The Effectiveness Of Rehabilitation In Indian Juvenile System
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Category: General Law
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THE EFFECTIVENESS OF REHABILITATION IN INDIAN
JUVENILE SYSTEM
Riya Zachariya, Christ (Deemed to be) University
ABSTRACT
This paper discusses the problem of juvenile delinquency and how such juveniles tend to approach petty crimes which may often raise to higher levels of criminal action. In India, it is referred to as "children in conflict with the law," and the number itself is significant because most of the offenders are below 18 years. This report is an evaluation of the effectiveness of rehabilitation programs in juvenile centers and the laws that are presented to enhance their standards. It basically indicates the need for education and skills acquisition within the correctional institutions to help rehabilitate minors within the societies and reduce criminal activities afterward. The paper also draws from the juvenile justice system in the United States as more focus has been placed on rehabilitation rather than punishment of the young offenders.
It analyzes, based on literature reviews, case studies, and data, how rehabilitation can be used to reduce the rate of reoffending and improve the long-term prospects for juveniles. It further brings out how measures of punishment sometimes may be abusive to criminal tendencies. Generally, the paper is on the relevance of well methodologically planned treatment programs and contributes to the debate about how to tackle juvenile delinquency. Keywords: Juvenile, Justice, Rehabilitation, Effectiveness, Offenders
INTRODUCTION
The juvenile justice system, all over the world, has been undergoing tremendous change. It has shifted to less punitive but more corrective means and measures towards young offenders. The old system was basically designed and developed with the intent of punishment, even the detention or being held behind bars, and their respective criminal records that followed them into adulthood. This was in the intent to punish the juvenile and to prevent further violations in the future. However, it has been noted in recent years that this approach is not the best to deal with crime among juveniles. Studies show that children have minimal cognitive and emotional capacity and thus they are more prone to reforming themselves.
This new awareness has made many institutions start programs that give youths, who have committed crimes, an opportunity to learn from their mistakes and, therefore, reform and reintegrate into society at large. This is part of a much wider review of how societies deal with juvenile justice. 1 Policy makers and specialists are in fact trying to find out a balance between the need to preserve public safety, on the one hand, and the potential that young offenders can change and grow. The major countries around the world like United States, United Kingdom, and India have implemented reforms moving from punishment to rehabilitation.
For instance, recidivism rates are probably one of the most widely used success-measuring devices and often tend to be lower with rehabilitative programs because they aim at addressing deeper causes for crime such as unaddressed poverty, lack of education, or untreated mental health conditions. Furthermore, these programs tend to prove more cost-effective in the long term compared with locking up teenagers. Furthermore, questions of morality abound on whether it is fair to punish the juveniles in the same harsh degree as adults, as well as their state of development.
GROWTH OF JUVENILE COURTS IN INDIA
Juveniles, who are accused of committing a crime, can be arrested but cannot be detained by law enforcement officers in India. Children aged 16 to 18 years, who have committed other severe offenses, can be tried as an adult. These young offenders are taken to appear before the counsel referred to as the Juvenile Justice Council, consisting of a judge and two social workers. The social workers should address the issue of the jivenile in consideration of their future. According to a study in 2016, it was indicated that approximately one-fifth population 1 Adithya Tomer, Rethinking of juvenile justice system in India, Bharti Publications (1), 32-41 (2017)
of the children of the world lives in India. India has the biggest adolescent population in the world, and one in five is between 10 -19. As the population grows, the worries for them and their future intensify manifold. A combination of overcrowding, poverty, and social issues pose a likelihood of delinquency or inability to lead normal lives to 40 percent of India's youth. By June 2019, officials estimated there were about 4,000 minors in Delhi jails. The impacts of serving time in adult correctional facilities can be pretty damning on the minors. For instance, these youths may engage in more heinous crimes or become hardened criminals just to gain a foothold among the other adult inmates. Additionally, they often get socialized into situations characterized by rampant violence and crime, thus enhancing the possibilities of internalizing these habits.
