Youth Crime

Juvenile (of young people) rioters are becoming more prevalent (common).

How it all started?
i) trivial matters
ii) remarks
iii) rumor
iv) use of vulgar language
v) staring incident

Violence was resorted in settling disputes and rioting cases often involved secret society gangs.

Attraction of gang:
1) ability to respond to the need of the youths that were not otherwise met.
2) To experience the sense of protection which he/she is deprived of
3) Youths who joined secret societies usually experienced a sense of alienation, powerlessness and low-self esteem.
4) To obtain support outside the traditional institutions(family and school)
5) Gang membership provided them with a sense of family, belonging and acceptance.

Gang: it caused its members to feel that violence was the norm, creating a subcultural dynamic that took on a momentum of its own. The gang’s culture is to amplify violence as a way to solve problems and as a display of machismo, courage, heroism, personal power and vengeance ( retaliation) .

Juvenile Shoplifters.

Shoplifting is one of the most common offences committed by juvenile offenders in Singapore.

Attraction of shoplifting:
1) negative peer influence
2) greed
3) thrill-seeking
4) succumbing(give way) to temptations

the reason is mainly because of the lack of self control and rational evaluative thinking on the part of the juvenile.

Other delinquent behaviours:
1) smoking
2) truancy
3) alcohol consumption
4) secret society


Juvenile Justice

The Juvenile court recognizes the potential for change and reform in young offenders and delinquent( guilty of persistent law-breaking) youths.

Measures to help the delinquent youths:
1) probation
2) community service
3) counseling
4) rehabilitation
5) family conferencing
6) peer group advisers
7) boot camps.

the approach to solving this issue is to incorporate elements of deterrence, incapacitation ( prevention) and rehabilitation. A balance will have to be struck between the need for rehabilitation and accountability for the offending behaviour.