It's not only the homeless, dude

It is widely assumed that juvenile offenders are very often homeless kids, hardened by vagaries of the mean streets. However, statistics do not say so.

Most minor offenders in Maharashtra have lived with their parents and quite a handful of them were those living with guardians. It was found that only a very small number of the total juveniles apprehended in 2012 were homeless.   

According to statistics provided by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), 5,866 of the apprehended juveniles were staying with their parents and only 209 were homeless.  

Psychiatrist Dr Harish Shetty says that nowadays parents have less time to spend with their children. “The social and emotional contact between parents and their children is slowly shrinking.”    

Also, rising inflation and poverty means that children’s demands are often not fulfilled and they are driven by the temptation to commit crimes.

“Teachers and mothers should make sure that they maintain a very open relationship with children and provide them with an outlet to express their joys, jealousies and any other feelings. Children should do this with either their parents or their teachers, as this helps them in relieving themselves and not bottling their feelings up,” said Dr Shetty, adding that if the child has crossed that level and does not really open up with anyone, then they should be provided with counselling.