Minors kept in adult facilities are also highly vulnerable to physical and sexual abuse at the hands of fellow inmates as well as by the staff members. Such events have been known to dent a child's self-esteem and make him feel alienated, thus pushing him more into the arms of crimes. According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), juvenile crime in India has been increasing. In the year 2001, the reported juvenile crimes had reached 16,509, further increased to 25,125 in the year 2011 and grew by 65. 7% in a decade. The offences continued and reached to 31,973 cases in the year 2012. Juvenile arrests have continued to surging, with 44,171 in 2016, 60,160 in 2017, and 65,452 in 2018. Today there are nearly 815 juvenile homes in India, and nearly
1.7 million children are in need of rehabilitation. In 2011, Madhya Pradesh had the highest
number of juvenile crimes (4,997), followed by Maharashtra (4,775). In 2021, 31,170 cases involving juveniles were registered, thus showing a growth of 4.7% from the previous years. Of these, 76.2% of cases involved minors aged 16 to 18. Meanwhile, the juvenile crime rate went up from 6.7% to 7.0%. The 2011 Population Census of India found the child population to be 444.15 million. The latest NCRB report states that seven juveniles out of every 100 have committed some sort of crime in the country. Altogether, 37,444 juveniles were detained, with 32,654 booked under sections of the Indian Penal Code and 4,790 booked under state and local laws.2
LEGAL FRAMEWORK
It can be seen that the legal structure for juvenile offenders in India has undergone great changes
2 M.W. Ali, Juvenile Delinquency in India: A Socio-Legal Study, 23 ALJ 258, (2016),
https://www.scconline.com/blog/post/2021/06/05/juvenile-justice-system/
with time. The reform of young offenders began with the Act of Apprentices 1850, which provided opportunity for rehabilitation in the case of those between 10 to 18 years of age through vocational trainings. This led to the Reformatory Schools Act of 1897, a development over previous legislation. In the early 20th century, the Indian Jail Committee of 1919-20 reported that juvenile delinquents needed fair treatment. Children Act was passed in Madras in 1920; in Bengal and followed by Bombay. These initial enactments underwent significant alterations between 1948 and 1959. 3 In 1960, the Children Act was enacted to address the needs for the Union Territories, and the Children (Amendment) Act in 1978 sought to address mistakes that had characterized earlier enactments.
There were, however, attempts at establishing a uniform system for juvenile justice around the country, which failed as issues regarding state and central jurisdiction under the Indian Constitution slowed down the initiative. However, a crucial step was the response given to international commitments which was the Juvenile Justice Bill presented in 1986 before the Lok Sabha. The Juvenile Justice Act of 1986 classified juveniles on differing age limits depending upon the gender—16 for boys, 18 for girls. As one of the landmark cases, Sheela Barse v. Union of India brought to the forefront much-needed laws protecting the rights of children. 4 Although the Act was considered a landmark step forward, it had to be recognized as inadequate after some time. Therefore, the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act was enacted in 2000.
This ensured that there were similar age thresholds for juveniles and that rehabilitation was the main concern. Since this Act was inspired by the spirit of the UNCRC, it made provisions to protect and rehabilitate children/minors within the framework of juvenile justice. However, an important matter of public concern was raised by the tragic Nirbhaya gang rape case in the year 2012. Following this, the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act of 2015 was enacted. It brought provisions for the trial of persons from the age group of 16-17 years accused of heinous crimes as adults, along with child protection and adoption procedures becoming more child-friendly.
The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Amendment Bill was passed in 2021 to update the Act 2015, reflecting concerns from both ruling parties and 3 Amit Singh & Preeti Varma, An analytical approach to juvenile justice and rehabilitation measures under the juvenile justice act in India, IJCLLR 2024. 4(1). 61-66, (2024) 4 Amit Singh & Preeti Varma, An analytical approach to juvenile justice and rehabilitation measures under the juvenile justice act in India, IJCLLR 2024. 4(1). 61-66, (2024)
opposition parties. Besides that, the legal framework has established the Juvenile Justice Boards and Child Welfare Committees to deal with the cases in which children come into conflict with the law. The Jurisdiction of JJB is so established by the state government for the districts and has exclusive authority over juvenile cases. Rehabilitation and protection take precedence over retribution. In substance, the Indian approach to juvenile justice has consistently evolved through legislation and protection of minors' rights and a focus on rehabilitation rather than punishment over time.5
INDIAN JUVENILE PRISONS: A CENTER FOR REFORMATION OR MERE PLACE
OF PUNISHMENT?
Two diametric approaches prevail within the juvenile justice administration of India - reforming offenders or just punishing them in juvenile prisons. Despite a legislation that look towards reforming juveniles, there are reports that most juvenile correctional homes work as penal institutions with minors facing terrible situations. It has been observed that over 40 percent juvenile offenders in India are kept under worse conditions than those prevailing in the adult prisons. This is indeed a harsh reality in contrast to the idea of the system, which conceives keeping children away from adult jails and granting them a chance at rehabilitation. Public perception about juvenile correctional homes in India holds a negative significance. In 2013, Asian Center for Human Rights published a report entitled India's Hell Holes: Child Sexual Assault in Juvenile Justice Homes.
