Tool to reveal what makes young lawbreakers tick

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Tool to reveal what makes young lawbreakers tick
By Wannapa Khaopa
Si Sa Ket/Ubon Ratchathani
The Nation 2011-09-16

Juvenilecrime authorities say they often fail to rehabilitate young offenders or help them turn from crime because they do not know enough about what motivates them to break laws or commit crimes in the first place.

The Department of Juvenile Observation and Protection (DJOP) has faced such a problem for years, but now it's trying hard to make changes, shaping better motivation processes and rehabilitation programmes.

With help from US juvenilebehaviour evaluation experts and lecturers from Thai universities, DJOP has created a tool that aims to seek what motivates a juvenile to violate laws and classifies them into different groups from low to high risk.

The tool has been used by case managers at DJOP centres in all 77 provinces across the country since May 22. Case managers are DJOP officers who mentor juvenile delinquents.

To get to the root of each youngster's undesirable behaviour, questions for them focus on eight things related to their lives - family, community and circumstances, educational background and occupation, friends and people surrounding them, druguse or druginvolvement record, offence record, physical and mental conditions, and delinquent behaviour. Frequency of repeat offences is counted in different scores, which are considered in different risk groups, said Tawatchai Thaikyo, director general of DJOP.

Apart from interviewing delinquents, their parents or guardians and people in communities are interviewed as well to check whether their information is true or genuine.

"Previously, our officers evaluated offenders' behaviour and risks based on each officer's personal experience. Since each has a different background and experience, they reached different conclusions, which were not of the same standard," Tawatchai said.

"We've compared the new evaluation tool with two foreign evaluation tools we used previously. Its accuracy and quickness are the same as the foreign tools. It also shows the risk of recidivism, so we will find out how to prevent them from committing crimes again."

He said DJOP was designing some rehabilitation programmes to cope with delinquents displaying different motivations or problems.

Tawatchai and the project's assessment committee last week visited two juvenile observation and protection centres and a juvenile training centre in Si Sa Ket and Ubon Ratchathani provinces.

These provinces and Bangkok are pilot areas where the department has conducted research to see how effective the project is.

Rachanapat Somanawat, a probation officer who is also a case manager, said the new tool helped her consider each juvenile's case more thoroughly.

"With a scoregiving system based on frequency of activity, I've concluded each case scientifically and reasonably. I've used not only my experience to judge them. So it's easier for me to explain to some people or parents who have argued the conclusions," she said.

However, Kasemsun Ampunt, director of Ubon Ratchathani Juvenile Observation and Protection Centre, said he was concerned whether the tool could dig effectively into real causes behind undesirable behaviour.

"We will have to test whether it can find the real causes and adjust the tool until it can be used effectively," he said.

For some delinquents in the lowrisk group or those with punishment of less than five years in juvenile training centres, their cases won't be taken to court - if the victims agree to settle after a discussion with offenders' parents, police and representatives from their communities. But for those in medium and highrisk groups, courts will judge their cases.

About 35 per cent of juvenile offenders are considered to be in a lowrisk group, Tawatchai said.

He said case managers nationwide would be trained to understand the new tool so they could use it properly.

DJOP has collaborated with the courts and the Department of Probation, while the Thai Health Promotion Foundation has given financial support of Bt40 million to run the threeyear project from 2010 to 2012.

The project will be presented to the first AsiaPacific Council on Juvenile Justice next year.

Last year recorded 44,000 juvenile offenders - 33 per cent involved in drugs, 22 per cent in property crimes, 12 per cent in life and body offences, and 4 per cent in sexual crimes.