Determinants of Juvenile Delinquency in Pakistan: Family, Peers, and Law

Abstract

The occurrence of juvenile delinquency is a complicated socio-legal phenomenon that interrelates with the concepts of family, peer, and institutional influences. This study will discuss the partnership of family structure, peer influence, and the Juvenile Justice System Act 2018 to determine the causes of juvenile delinquency in District Sargodha, Punjab, Pakistan. Data was collected on 236 participants, comprising police officers, attorneys, psychologists, sociologists, and community members, through a quantitative cross-sectional survey approach. SPSS was used to perform descriptive statistical analysis to determine patterns in the perceptions and behavioral determinants. Results demonstrate that family environment is a critical determinant of juvenile behavior, strong parental communication and supervision are protective factors, and family disruption and domestic violence are factors that predispose juvenile behavior to delinquency. The peer influence was found to be important yet conditional, with most of the conditional aspects on family bonding and supervision. The research also shows that there is little awareness and ambivalent views of how well the Juvenile Justice System Act 2018 works; this finding can undermine the deterrent and rehabilitative effect of the Act. The respondents expressed their great favor for rehabilitative and family-based interventions over punitive measures. The research finding concludes that juvenile delinquency is mainly influenced by micro-level social structure, especially families, and recommends interconnected policy responses that focus on family strengthening, legal awareness, and rehabilitation under the Juvenile Justice System Act of 2018.