Selected Participants’ Papers on the Profiles and Effective
Treatment of Serious and Violent Juvenile Offenders of JapanON APPROPRIATE ASSESSMENTS
OF SERIOUS JUVENILE OFFENDERS IN THE FAMILY COURT
Kazumi Watanabe*

I. INTRODUCTION
In Japan, many people are concerned about recent serious crimes committed by juveniles. They are,in particular, shocked that juveniles under the age of 14 years old commit serious offences. Furthermore,some juveniles do not exhibit any signs of criminal intent until just before the crime is committed. Anxiety
and embarrassment slowly spread through society because the public is unable to understand why juveniles
commit such serious offences.
In the Family Court, we have conducted detailed investigations from various viewpoints to find out
what has caused the crimes, and to make suitable judgments for juveniles. However, there is a lot we do
not yet understand about these juveniles’ psychological conditions, backgrounds, etc. In the Family Court,
appropriately assessing serious juvenile offenders has become an urgent problem.

II. THE ORGANIZATION AND THE FUNCTION OF THE FAMILY COURT
Before discussing the main subject, let us review the system of the Family Court in Japan.
The Family Court was established in 1949 with the concept of maintaining the welfare of families andseeking the sound upbringing of juveniles. It is a court specialized in dealing comprehensively with domestic
relations cases and juvenile delinquency cases, and it is a court of first instance. There are 50 head offices
throughout Japan with at least one in each prefecture. The Family Courts have 203 branches in total. In
addition, there are 77 local offices of the Family Court in towns throughtout Japan.
It goes without saying that the Family Court has a judicial function. In addition, the Family Court has
the following characteristics. First, it looks at juveniles through the lens of human science to solve theirproblems. Next, it can do casework when it is necessary. Finally, it has the function of providing welfare andeducation in the procedure of the Family Court. The Family Court probation officer is a professional uniqueto the Family Court to enforce these purposes.
As previously stated, the Family Court deals with domestic relations cases and juvenile cases. Typicalexamples of domestic relations cases are: guardianship of adults, permission to adopt a minor, requesting
maintenance for bringing up a child, designation of parental authority and alteration thereof, partition of
estate, marital relationship disputes, and divorce. Typical examples of juvenile delinquency cases are listed
as follows: theft, extortion, bodily injury, violation of Road Traffic Laws, etc.
Family Court probation officers conduct investigations into the facts of these cases and co-ordinate
human relationships for the proper disposition of cases of domestic relations, personal affairs, and juvenile
delinquency, and submit reports to the judge.
Family Court probation officers are specialists in the field of human sciences such as psychology,sociology, pedagogy, and social work, and are engaged in the scientific function of the Family Court byutilizing their technical knowledge and skills. However, the acquisition of such knowledge and skills is noteasy. They do this by taking a two-year training course at the Research and Training Institute for court
officers. The course also strengthens their practical capabilities. After the course, Family Court probation* Family Court Probation Officer, Tokyo Family Court.

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officers will be able to handle cases by themselves.

