Staying on the Straight And Narrow

New policy is introduced to prevent juvenile delinquency By Yin Pumin

Staying on the Straight And Narrow

New policy is introduced to prevent juvenile delinquency By Yin Pumin

On February 24, an online post about an assault on a teenage girl raised a public outcry in China.

The incident took place in Hefei, east China’s Anhui Province, last September. The suspect, a 17-year-old boy surnamed Tao,set fire to a girl, surnamed Zhou, who had rejected his romantic advances. Tao and Zhou both studied in the same high school in Hefei.

The case prompted strong calls for authorities to check juvenile violence after the victim’s mother went online to call for help,describing the gruesome details of the assault and posting photos of her daughter’s bandagewrapped face. A hospital diagnosis indicated that about 32 percent of the girl’s body had been burned.

Of fi cial statistics show the number of crimes committed by young people is growing.

According to the Supreme People’s Court, 234,737 juvenile defendants were convicted in China from 2008 to 2010. Most of the offenders were prosecuted on charges of robbery, murder, sexual assault, fi ghting and causing public disturbances.

An urgent matter

In July 2011, the Chinese Society for Juvenile Delinquency Prevention Research (CSJDPR),the only non-governmental organization in the country specializing in young criminals, released a report based on a nationwide survey conducted in 2010. The survey was answered by 966 boys and 239 girls in correctional institutions and reform schools in 10 provinces and municipalities, including Beijing.

According to the survey, juvenile offenses often involve violent crime and organized crime. The major motive is a desire for money and the major in fl uence is peer pressure and the majority of offenders act on impulse.

According to the report, robbery is the most common crime committed by juveniles,and accounts for 60 percent of convictions.

Liu Guiming, Deputy Secretary General of the CSJDPR, attributed the rise of juvenile delinquency in China to the lack of family belonging and incomplete social management.

According to the CSJDPR report, nearly 41 percent of minor offenders expressed their discontent with their families, and about 45 percent of those surveyed did not live or communicate with their parents.

“Insufficient family affection may result in young offenders feeling resentment,” said Cao Xuecheng, Secretary General of the society.

Li Meijin, a renowned criminal psychologist with the Chinese People’s Public Security University in Beijing, said “The period before a child turns 10 is very important when they really need parents’ guidance and help.”

But most Chinese parents believe that providing a good material life is enough and is probably the best way to show their love for their children. Therefore, they are busy earning money instead of spending time with their children at home.

“I think parents should take care of children themselves, which is better for kids’development and will help reduce some offenses,” Li said.

Sang Biao, Associate Dean of the School of Psychology and Cognitive Science at East China Normal University in Shanghai, agrees with Li. What juveniles need when they meet dif fi culties is support and help from their parents, he said.

“The majority of young criminals don’t live with their parents, let alone have communication and supervision,” he said, adding that such a situation easily leads to behavioral and psychological problems in teenagers.

Both experts suggest that the government should draw up regulations to enable parents to stay with children when they are young,especially in the case of migrant workers.

Meanwhile, compared with a similar survey in 2004, the number of juvenile delinquents who were the children of migrant workers has increased, according to the CSJDPR’s report.

Statistics released by the Shanghai Juvenile Reformatory show that 84 percent of its inmates’ families are not originally from Shanghai.

The Shanghai Juvenile Reformatory is the only designated jail for youth in Shanghai,holding 500 juvenile criminals in custody.Around 22 percent of inmates are under 18 and the youngest is 15.

Hu Yajin, an officer with the Selfcorrection Department of the reformatory,said that nearly 70 percent of crimes committed by the reformatory’s inmates were alcohol-related.

HEALING WITH LOVE: Zhan Hongli, a juvenile court judge in Nanping, Fujian Province, talks to a delinquent on June 16, 2011

Yao Jianlong, a professor of juvenile crime studies at Shanghai-based East China University of Political Science and Law, said,“Many migrant children live below the poverty line and are forced to grow up sooner.They are more likely to be exposed to the dark side of society. It is not only a matter of crime prevention, but also a matter of population management.”