The report underscored the deplorable state of these institutions with 39 documented serial cases of sexual assault in government-run homes, orphanages, and foster care facilities. In these institutions, children are exposed to sexual exploitation and torture, along with extreme cases of maltreatment, and thus it raises question over the effectiveness of India in dealing with the juvenile justice system. Where the purpose of the facility protection or rehabilitation, such centres seem to be more like punishment cells, where remedial causes that attend juvenile behavior are left out.
REHABILITATION VS PUNISHMENT:
The debate on whether there is a need to focus on rehabilitation or punishment is still ongoing. Bottom line is that society should reform young offenders or punish them to deter others. Both 5 Agarwal D, Juvenile Delinquency in India - Latest Trends and Entailing Amendments in Juvenile Justice Act, 3 People Int'l J. Soc. Sci. 1365, (2018)
philosophies are hard to deal with since they have their pros and cons.
REHABILITATION:
Rehabilitation aims to change the behaviour of offenders for the betterment of society. Rehabilitation programs understand that most youthful offenders commit crimes because of problems such as poverty, lack of education, drug or substance abuse, or mental health. Rehabilitating them thus emphasizes the reduction of recidivism and promotes their ability to lead productive, law-abiding lives. Effective rehabilitation is often measured by a reduction in recidivism, and it is very much aimed at personal development, giving out the means, tools, and support for the positive change in an individual. However, it is very resource-intensive- in terms of human resources, facilities, and funds-to rehabilitate effectively. Budgetary constraints and overcrowded facilities abound in many countries, including India6.
True, rehabilitation is often more cost-effective in the long run than imprisonment for a more extended period of time.
PUNISHMENT:
Punishment is essentially about ensuring offenders are made to account for their misdeeds, according to the principle of retribution—that is, to ensure that punishment matches the crime. For many, punishment is a part of justice, and certainly for victims of crime, but also for serving as a deterrent against crimes from occurring again. The key principle of punishment is proportionality—a mechanism for tailoring penalties to offense seriousness. However, punishment alone often fails to trace the root causes of criminal behaviour. 7 Even in the absence of any rehabilitative efforts, incarceration of juveniles only increases the prospects of returning to crime upon coming out of prison. 8 Also, maintaining such a system that operates purely on punishment is costly since extended imprisonment puts a strain on the finances of the society without making people any less criminal.
6 Shalini Gupta, Correctional & Rehabilitative Techniques of Punishment: A Need for Legislative Reform in India, 10. 21088/ijlhb. 2454. 7107. 5219. 18, (2020). 7 Kristy Lee Morris, Rethinking Retributive Justice: The Flaws of Punishment Without Rehabilitation, Medium, 22 Jan 2024, https://kristyleemorris. medium. com/rethinking-retributive-justice-the-flaws-of-punishmentwithoutrehabilitation-224ff161bde8 8 R. E. Redding, The Effects of Adjudicating and Sentencing Juveniles as Adults, 1 Youth Violence & Juv. Just.
128 (2003), https://doi.org/10.1177/1541204002250875.
Rehabilitation as opposed to punishment is one of the underlying issues even in the juvenile justice system of India. The advantages of rehabilitation lie in long-term improvement although this only comes with adequate resources and infrastructure which India's correctional institutions do not always have. Punishment can sometimes provide immediate justice but may hardly be able to prevent other crimes that may be committed in the future. Probably the better approach would be one that is a little more integrated, seeking a balance between accountability and proper rehabilitative programs.
SYSTEM FOR REHABILITATION AT JUVENILE PRISONS
The primary objective of detaining a juvenile offender who has committed a crime is to make them realize the wrongfulness of their actions and develop a sense of remorse for them. Even after being confined by the Juvenile Justice Board, a juvenile offender may be issued probation for rehabilitation and readmission into society. Therefore, while rehabilitating, adequate importance must be given to the age and physical or emotional needs of the minor. These childcare institutions and social welfare organizations join forces with the government authorities in order to find constructive solutions for these children, and it is the Ministry of Women and Child Development which devises the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) to govern the same.