III. THE SYSTEM OF JUVENILE DELINQUENCY CASES IN JAPAN
Figure 1 shows the procedure of juvenile delinquency cases in Japan. The Family Court usually receives
juvenile delinquency cases by referral from police officers, public prosecutors, or the chiefs of a childguidance centre.
These cases may involve juveniles who are arrested, or those who are still at large. The arrested juvenile
delinquent is placed in a juvenile classification home and receives a mental and physical evaluation. The
standard maximum detention period is four weeks. Almost all juvenile offenders who commit serious crimes
will enter a juvenile classification home.
When the Family Court receives a juvenile delinquency case, a judge orders the Family Court probation
officers to investigate. This investigation is generally called a “social inquiry”.
The objective of the juvenile procedure is to uncover the facts of delinquency cases as well as todetermine the necessity for educative measures. The necessity for educative measures is directly related tothe possibility of recidivism. The main purpose of the investigation is to clarify the existence and degree ofrisk of recidivism.
Family Court probation officers investigate juveniles or any other people involved. They evaluate the riskof recidivism by utilizing their knowledge of related fields of human science. In addition, the Family Court
has psychiatrists on its staff and can receive advice from the technical standpoint if necessary.
Family Court probation officers conduct the investigation by summonsing juveniles, parents, school
teachers, or any other persons concerned to come to the Family Court. It also interviews the juvenile andmay use methods of psychological testing. Also, they may visit the juvenile’s home to observe his or her
environmental situation, or make inquiries to the juvenile’s school regarding their school life. They may also
investigate the situation of the victims.
Family Court probation officers examine the juvenile’s personality, habitual behaviour, personal history,
environment, etc. By these investigations, they assess the risk of recidivism from a medical, psychological,
and social viewpoint. In other words, they evaluate current developmental problems and developmental
stages of the juvenile. At the same time, they consider how strong an influence the environmental factor
has on juveniles. They then determine how it is related to the act of delinquency and evaluate the risk ofrecidivism. Finally, they submit reports regarding what kind of treatment the juvenile needs to the presiding
judge or judges.
Based on the investigation results, judges decide whether or not to hold hearings for the juveniles.
The final dispositions are as follows: 1) dismissal without hearing; 2) dismissal after hearing; 3) protective
measures; 4) referral to the chief of a child guidance centre; or 5) sending a case to a public prosecutor.
Protective measures are as follows: probationary supervision, commitment to a juvenile training school,commitment to a home for juvenile training, or to a home for dependent children.
Regarding serious juvenile offenders, the Juvenile Law was revised in 2000. According to the current law,when a juvenile intentionally takes the life of a victim, a judge should send the case to the public prosecutor.
The revised law takes into consideration the viewpoint of the victim and the protection of the public.
The Juvenile Law Article 20-2 says;

The Family Court should send the case of the juvenile, who takes a life of victim by an intentional actof crime, and who is over 16 years of age at the time of the offense, to the public prosecutor. However, theFamily Court can determine other measures if it recognizes that disposition except sending the case to
the prosecutor is suitable, by considering the motivation of the juvenile delinquency, the situation after thecrime, the character, age, behavior, environment and others, as a result of investigation.

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In short, the Family Court aims for the realization of the ideal of “sound upbringing of juveniles” bymeasuring suitable depositions for juveniles. Family Court probation officers play an important role in thisprocedure. Of course, by the Juvenile Law, a serious juvenile offender who lets a victim die intentionallyshould to be subject to the same justice process as that applied to adult penal trials from the viewpoint ofvictims and those seeking social protection. However, even in serious cases, the rehabilitation of juvenile
offenders should not be made light of. Therefore the Family Court can determine protective measures ifthey are required. We can be certain that the appropriate disposition of the case is the most important objectof hearings in Japan.

IV. STATISTICS
A. Recent Trends of Serious Juvenile Offences
Graph 1 shows the change in the number of serious juvenile cases and of juvenile theft cases in Japanover the last 20 years. (In judicial statistics in Japan, serious offences mean the four offences of “murder,
robbery, rape and arson”.)
The number of serious juvenile offenders has remained steady over the past 20 or so years. The annual
percentage has also been steady at around 1% of the total number of juvenile penal cases since 1985. In
2006, 0.8% of cases were classified as serious. Even in 1997, when it is said that serious juvenile offences
increased rapidly in Japan, only 1.3% of cases fell into this category.
Graph 2 shows the rate of four serious offences committed by juveniles out of 1000 children between 10
and 20 years of age. Murder and arson cases remain steady at less than 0.05%. Likewise, the number of rapecases does not vary. The only change is in robbery cases. However, this is due to the increase in “robbery on
the road,” dating from 1997. Most road robbery are incidents of constructive robbery, where a victim is hurt
in a mugging by an assailant on a bicycle or a scooter. This number increases and decreases according to
the policy of arrest and prosecution. Therefore, by this graph alone, it does not follow that Japanese juvenile
delinquency has become more serious.
However, it is true that serious juvenile delinquency which has caused public concern has occurred
frequently in recent years. As a result, the Juvenile Act was revised in 2000. Therefore, we wonder ifjuvenile delinquency has really become more serious. It seems in part that the media has formed thatimage. But it is a fact that there have been several cases which a child who has previously been regarded as“obedient and good” at home and school suddenly displays cruel and brutal behaviour. These cases were notseen in the past, so why are they happening now? Later, I shall try to give an account of the characteristics
of recent serious juvenile offenders.

