NCJ Number
182509
Journal
International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology Volume: 44 Issue: 3 Dated: June 2000 Pages: 279-292
Date Published
June 2000
Length
14 pages
Annotation
This analysis of trends in juvenile delinquency and responses to juvenile delinquency in Hong Kong since the 1970s explores how changing conceptions of the causes of juvenile delinquency have influenced the government’s policies to control delinquency.
Abstract
Hong Kong has a relatively low crime rate; however, the number of juveniles cautioned by the police increased from 391 juveniles in 1976 to 2,767 juveniles in 1997. Portrayals of juvenile delinquency from the 1970s to the 1980s focused on inadequate socialization and inappropriate parental supervision. This assumption and the research findings were used to justify the increasing use of custodial treatments for juvenile delinquents at that time. These custodial treatments included probation homes and reform schools. The heavy emphasis on the use of custodial programs over community-based programs remains obvious. In addition, the scope of delinquency literature is narrow. Moreover, legal professionals’ opinions are rather conservative; police have extensive powers and the use of suppression tactics have been considered appropriate over the last few decades. Both social work professionals and criminal justice professionals have important roles in working with young people or delinquents through preventive welfare and statutory criminal justice strategies. However, the negative opinions of legal justice professionals about victim-offender mediation or other approaches to restorative justice make it difficult to establish new initiatives and represent an emerging attitude that any reform of the juvenile justice system should be gradual. Figure, notes, and 40 references