NCJ Number
179490
Date Published
1998
Length
116 pages
Annotation
This paper focuses on recent trends in juvenile delinquency and treatment of juvenile delinquents in Japan, with attention to the year 1997.
Abstract
Part One reviews recent crime trends and the current state of various offenses and offenders; and Part Two discusses the treatment of adult offenders at each stage of prosecution, trial, corrections, and rehabilitation, as well as the actual situation regarding international cooperation in the criminal justice field. Part Three then addresses trends in juvenile delinquency and the treatment of juvenile delinquents. Japan has experienced an increase in the number of heinous or violent offenses committed by juveniles. There has also been an increase in stimulant-drug offenses, crimes committed in groups, as well as delinquency by juveniles having no previous record of delinquency. Factors in juvenile delinquency in Japan appear to be a general low self-esteem among youth, a lack of close positive relationships, and a lack of self-control. These factors are intertwined and reinforced in the experiences of family and school life. Delinquency prevention efforts are attempting to improve the influences of family, school, culture, and social welfare in the development of youth. Criminal justice efforts are focusing on improvements in the investigation and hearing of juvenile cases, the imposition of strict punishment, and the enhancement of diagnostic functions of juvenile classification homes, along with improvements in both community-based and institutional treatment of juvenile delinquents. Extensive figures and tables