JUVENILE DELINQUENCY

AND CRIME
 Juvenile delinquency then deals with children , minor or youth below twenty – one years of
age who break the laws or fail to do what law requires.

Presidential decree no . 603, the child and youth welfare code, defines youthful offender as
“one who is over nine years of age who break laws or fail to do what law requires.

In general term, the term crime is used to refer to adult behavior. A crime is the commission or
omission of an act which is either in violation of a law prohibiting it or in violation or law
ordering it.

It also defines as an act or omission , especially one of grave nature , punishable by law as
forbidden by statute or injurious violation to the public welfare hence a serious violation of the
human law .

The collection and the utilization of crime statistic are subject to difficulties similar to those of
juvenile delinquency .
• The delinquent
• Causes of juvenile delinquency
• How to control and prevent delinquency
• Youth and crime
• The national training for boys
• GANGS
• The incidence of crime index
• Pornography and violence
The delinquent
the word “delinquent” means many things. For some, a delinquent is one who as
committed an offense against an individual and this offense is punishable under our criminal
law.

Delinquency can be divided into different classes.

• One class is the environmental delinquents . Environmental delinquents are the occasional
lawbreakers.
• The second class is the emotionally maladjusted delinquents. These delinquents are the
chronic lawbreakers who make breaking of laws a habit they cannot avoid or escaped from.
• The third is the psychiatric delinquents . Psychiatric delinquency is related to serious
emotional disturbances in the family or to mental ill-health. When a person becomes
delinquent due to mental illness, he is classified as a psychiatric delinquent.

Causes of juvenile delinquency

Juvenile delinquency does not stem from a single cause nor a single set of causes .Lessca in
her research problem of juvenile delinquency found the following causes, and that they arose
from personal meaning coming from the individual delinquent himself :

1. An escapes or flight from a tense and unpleasant situation.

2. Unhappiness and bitterness can perhaps be drowned out by intense excitement and running
 of risk .
3. Achievements of recognition and status in the group may constitute the most important
meaning.
4. Denial of dependence,inferiority,feminity ,masculinity and a “regular guy “ philosophy .
5. The meaning of revenge against the parents since the latter’s life is made difficult and they
are disgraced by the action of the child .

The problem of juvenile delinquency appears to be difficult to eradicate . A survey made by

Philippine youth welfare coordinating council concluded that there were some 500,000
youngsters with little to do because educational facilities had not been able to keep pace with
the burgeoning urban population . In a report made by a police chief, theft, physical injury ,
robbery and vandalism appeared to be the most prevalent , juvenile crimes.

Youth and crime

Trickery playing on traditional values is not evident in cases involving errant youth . Thus the
number of committed juvenile offenders in the National Training School for Boys (167) would
seem to indicate the far from serious nature of juvenile delinquency in the Philippines . The fact
that the Philippines Training School for Boys has less than 200 offenders may be explained the
following :

1. Measures taken by the government are contributory factors.

2.The inmates in this “school” generally come from lower classes.
3. In the give social setting, some cases involving the youth are usually settled out of court and
where the offense is not so grave, the parents of the delinquent would exhaust every means to
prevail upon the family of the offended to accept payment for damage .

Of the 167 youth offenders who are admitted at the National Training School for Boys , 76% of
the total population comes from Metro Manila, but most of these youth offenders are migrants
who came from provinces but were stranded in the city .

The National Training School For Boys

Formerly the National Training School for Boys was under the Administration of the Welfareville
in Mandaluyong,MetroManila but now it is under the administration of Social Welfare and
Services located in Bo.Sampaloc,Tanay,Rizal.

The NTSB has the following goals:

1. Return of the minor to his natural parents or the relative and eventual integration into the
community .
2.Provision for opportunities for minors to develop self reliance in preparation to adult life and
ultimately as participating member in the community .

Its objectives are:

1. To explore and develop skills, interest and potentials of minors to help them become socially
-responsible and economically self-sufficient preparatory to their integration into their
community.
2. To in calculate positive and meaningful value in the individual wards through satisfying group
experience in planned activities.
3. To serve as laboratory for the study and development of services for youth offenders.

Those who can served:

4. Youth who are between nine years and below 18 years old can avail of said services. Those
who are less than nine years old and below are not accepted in the NSTB because they are not
considered criminally liable at that age. Their cases are reffered to the Juvenile Domestic
Relation Court . Offenders above 18 years old are taken to Muntinlupa where they are jailed
or to be detained according to the gravity of the offense they committed.
5. Those who are committed by the court can likewise run to NTSB for help .

Procedure for admission

1.The youth offender is brought to the center by police authorities with the following :
a. Court order
b. Social case study report
c. School, health and work record prepared by the NSSD branch office concerned.
The NTSB is different from boys town . The boys town is under the administration of the school
welfare . The population of the boys town consist of orphaned and abandoned children . Unlike
the NTSB, it does not deal with youth offenders.
Gangs
Gangs representing entrenched families, according to Coller (1970), are aimed toward status-
seeking rather than solving direct conflicts, which “would seem related to the times when some
specific group posses a direct threat to their status-goals”.
The Philippine Constabulary identified some youth gangs with a total membership ranging from
600 to 800. The larger youth gangs carry such names as OXO, Sigue sigue commando,sigue sigeu
sputnik, and Bahala na .Other youth gangs are the Capuleno, and the BCJ (batang city jail ).

The gangs were organized along regional lines and were born of the conflict arising between
entrenced families in the Tondo foreshore areas and migrant groups coming from all parts of the
Philippines.
More and more gangs capture the front page of the newspapers among which are the
Kuratong baleleng gang, The Estribo gang and the paracale gang .
How to control and prevent delinquency
Clear knowledge of the causes of juvenile delinquency can naturally lead to a better
understanding of how to control and prevent delinquency . Such as reasoning is based on the
frequent experience of being able to solve a problem successfully after the causes have been
determined. It is suggested that there should be wholesome family relationship to prevent
delinquency . Gaerlan et. (1975) maintain that emphasis on the christian moral virtues in the
education of both parents and the youth is important.

