Abstract
Delinquency is a kind of abnormality when an individual deviates from the course of normal social life. A Juvenile delinquent is a young person incorrigible or habitually disobedient. Juvenile delinquency is a deep problem that not only affects the victims of the delinquents, but also affects the juvenile delinquents themselves, their families, and society as a whole. Juvenile delinquents are not able to predict the effect of their crimes by themselves, but they are badly affected by these crimes.
There is a trend of increase in Juvenile crimes not only in India but world over. India is increasing in the rate of juvenile crimes and it is a serious concern for the Nation and solutions to end this problem need to be sought carefully. The present research study aims to explore the causes that lead children or youths to commit offenses and the correctional and rehabilitative facilities provided to the juvenile delinquents in observation homes and place of safety.
It is an important study as there are very few studies based on the causes of juvenile crime and the role of observation homes and place of safety in rehabilitating the juvenile delinquents done in Gujarat. This research is needed as the nature and severity of crime rate is increasing in Gujarat too as elsewhere in India and is a serious menace for every society which needs to be curbed at the earliest. At the same time knowing to what extend our correctional administration placed at observation homes and place of safety is good enough to rehabilitate the juvenile delinquents so that they can be absorbed into the mainstream is also the need of the hour. Therefore, understanding the causes of their crime as well as the efforts need to be taken towards complete correctional administration and rehabilitation of juvenile delinquents at observation homes and place of safety can have policy implications. Therefore, this study will help the society to realize the causes of juvenile crimes and to suggest preventive and curative measures for curbing juvenile crimes and recidivism.