Juvenile delinquency is a sad part of the Canadian legal system. When youth start down the wrong path it is imperative that steps are taken to get them back on track. Juvenile delinquents miss important experiences that their crime-free peers will enjoy, such as completing school in a timely manner and other staples of youth.
What leads young people to commit crimes? The most common theories are that youth commit these offenses when they are bored, and especially when they are influenced negatively by peer pressure. Some studies look to influences from their parents and older siblings as possibly influencing youth to perform illegal acts.
Specific procedures are present in dealing with juvenile delinquency when it comes to legality such as detention centers for accused juvenile. These individuals are not mixed up with those accused adults. Moreover, juvenile delinquency is as good as Youth crimes, youth crimes is a major issue nowadays regularly mentioned in news and others. Furthermore, juvenile crimes can be a minor one or a more serious one like murder or felony. If ever a juvenile one commits a crime, he/she is tried in a court system which is very different from an adult one. If proven guilty he/she will be sent to a detention centers made just for them.
Juvenile courts and judges exist for juvenile delinquency exists. In most instances, juveniles who commit crimes are tried under the juvenile court that is more qualified to handle cases of juveniles compared to a normal court. The case is usually left there in the court for decision of the degree of risk the juvenile pose in the society as well as the benefits that the juvenile will get in the detention center if proven guilty. Finding an alternative means of rehabilitation for the child is one of the responsibilities of the juvenile court, this also to prevent future problem with the child. Majority of these cases, when the child reaches the age of eighteen, their crimes are usually wiped out, given that they haven’t committed any other crimes.
Contributing factors that may lead to juvenile delinquency appears in multitude of theories like nature/ nurture principles, how the child was brought up, and his / her surrounding environment while growing up among others. The growing up environment of the child is also important, for example, is the child an abused child or neglected by parents.
Other than nurture principle, genetics has also been linked to play a big role in the development of juvenile delinquency, but most of the experts on this field contradict this connection. According to them it can only constitute a predisposition toward a certain behavior. Experts still believed that nurturance or the lack of it is the main etiology of the development of such condition. Identifying the root of child’s problematic behavior will help in establishing the kind of therapy for the child, and the child can be given consideration with regard to their behavior.