Behavioural syndrome of incarcerated children

a case study of Odisha

Abstract

Children are placed in the criminal justice system both as victims of crime and perpetrators of offences and despite Constitutional guarantees of opportunity and civil rights, millions of children face wide-spread deprivation and discrimination, then how does it affect incarcerated children languishing in jail with their mother differently? Are the children languishing in jail with their mother the widest gateway to adult crime? What are the social constraints that prohibit these children languishing in jail with their mother from taking appropriate advantage from socio-political and legal systems? What are the causes of their plight? Do the state, civil societies NGOs fulfill their obligation towards the children’s basic needs & awake the conscience of the community in the wider social context to protect children from all abuses or is it just a eye wash? Should judiciary be more active to mitigate this social problem? Should we break the mindset of institutional care for children, which have been posed as the only solution? These are some of the vital questions currently debated and the plights of children languishing in jail with their mothers are also closely linked to this general debate. These aspects have radically altered the discourse regarding incarcerated children as a victim of crime into an issue of jurisprudence and state politics. These are some of the issues which encompass the research article and become the epicenter of it.