Juvenile delinquency also known as 'Children in Conflict with the Law' refers to any person below the age of 18 who has come in contact with the justice system as a result of committing a crime or being suspected of committing a crime.

According to a recent NCRB report, there has been a rising trend of incidence of juvenile crimes in India from 2005-2015, wherein the number of cases registered grew by more than 100%. This increasing trend of Juvenile Crimes (under IPC) is a matter of grave concern, though the percentage of juvenile crimes to total crimes is just around 1% during 2001 to 2011.

There are multiple risk factors which cause Juvenile delinquency:

1.>Social factors

• Broken homes and families: Lack of parental affection and security, parental conflict and a steep rate in divorce, desertion and separation etc.
• Poverty: It compels the children consciously or unconsciously join hands with gangsters and become delinquents.
• Peer group factors: Delinquency spring up from the prevalent attitudes in the groups within which the youth has immediate contacts.
• School dissatisfaction: Parental irresponsibility, unmanageable students- teacher ratio, lack of entertainment and sports facilities in schools, indifference of the teachers may all contribute to it.
• Cinema: Films, television and obscene literature may often provoke sexual and other impulses in adolescents.

2.>Personal factors

• Mental deficiency and emotional disturbance: Emotional problems of inferiority, jealousy and being thwarted are very common among the delinquent children.
• Deep-seated inner desires coupled with outside pressures, compulsions and temptations.
• Poor cognitive development and early anti- social behavior.
• Other risk factors include impulsive behaviour, uncontrolled aggression and an inability to delay gratification.

Overlooking the causal factors escalates the problem of child delinquency into chronic criminality. A cursory look at NCRB data on juvenile crimes over the years unfolds a disturbing trend. Juveniles, who earlier indulged mainly in petty crimes like theft or trespassing or unlawful assembly have graduated to heinous crimes including rape, murder and kidnapping, rather effortlessly.

Interventions needed for eliminating Juvenile Delinquency:

Prevention

• Need to combat local conditions known to contribute to juvenile delinquency and ensure positive youth development to address the needs of youth who are vulnerable.
• Establishing child guidance clinics to give appropriate treatment to the disturbed and mal-adjusted children.
• Spotting potential delinquents by predictive tests in schools and giving appropriated treatment to such children.

Rehabilitation

• Help the delinquent children to get proper guidance and training so that they become normal children. Reformation and Rehabilitation of juveniles should be the motive of the law.
• Social competence promotion curriculums and afterschool recreation programs.
• Vocational counseling and training so as to increase the delinquent's knowledge of career choices as well as successful employment.

Child delinquency usually stems from multiplicity of alternative and converging influences. There is a strong need to holistically address the risk factors by reforming the legislative provisions and instituting other socially relevant measures such as Bal Ashrams etc. This would go a long way in arresting the growing trend of child delinquency.