B. Judgments on Serious Juvenile Delinquent Offenders
Next, let us now look at judgments in serious juvenile delinquency cases in Japan. Graph 3 shows thepercentages of judgments reached on serious juvenile delinquents in 2006, 1996, and 1986. For comparison,
Graph 4 shows the percentages of judgments rendered in theft juvenile cases. The results are as follows:••

Judgments in theft cases haven’t changed over the last 20 years.
In contrast, for serious juvenile cases, the percentage of cases resulting in custodial treatment has
risen.

Note: The reason for this is that, in regard to robbery, cases sent to a public prosecutor have greatly
increased. (It seems that the increase has resulted from the revision of the Juvenile Law in 2000.)

V. CHARACTERISTICS OF SERIOUS JUVENILE OFFENDERS
Recently, several adequate practical and pragmatic research studies have been made by the Family Court
to deepen understanding of these cases. We’re concerned with the characteristics identified by the research.

A. Characteristics of Personality and Behaviour
1. High Impulsivity
Serious juvenile offenders tend to grasp situations at a level of pleasure or pain and cannot express their141

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feelings using appropriate vocabulary. As a result, juveniles are compelled by their immediate emotions
and act impulsively. Juveniles only feel irritated without knowing the reason why. Therefore, they are apt
to commit offences impulsively. The main reason for this problem is the lack of a process of development
by which other children with a healthy parental relationship develop skills to express their feelings
appropriately.
2. Cognitive Distortion
Serious juvenile offenders tend to avoid, repress and deny events which are unpleasant for them. Since
juveniles cannot objectively grasp the relationship between themselves and those around them, they tend
to cling to their own beliefs and have excessive feelings of being unnecessarily persecuted. This distorted
view leads to inappropriate reactions which contribute to them committing an offence. Moreover, this trend
is stronger in groups than in individuals.
3. Bad Self-image
Many serious juvenile offenders have a bad self-image. Because they believe that those around them may
attack them, they become defensive. Their self-esteem is strongly affected by minor triggers. As a result,they become emotionally confused and commit offences.
One of the reasons for this problem is that many juveniles grow up without interacting well with others.
Here is a typical example: a juvenile was physically abused, neglected and rarely praised. For the juvenile,
his or her home was not a secure base psychologically or physically. In such terrible circumstances ajuvenile cannot learn to rely on him or herself.
Juveniles who committed offences in a group display this tendency strongly. Because juveniles
strengthen ties with friends of similar circumstances and become dependent on each other, they cannot stopthemselves from escalating the offences they commit for fear that they will be excluded from the group.
Some juveniles immerse themselves in fantasies such as TV games to avoid hurting their self-esteem.
Because these juveniles have fewer relationships with those around them, there are big gaps between theirself-images and societal reality. Subsequently, the juveniles are sensitive, and their sensitive self-esteem iseasily affected by small things.
4. Insufficient Interpersonal Skills
It is extremely difficult to form and to keep good relationships for both juveniles who commit offences
alone, and for those who commit offences with a group. Therefore, their circle of acquaintances is very
limited. Since they are extremely cautious and cannot believe others, they avoid forming new relationships,
and their feelings of isolation deepen.
In contrast, some juveniles seem to be adjusted to society and live their lives peacefully. For suchjuveniles, the evaluations from people around them are good. However, in reality, they superficially makethemselves agreeable to everybody in order that they are not excluded by their friends. It is, as it were, anover-adjustment. These relationships with friends are not mentally stable. Consequently, when the juveniles
can no longer endure these painful situations, their emotions burst, resulting in the committing of offences.
Since both types of juveniles are strained by human relationships, they do not develop their interpersonal
skills.
5. Social Restriction by Developmental Disorders and Mild Mental Retardation
Many juveniles who commit serious offences alone have some developmental disorders such as
Pervasive Developmental Disorders, Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorders or mild mental retardations.
The backgrounds of juveniles who commit offences are as follows:
•
•
•

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The juveniles have extreme cognitive distortion, and thus they cannot deal in appropriate ways with
events which occur in daily life.
The juveniles have fixations with specific things. Therefore they cultivate odd behaviours.
Since the juveniles cannot form healthy relationships, they cannot adjust to group environments.

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Because of these characteristics, such juveniles are susceptible to causing trouble at school and at home.
However, most of them do not receive appropriate support, and thus they are in a vicious spiral; the moretrouble they cause, the worse their adjustments to society. Of course, the existence of these disorders does
not directly connect with offences. But, if these juveniles are adversely affected by their social environment,in addition to disorders, they more easily become unstable and commit offences.

