923, p.10.
# MEDA CHESNEY LIND(1995).

# Rita Simon(1975).
# WALTER MILLER(1958).
# JOHN J. WILSON