NCJ Number
164976
Date Published
1996
Length
16 pages
Annotation
This overview of India's juvenile justice system describes the formal system of processing juveniles as well as informal practices.
Abstract
Under the long influence of British colonial rule, India developed a significant body of law that pertained to juveniles and established systems of juvenile justice and corrections throughout most of the country. Following independence, a model national law was enacted; and more recently a national uniform code of juvenile justice was enacted; it is binding on all States and regions of the country; nevertheless, relatively few juveniles are subjected to formal agencies of control in India. Needy and delinquent Indian youth are processed by informal, extralegal mechanisms of control. Quasi-official bodies called "Panchyats" administer juvenile justice in villages and urban communities, but the family (kin network) and the "jati," in which families are embedded, are the primary vehicles of social control. This control is exercised in two ways. On one hand, the family-jati is the primary source of a person's identity, social status, economic well-being, and life prospects. As such, it provides a strong institution for social bonding and, consequently, delinquency control. On the other hand, the family and the network of kin relationships it includes provide the most immediate and significant system of interpersonal relationships for Indian youth. Thus, opportunities to associate with delinquent peers are both reduced and impeded. Although the social arrangement may be viewed as oppressive, it is more desirable than using the police and the courts to control juvenile behavior. Changes that are occurring in Indian society may lead to an increasing formalization of juvenile justice in the decades ahead. Whether or not this will better serve India's youth remains to be seen. 2 tables, 24 references, and appended directory of India's juvenile agencies