B. Characteristics of Circumstances Surrounding Serious Juvenile Offenders
1. Characteristics of Family Relationships
Almost all juvenile offenders’ families are dysfunctional. These families can be described as follows.
(i) Families in which Problems are Evident(a) Families with a violent daily life
This type of parent uses violence to discipline children, and such violence also exists between theparents. Furthermore, these juveniles may also experience multiple changes of environment, such as theirparents’ divorce, or moving house because of neighbourhood troubles, etc. Such changes have serious
effects. Their home is not a secure base for them.
(b) Families in which the parents neglect the children
Some parents do not have the mental or economic resources to take care of their children. In this typeof family, the parents are not conscious of the juveniles’ problems, or they ignore them though they areconscious of them. The parents repeat temporary solutions, such as scolding or corporal punishment. This
cycle only aggravates the juveniles’ problems.
(c) Families in which parents cannot raise children because of their own mental disorders
This type of family is one where the parents have some mental disorder such as depression, personality
disorder or alcoholism. The parents’ mental states affect the juveniles, and thus the juveniles are susceptible
to instability. In addition, the parents are dependent on their children in many cases.

(ii) Families in which Problems are not Evident(a) Families with less emotional interaction
This type of family ostensibly looks like a usual family. Though both parents are in the home and thereis plenty of money, the family lacks warm communications. The reason is that parents do not express their
feelings enough, or that there is underlying family animosity, and so on. As a result, the juveniles in thesefamilies cannot express their real intentions and feelings, increasing their discontent.
(b) Families in which parents have excessive expectations of their children
In this type of family, parents overestimate the juveniles, demand of them to be “an ideal child” andintend to look at only the good side of them. The juveniles continue to pretend to be “a good child” for as
long as possible without showing their true nature to their parents. But this burden is too heavy to be borne
for long. The juveniles cannot live up to their parents’ expectations, which causes them to commit offences.
2. Characteristics of School and Friends(i) Changes of School Atmosphere and Relationships with Teachers
Though juveniles’ families may have serious problems, school (especially an elementary school) cansometimes become a strong social resource. While teachers can support these juveniles in appropriate ways,
juveniles do not cause excessive problems. However, juveniles lose support when teachers are transferred,
and the juveniles can become mentally unstable. Upon entering a junior high school in particular, theprofessional distance between juveniles and teachers changes greatly and study quickly becomes moredifficult. Although these changes press juveniles to adapt, many of the troubled ones cannot cope with thechanges.

(ii) Bullying
Many juveniles have experienced bullying which greatly damaged their self-esteem. There are two typesof juvenile offenders who commit offences alone: the first type is a juvenile who directly attacks the person
who bullies them; the second type is a juvenile who vents his or her aggression on his or her family and on
the weak instead of directing an attack at the perpetrator of the bullying.

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RESOURCE MATERIAL SERIES No.78(iii) Association with Delinquent Peers
Juveniles who are not comfortable in their homes strengthen ties with friends under similar circumstancesand form associations with delinquent peers. In the groups, ranking is born by physical strength, build,
intelligence and so on. These juveniles tend to attack the weaker members of the group. Furthermore,group dynamics often work as follows:••

As the juveniles deny their own inferior feeling, they try to satisfy their need to dominate withviolence.
The juveniles who are influenced by their peers and want to prove their fearlessness tend to act inconcert with groups.

As a result, the juveniles cannot stop themselves from escalating their offences.
3. Social Changes(a) Compared with the past, neighbours are indifferent to each other, and there are fewer stablecommunities. Therefore juveniles and their families who need some support tend to remain
unaided. The function of oral traditions regarding childcare or culture has shifted from the family andcommunity to some institutions.
(b) It has become much easier for juveniles to acquire things without their parents’ knowledge, atconvenience stores or volume sales stores. In addition, most people have a wide variety of goods,
and people tend to consume more in order to differentiate themselves slightly from those aroundthem.
(c) Juveniles are greatly influenced by the media, which has not yet been proved to have direct causality
with crime. To take an example, many juveniles who have committed murder learn something about
their offences from TV programmes or DVDs. Almost all juveniles play video games and watch
DVDs daily. Some of them have interest in horror movies and video games with violent or disturbing
contents, and they cannot distinguish fantasy from reality. The juveniles are exposed to a great dealof distorted information which is beyond the imagination of most adults.
In this chapter, we considered the characteristics of serious juvenile offenders from both aspects;
individual factors such as personality and behaviour, and environmental factors such as family, school andsociety. The important point to note is that there is not only one factor directly connected with serious
juvenile delinquency, but that various interacting factors drive juveniles to commit serious offences.