The Seventh United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime had identified three juvenile justice models that offered some novel methods of dealing with young offenders:
1. Due Process Model: This model of justice mainly highlights fairness and due legal
processes while preliminary proceedings are conducted by qualified attorneys.
2. Social welfare model: This decides economic and social fairness which determines
important decisions made by administrators along with experts.
3. Participatory Process Model of justice: With the help of this model of justice,
community processes and actions are used to resolve conflicts locally. It places more responsibilities on the implementation of juvenile justice processes and reliance on
central power. 9 Rehabilitation starts the moment a minor comes across the police. A positive first encounter with the police may lay down whether a teenager is likely to cooperate with rehabilitation and other intervention programs. If the police officers handle things gently and with care, it leads to positive outcome consequences for young offenders. Thus, police officers have to deal with the youngsters with sensitivity as their behaviour is likely to influence further encounters that the child would face with the justice system. Police form an important part of juvenile delinquency, along with other functions such as crime detection and investigation, case disposal, child protection, and crime prevention.
The Supreme Court and most of the High Courts in India play important roles in deciding the trend of the juvenile justice system, which changes with the changing attitude towards young offenders. Juvenile Justice Courts and Councils have the legal mandate to personally consider cases of children. 10 While youthful offenders are still bound to be sent to juvenile homes or correctional facilities for their misbehaviour, rehabilitation still takes the center stage. Often, this was supplemented with psychiatric evaluation, yoga, therapy support, skill building, and other mental health programs. While government financing is often tagged with a cord limit, the involvement of NGOs as well as social workers has led to affordable methods of rehabilitation for young offenders.
Despite the insistence of the Model Prison Manual of the Ministry of Home Affairs on rehabilitation as central to the criminal justice system, it often fails to understand the basic concept of reformation. The system rarely identifies some of the underlying causes of crime. Although there are benefits, such as early discharge and parole, in return for good behavior, providing excellent genuine rehabilitation must be the key. Finally, rehabilitation of a minor is equated with equipping it for successful reintegration back into society on its release. While it is correct that people spend most of their days working on 9 Khyati Saxena, Effectiveness of Rehabilitation Programs in Indian Juvenile Centers, 6 Int'l J. Legal Sci. & Innovation 118, (2023), https://www. ijlsi. com/wp-content/uploads/Effectiveness-of-Rehabilitation-ProgramsinIndian-Juvenile-Centers. pdf.
10 Jessy John, Life Skills Development Programme for the Mental Health of Juveniles in Kerala, India, 21 Loyola J. Soc. Work (2008).
vocationally relevant education or training as part of rehabilitation efforts, the scope of rehabilitation has to go much wider for a young person in any era.
FINDING A BALANCED APPROACH:
For juvenile justice to rehabilitate young offenders in truest terms, it has to focus on the wellbeing and development of these children. This would call for serious commitment on improving conditions within juvenile homes; increasing funding on rehabilitation programs; and proper training of staff that work with young people. Without such transformations, juvenile correction facilities will continue to act more like prisons than being places for reform. 11 While the debate surrounding rehabilitation versus punishment continues to be a significant challenge in the criminal justice system, it is observed that both methods have their strengths and weaknesses. Bringing society back in the loop that balances the cards for safety, justice, and potential reform among offenders is important.
The financial, ethical, and societal implications of each approach need to be understood well, since where reliance is placed only on one method, the intricate nature of crime and its consequences does not come under the fold of the implemented measures. 12 Rehabilitation focuses on changing the offenders by dealing with the root causes of crime. Such programs usually include education, vocational training, therapy, and community services aimed at helping restore the criminals into society as law-abiding citizens. These are expensive since they involve highly trained professionals who work with proper facilities. In fact, their impact is largely at the mercy of the individual; that which helps one does not help another, and some believe in ostracism as a pure form of punishment.
Whereas punishment focuses primarily on retribution and deterrence, Punishment acts towards restoring justice to society provided that it permits criminal to account for his/her wrongs. Punishment tends to focus more on the treatment of the symptoms of crime and not the causes of crime. By focusing on the immediate consequences of crimes, the system may indeed be encouraging criminal behaviour. For example, criminal behaviour may take a child into 11 Sudha Yadav & Akilesh Ranaut, Juvenile Justice Reforms: Evaluating the Effectiveness of Rehabilitation Vs Punishment, ILJFMR, Nov-De2023, (2023),https://www. ijfmr. com/papers/2023/6/9541. pdf 12 R. E. Redding, The Effects of Adjudicating and Sentencing Juveniles as Adults, 1 Youth Violence & Juv. Just.
