The Context

Abstract

In recent years, the involvement of children in criminal offences has captured global attention as media indulge in periodic bouts of moral panic about the state of the younger generation. Unfortunately, such reports fail to understand that no child is born as a deviant. Often, he/she becomes one through his/her association and interaction with others, indicating that deviance is primarily an environmental and social problem. While the society is in quick to condemn them as criminals who should be treated with severe punishment, it is often overlooked that most of these children get into deviance primarily due to the unique features of their growth and development stage which make them adventurous, less future-oriented, impulsive and susceptible to peer influences which can, at times, lead to deviant behaviour. It is unfortunate that little effort is done to understand them from their perspective regarding what pulled and pushed them to deviance? This central theme of the introductory chapter is to place the subject of inquiry in the right perspective by explaining the problem, the key concepts of juvenile delinquency, deviance and crime and the framework adopted for the study.