VI. PROGRESSION TO SERIOUS JUVENILE DELINQUENCY
Let us now consider how the characteristics mentioned above influence juvenile delinquency. Figure 2
shows the typical progression to serious juvenile delinquency. This schematic diagram appeared in practicaland pragmatic research, based on case studies concerning serious juvenile offenders under 14 years old in
the Family Court. However, this idea can be applied to juveniles over 14 years old.
First, let us start with the family. Juvenile offenders interact inappropriately with other family members,
for example, some face domestic violence, neglect, little emotional interaction and their parents’ own
problems. These juveniles’ emotions have not developed sufficiently by the time they reach puberty. The
juveniles cannot deal with negative feelings on their own. Therefore they tend to have poor emotional
control, act impulsively, and also deny their own feelings. As the juveniles grow up, their problems getworse. If the juveniles have developmental disorders or mental retardation, their personality and behaviour
become more distorted than their peers who do not have these problems. Their personality and behaviour
are also greatly influenced by the atmosphere of the community to which they belong, or by the amount of
support they receive from public institutions.
Puberty is a critical phase when juveniles change physically and psychologically. Rapid bodily
developments shake their self-image. These changes press parents to deal with juveniles’ problems and toreconstruct family relations. Juveniles experience a conflict between independence and dependence at thisdevelopmental stage. The conflict between dependence and independence becomes very strong between

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parents and juveniles, and thus parent-child relationships become unstable. In addition, juveniles need toadjust to new environments in this stage.
Therefore juveniles and the environments surrounding them are susceptible to instability. Juveniles
are worried and stressed, they cannot solve their problems without consulting anyone, and thus they
feel depressed. Some of them cause many small problems frequently but do not ask for assistance. If thepeople around them do not deal with the problems, the juveniles’ depressive emotions intensify, and they
are consumed by stress and discontent. At that time, juveniles tend to feel that minor issues which they
have experienced previously have increased and become very unpleasant. These stimulations become atrigger. This trigger rapidly increases their accumulated discontent, anxiety and pent-up feelings. Moreoverjuveniles believe that this trigger is the cause of their discontent and stress. As a result, juveniles violently
attack the target, and crimes occur. To use an analogy, a balloon which has been over-inflated is grazed by aneedle.
As we have now seen, there is certainly a process by which juveniles accumulate stress or discontent
through the interaction of various factors until serious cases of juvenile delinquency occur. We need to follow
carefully the progression of juvenile delinquency, and we need to understand why juveniles commit offences.

VII. CASE STUDY
The following is a case which I have handled in the past. I introduce it to you hoping to make more
specific the characteristics and process mentioned above.

A. Outline of the Facts
The public prosecutor sent this case to the Family Court as a bodily injury case, but it was actually an
attempted murder case. This juvenile was a 14-year-old boy, in the third year of junior high school. He lived
in very small two room apartment with his mother. He felt a strong pressure to pretend to be an “honest andserious type of man”, which was for a long time considered to be his true character by his classmates andteachers at both his school and cram school. One day he had a trifling misunderstanding with his only friend.
It made him feel sick and tired of his whole life and everything in it. He thought that he did not have any way
to be free except by killing his mother. In the night he prepared a long fluorescent light and a kitchen knife.
He hit his sleeping mother with the fluorescent light, and stabbed her with the knife, but she struggled andhe could not kill her. Later he said: “if I could kill my mother, I would dismember her body and throw thepieces into the river near my apartment, like some scene that I saw in a TV drama before.”
B. This Juvenile’s Personality and Behaviour
This juvenile had no criminal record. His IQ was 87(WISC-III). According to the physical andpsychological examination, he was diagnosed with Pervasive Developmental Disorder, not otherwise
specified. He has a deep attachment to the “Romance of Three Kingdoms (Sangoku-shi )” which is one of
the most famous Chinese classics, and reads very many related books. He remembers all the details of thecharacters, especially those from a video game based on the “Romance of Three Kingdoms (Sangoku-shi )”.
This juvenile’s ideation is self-centered and lacked objectivity. He is too sensitive to anything that others
say and do against him. He tends to regard every trifling stimulus from those around him as persecution. He
becomes increasingly discontented without conveying his feeling to others. Since he believes that he is very
poor at human relations, he retracts into his own shell and indulges in a kind of childish delusion that he isalmighty. Therefore he is alienated from those around him, but he actually wants to be accepted by others.
At the time of his interview, he pleaded with me to understand his pain.