128 (2003), https://doi.org/10.1177/1541204002250875.
imprisonment after which they will be unable to reintegrate into society since they face stigma and lack of jobs, hence raising the probability of recidivism. While punishment may involve a financial burden, the monetary aspect of incarceration and other punishments is considerable as well. Prisons are expensive to operate, maintain, and keep safe. Inmates require care. Funding these areas continues to put strains on public budgets. Prevention and rehabilitation programs are typically ignored when funding is focused on punishment. Some say that without incentive towards reform, recidivism rises as those who leave prison revert to criminal activity. Ethics is also part of the rehabilitation versus punishment debate. Rehabilitation is mostly preceded by belief in the possibility of change, that is, a person is given an opportunity to grow and develop himself or herself.
Then, punishment must remain ethical by being fair and humane. Offenders are increasingly being treated inhumanely, especially juveniles who are put in unforgiving conditions not worth their rehabilitation. A balanced approach that combines rehabilitation with punishment will be effective in tackling
crime issues; well-executed rehabilitation in the long run may save money, as reduced recidivism also cuts the costs of multiple crimes and the resultant revocation of imprisonment. It invests in evidence-based rehabilitation programs to ensure efficient use of resources in administering interventions tailored to an offender's needs. However, not all offenders can be rehabilitated. The more serious the crime, or the greater the threat that the offender appears to pose to the safety of citizens, the more appropriate will be sentencing than any form of rehabilitation. But many offenders are driven by poverty or substance abuse issues, both of which can be treated and cured through treatment and rehabilitation. 13 Effective criminal justice systems combine both of the above approaches.
In the same measure that they hold people accountable to their actions, they offer opportunities for personal growth and change once those offenses have been committed. That way, they can respond to crime better. Strategic resource allocation is also involved in dealing with offender as well as community needs. By realigning funds from punitive-driven measures into rehabilitative ones, 13 C. Pegu, Identifying Risk Factors Associated with Juvenile Offenders' Recidivism in India: A Theoretical Understanding, 21 Humanities, Arts & Soc. Scis. Stud. 346 (2021).
such as education, job training, and mental health services, a country greatly reduces recidivism rates and makes its communities safer. The end goal of any criminal justice system should be the enhancement of public safety and the serving of justice. Rehabilitation and punishment of criminals making them accountable helps the society create a system that would both combat crime and allow the offenders to be given a chance to genuinely reform and reintegrate themselves into the society. It is in this line that a better approach would come out bringing about a fair, an effective, and humane system for the benefit of individuals and, by extension, society. 14
CONCLUSION
Therefore, children's welfare is fundamental to any nation, for they are future human resources and potential for society. In this regard, the Indian Constitution also stresses on the provision for children to create a suitable environment in which they shall blossom to become worthy citizens. Sections 15, 24, 39(e), 39(f), 47, and 51A reflect the commitment of this nation in safeguarding the rights and needs of children. 15 Article 39(e) putforth the state as a custodian of children's strength and stability in their care and protection. Undoubtedly, the overall development of children is to be achieved by generating an atmosphere for their growth. Highly essential is the bonding of challenged children with society through the process of adoption and other rehabilitative measures such as foster care.
However, the interventions involving minors, especially in the domain of juvenile justice systems, call for more thoughtful consideration and are much needed to be supported empirically. Both rehabilitative effectiveness and punitive efficacy in juvenile justice reforms have pros and cons. On one hand, rehabilitation addresses the root causes of juvenile delinquency as well as the positive transformation of behaviour. Punishment raises questions about accountability and deterrence. The right balance between these approaches is therefore paramount. Rehabilitation requires consumption of resources most often and need not be successful, whereas punishment may also turn out to be a failed process to bring about the root cause transformation, and may incidentally become disproportionate too.
14 Amit Singh & Preeti Varma, An analytical approach to juvenile justice and rehabilitation measures under the juvenile justice act in India, IJCLLR 2024. 4(1). 61-66, (2024) 15 S. Nalwa & H. D. Kohli, Commentary on the Juvenile Justice Act, (2d ed. Lexis Nexis New Delhi), 2016
The principle in this approach should, therefore be a balanced consideration of the specific needs of each young offender, offering individualized responses that integrate both rehabilitation and accountability to the children, while offering a more just and effective juvenile justice system that will protect children, promote their development, and benefit the wider community.