According to a report released by a court in Fengtai District in Beijing, districts with large migrant populations, such as Fengtai,Chaoyang and Haidian, are seeing a sharp rise in juvenile delinquency among children of migrant workers.

Among all juvenile delinquency cases handled by the Fengtai court in 2010, more than 76 percent were committed by the children of migrants.

The percentage of juvenile delinquency cases committed by migrant children in Chaoyang and Haidian is between 60 and 80 percent, according to statistics available on Chinacourt.org.

Meanwhile, migrant workers who are not covered by urban social safety net are more vulnerable to financial stress. According to the Fengtai court’s report, theft and robbery account for more than 55 percent of all criminal cases committed by migrant children.

Discrimination was another contributing factor, said Pi Yijun, a juvenile delinquency researcher at the China University of Political Science and Law.

“Their parents have lower social status as migrant workers doing manual labor,” Pi said. “What these children are used to is negligence, discrimination and violated rights.”

The Fengtai court report suggests the government provide more benefits for migrant children.

Deserving a second chance

On March 14, the newly amended Criminal Procedure Law was adopted by the annual full session of the National People’s Congress,China’s top legislature, formally including articles on “conditionally dropping charges against non-serious juvenile offenders” and“sealing juvenile records.”

Actually, many cities have begun trialing more lenient approaches to handle young offenders before the amendment was enacted.For example, procuratorial authorities in Shanghai began sealing juvenile records as early as in 2004.

The People’s Procuratorate in Heping District, Shenyang, capital of northeast China’s Liaoning Province, launched the“sealing juvenile records” initiative in May 2010.

“We aim to safeguard the seriousness of the law and provide humane treatment to minors,” said Zhou Wei, chief procurator of the procuratorate.

According to Zhou, the aim of the policy is to facilitate the transition of juvenile offenders back to a normal life.

In May 2010, the procuratorate handled a case that involved a juvenile surnamed Wang.Police investigations showed Wang distributed lewd pictures and videos on his campus computers. Wang deeply regretted his wrongdoing.

Prosecutors considered it a non-serious offense and decided to drop charges against him and seal the records, which meant Wang’s criminal record and the details of the case were made con fi dential.

“Our concern is to prevent them from being discriminated against just because of their offense records,” Zhou said. “For offenses committed by juveniles, punishment is a lower priority, while preventing offenses from occurring is the real solution. The ultimate goal of the initiative is to allow juvenile delinquents to understand that the law is reasonable and encourage them to feel genuine remorse for their actions and work toward playing a responsible role in society.”

Last June, Foshan in south China’s Guangdong Province became the fi rst city in the province to make records of juvenile delinquents and school students between 18 and 25 con fi dential.

The newly amended Criminal Procedure Law, which will take effect on January 1,2013, means that the lenient practice in Shenyang, Foshan and some other regions will be adopted nationwide.

“For a juvenile who was given a punishment lighter than a fi ve-year sentence for an offense committed under the age of 18, his or her records shall be sealed off,” reads the amendment.

Under the amended law, the sealed records shall not be opened to any organization or individual, except when it is necessary for case investigation by judicial organs or upon inquiries raised in accordance with due regulations. The inquirers shall keep the information con fi dential.

The revised law also makes it easier for juvenile offenders, or “lost kids,” to fi nd their way home, according to Chen Weidong, a professor at the School of Law of the Beijingbased Renmin University of China.

Hou Xiaofeng, a research fellow with the Liaoning Provincial Academy of Social Sciences, sees the procedure as better protecting minors’ legitimate rights.

“Many offenses involving minors are committed out of simple, fleeting motives instead of purely evil intention, and juveniles can be guided back to a normal track of life, if appropriate education and social mechanisms are in place,” Hou said.