C. The Family
His family consisted of him and his mother. He did not have his own private room in the apartment. Hisparents divorced when he was in the second year of elementary school. The main reason for the divorce wasthat his father was unfaithful to his mother and that he frequently changed his job. According to his mother,during some periods his father had stayed indoors at home for whole days at a time. This means that there
might be some possibility that his father had some kind of mental disorder. The juvenile sometimes met
his father at his father’s request, but reluctantly. When he was in elementary school, he and his mother had

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a very close relationship. During elementary school, he was always with his mother at home after school.
However, he kept away from his mother after he entered junior high school and she began to tell him to
study hard. In addition, since the juvenile entered the second grade of junior high school, his mother had
been associating with a man who already had a wife and children.

D. School and Friends
The juvenile did not speak at all at school. He was bullied at elementary school by some classmates. At
junior high school, he spoke only to a male classmate who had the same unsocial tendencies. He mixed up
this friend with a famous sexy female TV star and projected her onto him sometimes. He even had a kindof loving feeling for this friend. He hated studying and was doing poorly at school, but he did not refuse toattend.
E. Educative Measures
The judgment was to send this juvenile to a juvenile training school for one and a half years. He was sent
to a training school which specializes in treating juvenile offenders who have developmental and emotional
disorders.
F. Additional Considerations
Because this juvenile had a developmental disorder, it was very difficult for him to react appropriately indaily life. He often did unexpected and startling things at school, so his classmates bullied him. Therefore hedid not speak at school. He had tried to form fewer human relationships, in order to avoid hurting his selfesteem. He was withdrew into himself and never opened his mind to anybody. He did not have any chance
to develop the skills to express his emotions with suitable words and behaviour, nor did he have any chance
to correct his cognitive distortion. However, the parent-child relationship was very close and his home was asecure base for him in his elementary school years.
As mentioned above, however, after he entered junior high school, his environment suddenly changed.
His schoolwork rapidly became more difficult and his mother told him to study hard. In addition, his motherbegan to associate with a man. He wondered if she would choose this new man over him. His anxiety about
being deserted increased and his home was not a secure base for him any longer. However, he was not awareof his anxiety and discontent and did not know how to express his feelings appropriately. He felt increasingly
isolated and frustrated. Developmentally, he was approaching puberty, thus he was liable to be unstable.
Under such circumstances, he had a trifling misunderstanding with his only friend, and this issue was thetrigger. He was cornered mentally and selected his mother as his target because she was the only the
person to whom he could express his emotional dependence.

VIII. CONCLUSION
The objective of the Family Court is the accurate assessment of serious juvenile offenders, appropriate
judgment suitable for each juvenile, and classification of the treatment programme. In order to realize theobjectives, it is necessary for the Family Court to tackle the following points.