Social Welfare Program . To prevent and minimize the number of delinquents in the country ,
social welfare programs were instituted by the Department such as:
1. Child and youth welfare program- is designed to take care of, protect, rehabilitate children and
youth in difficult situation and ensure their social adjustment and total growth and
development.
2. Family welfare program – is designed to assist socially disadvantaged families to develop their
capability in defining needs and formulating solutions to bring about desired social change.
3. The family life development program- enriches and strengthens the family to fulfill its function
to its members and the community.

On the other hand The Community Welfare Program , is intended to assist socially disadvantaged
communities in developing their capability in defining needs and formulating solutions as well as
setting up viable community structures which bring about desired social change.
The incidence of crime index
Index crime are of serious nature which occur with sufficient frequency and regularity to be
used as an index of actual level of compilation in the Philippines (Philippine yearbook 1994).
Index crimes include murder, homicide, physical injuries, robbery , theft and rape . Crimes other
than these are classified as non index crimes.
The latest available data (1992-1994) culled from the Philippine National Police Journals
reveal the following information concerning crimes .

There are about 58,684 index crimes recorded in 1993; thus decreased by 12.87 percent over
the 1992 figure of 67,354. on the other hand, non-index crime volume which decreased by 15.20
percent in 1992, increased slightly by 1.70 percent in 1993.

From January 1 to December 1992, the following index crime were distributed in percentage:
Murder- 11.75 %
Homicide – 12.3 %
Physical injury – 16.58 %
Robbery- 25.80 %
Theft- 30.38%
Rape- 3.19%

Percentage distribution of index crimes from January 1 to December 1993 shows an increase in :
Rape from 3.19% in 1992 to 3.89 %
Theft from 30.38% to 31.90%
Murder from 11.75% to 12.14 %
Physical injury from 16.58% to 16.80%
Homicide from 12.3% to 13.22
In the case of robbery from 25.80% to 22.05 %

From January 1 to April 1994

Rape increased from 3.89 % to 4.57%
Robbery from 22.05% to 22.34%
Murder from 12.14% to 12.22 %
Physical injury from 16.80% to 17.20 %
Theft and homicide reduced from 31.90 % to 31.68% and 12.14% to 11.28%

From January 1 to June 30 1994

Rape case showed no changes at 4.57%
Theft and robbery increased from 31.88% to 32.44 % and 22.34% to 22.44%
Homicide, Murder, and Physical injury cases reduced from 11.25% to 11.09%, 12.22% to 11.84%,
and 17.70% to 17.60%

For the month of January 1994 ,

Rape cases registered 3.92%
Physical injury 16.86%
Murder 12.02 %
Homicide 13.25 %
Robbery 22.07 %
Theft 22.07%
 The PNP records showed such crimes increased by 8.3 percent in 1994 from 1993, 6.3 percent
in 1993from 1992, six percent in 1992 from 1991 and 11.6 percent in 1991 from 1990 .

Metro Manila had the greatest number of rape cases among than regions from 1990 to 1994,
accounting for 20.8 percent in the 1994 ( the Philippine Star, July 28, 1996).

Pornography and violence

The American Heritage Dictionary defines pornography as “written , graphic or other forms
of communication intended to excite lascivious feelings .
Undoubtedly, pornography has an effect on the mentality of the generation . It has been
affirmed by recent foreign researches and studies which say that “it is pornography which feeds
the imagination of those with guns and gives them a blueprint to act out in their own lives ,
portrays violence as enjoyable and encourages the view that women are sexual victims, not
equal partners.

The theory that pornography endorses attitudes that increase the likelihood of rape is
supported by a study on “recreational killers” by the US Institute of mental health . Most of
those are killers “feed in pornography”
Prevention and control of crime
The Philippine Criminal Justice System. The criminal justice system is the machinery which the
Philippine society uses in the prevention and control of crime . It operates by preventing the
commission of crimes , enforcing the laws , protecting the life , individual rights and property ,
removing dangerous person from the community , deterring people from indulging in criminal
activities, investigating , apprehending, prosecuting , and sentencing those who cannot be
dettered from violating the rules of society, and rehabiliting offenders before returning them to
the community.

The system has four separate and formally organized components , namely: police (law
enforcement agencies ), prosecution , courts and corrections. This system is known as formal ,
criminal justice system .

“Total approach “ to crime . the Manila bulletin , October 32, 1993 carried reports that Justice
Secretary (Teofisto Guingona) public perception of the perception of the Philippine National
Police(PNP) has been considerably tarnished because of the rash of recent scandals and
involvement of a few scalawags and misfits in uniform .

Guingona stressed that the “total approach strategy “ to the criminal justice system should be
adopted by the government . A plan by the Department of Interior and Local Government is to
provide venues for community-based participation in curbing localized crime problems is one
way .
 The barangays and crime prevention. among the traditional institution , the new concept of
social defensed has been further highlighted by the crucial role now being played by the
barangays in crime prevention through community public youth and welfare services.
like in other countries, the problems of crimes and juvenile delinquency seems to be
inevitable . The government , however has been doing its best to solve these problems.

Juvenile delinquency does not stem from a single cause nor a single set of causes. Social
disorganization is the most important factor that influences the rate of juvenile delinquency .
Gangs enjoy a notoriety not only because its youthful members now and then on the front
pages of newspapers but also because these gangs include adults.

Clear knowledge of the cause of crime and delinquency can lead to a better understanding of
how to control and prevent delinquency..