Institutions to apprehend, treatment and rehabilitation of juvenile offenders in India

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Institutions to apprehend, treatment and rehabilitation of juvenile offenders in India


 Introduction

Juvenile or Children are a conflict with law referred to children under the age of 18 years and suspected or accused of committing a crime or be part of illegal activity. Children in conflict with law cannot be arrested by a police officer and can only be apprehended. Only minors between the age of 16-18 years committed heinous crimes can be treated and tried as adults.

What is Rehabilitation?

The primary motto of punishment is to make the convict understand the grievous nature of the crime committed and regret his/her actions. Hence after the completion (full or partial) of the sentence, the convict has to be prepared to get back into society. The ex-convicts always viewed with a suspicious mind by the general public. Hence the ex-convicts should be prepared mentally and may be taught skill sets to improve their job ability.

Special programs to prevent substance abuse, improve mental health, continuing education was framed for sexual offenders, women parolees and children in conflict with the law. The importance slowly downgraded as the twentieth century progressed towards its end. It regained momentum as human rights concerns are high on the activists’ list.

What are the provisions made by the Juvenile Justice Act?

The Juvenile Justice Act provides for the rehabilitation of the to begin as soon as the child’s transfer to the care home or other correctional facilities. The social reintegration of the child in conflict with law can be done by

Aftercare care organisations:- These are transitional homes where the child is kept before totally reintegrated into society. Aftercare organisations are special homes registered under the governmental nodal agency functions for the welfare of delinquent children.

At the aftercare organisations, the Juveniles were given,

1.      Vocational training

2.      Therapeutic training to improve psychological behaviour

3.      Continuing education

4.      Consensus about social values

5.      Economical ability to support themselves

6.      Activities for physical and mental fitness

The juveniles are taken care of in After Care Organisation which is transitional homes after they leave the special homes and children’s home. Juvenile in conflict with law and children in need of care and protection, both categories are placed in the aftercare organizations. Aftercare organizations enable the juveniles to lead an honest and industrious life. After-Care Organisations are set to achieve the principal objective of allowing children as well as juveniles to adapt to society. At the after-care organizations, the children and juveniles are motivated to stay in mainstream society from their past life in the institutional homes.

Aftercare organizations are nothing but a temporary home which is set up for a group of youths. At the aftercare organizations, the placed youths are encouraged to learn a trade, and they also contribute towards the running of the aftercare home. Any voluntary institution or organization designated as the after-care organization strives to work towards preparing the children as well as juveniles to achieve self-reliance and acquire social and life skills to integrate them fully in the community.

In the aftercare program children and juveniles are also provided access to social, legal and medical services and also with appropriate financial support. Regular educational and vocational training opportunities are provided to children and juveniles at the aftercare organization for helping them to become financially independent and in turn, to generate their income.

The After Care Organisation must ensure regular follow up and support after the child or juvenile is reintegrated in the community or society. Members of various government bodies also work together to reintegrate the child or juvenile into the mainstream society by enabling them psychologically and economically and also providing them with support after integration with society with constant monitoring.

Both institutional and non-institutional measures have been used not only for the proper care and development of children but also to handle the problems of children adequately as a last resort for the welfare of the children and juvenile, the institutional measures have to be used.

Sponsorship

It is the financial help given for child care organisations, foster families, individuals or individual groups to meet the expenses of the juveniles’ rehabilitation programs. It may be a government aid or by a non -governmental organisation (NGO) or by individuals.

 Foster care

It is one of the non-institutional care provided for the juveniles. Based on Section 42 of the Juvenile Justice Act of 2000, the child may be placed with a foster family so he/she may be surrounded in a family environment and parental care which cannot be possible in normal institutional rehabilitation. The child is provided with education as well as family care. The foster family is paid for their service, and it is voluntary in nature.

A child may be placed in foster care if the natural parents are

·       sentenced,

·       suffering from deadly diseases

·       being abroad

·       Incapacitated by other means

Adoption

Adoption benefits the orphans, homeless children and destitute youngsters as well as childless couples. Adoption makes life meaningful for lone single adults too as they gain a parent-child relationship. Adoption empowers a powerful relationship between the child and its adopted parents even though they are not related. Section 2(2) of the Juvenile Justice Act of 2015 states that adoption as the process through which the adopted child is permanently separated from his/her biological parents and becomes the lawful child of his/her adoptive parents with all the rights, privileges and responsibilities that are attached to a biological child.

 

Judicial Intervention against Juvenile Delinquency

The beneficial interpretation of the law given to the juvenile delinquents in judicial decisions. In the case of Sheela Barse v. Union of India,(1986 3 SCC 596) . The Supreme Court has condemned and discouraged the detention of children below 16 years in jail as the atmosphere of the jail may have an injurious effect on the mind of child estranging him from society.

In case of Ramdeo Chauhan v. State of Assam,(2001) 5 SCC 714) it was held that whenever any delinquent juvenile accused of an offence is produced before a Magistrate or a Court and if it is brought to its notice or observed that the accused produced before it was under the age of 16 years, shall refer the accused to the Juvenile Courts if the Act is applicable in the State and the Courts have been constituted or otherwise refer the case to the Court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate who will deal with the matter in accordance with the provisions of law.

Rehabilitation and Reintegration:

Social reintegration of children shall be carried out alternatively by adoption, foster care, sponsorship, and sending the child to an after-care organization (Section 40, the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000). The foster care may be used for temporary placement of those infants who are ultimately to be given for adoption. After-care organisations (Section 44, the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000) are set up for the purpose of taking care of juveniles or the children after they leave special homes, children homes and for the purpose of enabling them to lead an honest, industrious and useful life.


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