A. Accumulation and Sharing of Case Studies
Research regarding serious juvenile offenders has just started. At present, Family Court probation
officers depend heavily on their past experience in their work. If the Family Court cannot provide
continuous accurate assessments, it cannot make appropriate judgments. The Family Court needs to gain
experience in dealing with serious juvenile cases, to advance practical and pragmatic research on both risk
factors and protective factors, and to share the knowledge gained in doing so.
B. Improvement of Interview Skills and Enrichment of Training
We often encounter difficulty in interviewing serious juvenile offenders, because they are poor at
expressing their feelings verbally and have developmental disorders or mental retardation. It is importantfor each Family Court probation officer to improve his or her interview skills in order to carry out accurate
assessments. In addition, the Family Court should have a more integrated training system.
C. Co-operation with Institutions Concerned
I think that one of the Family Court’s important roles is to smoothly connect juveniles and the146139TH INTERNATIONAL TRAINING COURSE
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institutions which can help them. In order to fulfill that role, co-operation with those institutions is
indispensable.
In order to indicate the point of the treatment programme, Family Court probation officers must be very
knowledgeable about what treatments are available at each institution. In addition, it is very useful for the
Family Court to know not only the contents of treatments, but the effect of the treatments.
Furthermore, the Family Court needs to co-operate not only with institutions for correctional education,
but also with other institutions such as hospitals or educational counselling centres, etc. Juveniles who
have obvious problems (e.g. developmental disorders, mental retardation) are sometimes sent to the Family
Court for minor delinquency before committing serious offences, but most of these juveniles and theirfamilies do not receive appropriate support. From the viewpoint of the prevention of offences, we need toconnect these juveniles with the institutions suitable for them.
Finally, society’s views of serious juvenile offenders have gradually hardened over the years. Everytime serious juvenile delinquency is reported in the media, there is a public appeal for more severe
punishment of juveniles. Considering this issue from the viewpoint of the victim, that opinion may standto reason. However, it is obvious that the more serious a juvenile delinquent case is, the bigger and deeper
the problems the juvenile has. I think that it is the duty of society to re-educate them before they reachadulthood. But I do feel it is a serious problem for the Family Court to keep a balance between both sides,
namely, the rehabilitation of delinquent juveniles and victims, in making judgments, and thus I have notreached any solid conclusion myself.

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Graph 1: Comparison of the number of juvenile theft cases and serious cases
160,000
140,000

Theft cases
Serious cases

120,000
100,000
80,00060,00040,00020,000
0
5

198

7

198

9

198

1

199

3

199

5

199

7

199

9

199

1

200

3

200

5

200

Graph 2: Comparison of four types of serious juvenile cases
0.25
murdercases
robbery
cases

0.20

rape
cases
arson
cases

0.15

0.10

0.05

0.00

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1973

1976

1979

1982

1985

1988

1991

1994

1997

2000

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Graph 3: Percentage of various judgments in serious juvenile cases in Japan
Sending a case toa public prosecutor

1986 5%27%

Committing ajuvenile to aJuvenile Training
School67%

Others1996 4%

2006

30%

9%

0%

67%

47%

20%

44%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Graph 4: Percentage of various judgments in theft cases in Japan

1986

1.8%

Sending acase to a
public prosecutor

98.0%

Committing
a juvenile toa Juvenile
Training
School

1996

1.7%

2006

4.7%

0%

Others

98.2%

94.6%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

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Figure 1: Procedure of Juvenile Proceeding
Family Court
Judicial
policeofficerJuvenile
offenderPredeliquency

PublicProsecutor

Child
Guidance
CentreJuveneile
under 14years of age
alleged tohave violated
any criminal
law orordinance

Dismissal
without
hearing

Protective measures

Probation
supervision

Investigation
Order toproceed tohearing

Other

Sending a caseto Public
Prosecutor

Child
education andtraining
Juvenile
Training
SchoolJuvenile
Classification
Home

Sending a caseto Chief ofChild
Guidance
Dismissal
after hearing

Figure 2: Typical progression to serious juvenile deliquency

Family• Attitude of a person whobrings up a child• Emotional interaction• Violation• Mental states of the person
who brings up the child• Dealing with a juvenile’s troubles• Co-operation with institutions
concerned• Stress from environment• How to relieve stress• Emotional development• Emotional development• Minor troubles• Quality and quantity offriends• Bullying• Environmental
change by moving
and entering a newschool• School’s reaction toa juvenile's problem

Environment• Community atmosphere• Support from institution
concerned

150• Pent-up feelings• Isolated and unaided feeling• Control of impluse

o
v
e
r

• A developmental disorder• An intellectual problem

Juvenile

C
h
a
n
g
e

Change of environment;
moving, entering a newschool, etc.

Present stateand change ofself-evaluation• Increase inpent-up feelings• Increase inisolated feelings• Onset ofpuberty• Frequent small
problems• Changing friends

P
e
r
i
o
d

T
r
i
g
g
e
r

A serious
juvenile
offenceoccurs!

• Purpose ofaggression• Target ofaggression• Way ofaggression

Sources: Practical research regarding
serious juvenile offenders under 14 years old
by the Research andTraining Institute for
Court Officers (2005)