Philippine E-Journals

Guidance and the Filipino Youth in Conflict with the Law

Christopher P. Hernandez

Discipline: Law, Educational Psychology

 

Abstract:

Juvenile crime and delinquency are serious problems in every society today. Their intensity and gravity depend mostly on the social, economic and cultural conditions in each country. There is evidence, however, of an apparent worldwide increase in juvenile criminality combined with economic recession, especially in marginal sectors of urban centers. From 1995 to 2000, over 10,500 children were arrested and detained every year. In many cases, youth offenders are “street children” who have been exposed to violence in their immediate social environment, either as observers or as victims. Their basic education, when they have it at all, is poor; their primary socialization from the family is too often inadequate; and their socio-economic environment is shaped by poverty and destitution. Rather than relying solely on the criminal justice system, approaches to the prevention of violence and crime should include measures to support equality and justice, to combat poverty and to reduce hopelessness among young people (UNICEF, 1995).