Nurturing Pillars of Society: Understanding and Working with the Young Generation in Hong Kong

14 - Juvenile Justice Issues (2): Community-based Treatments (CBTs) for Young Offenders

14 Juvenile Justice Issues (2): Community-based Treatments (CBTs) for Young Offenders When we consider correction and punishment for offenders, imprisonment is the outcome we conventionally think of. Incarceration understood to have a deterrence effect. It can also sequester dangerous criminals for the safety of all. Imprisonment is what we usually call a custodial/non-communitybased treatment. But courts can also sentence offenders to community-based treatment. Offenders can remain in their communities and live with their families, continue to work or attend school, and at the same time receive supervision or engage in activities intended as reparation. This kind of treatment is meant more for young offenders, who are thought to be more impulsive and susceptible to circumstances in committing crime (Lo et al., 2005; Omaji, 2003). Civilised societies have long treated adult offenders and young offenders differently, on the assumption that adult crime involves greater intent and more planning. Separate treatment also reflects the desire to avoid a contamination effect passing from adult to youthful offenders. Whether community-based treatments are more lenient and humanitarian, however, remains controversial. This is the second juvenile justice issue in Hong Kong that we will consider. ■ CBTs in Hong Kong There are three community-based treatments, or CBTs, now used in Hong Kong. They are the PSDS, Probation, and CSOs, all of which we have discussed in previous chapters. The second and third of these are provided by the SWD and, reflecting SWD policy, are thus more welfare- and community-oriented. The principle for treatment of offenders was stated in the five-year plan of the SWD (1999). 152 Nurturing Pillars of Society It suggested that an offender is best rehabilitated within the community with suitable professional intervention and support for him/her and his/ her family. Residential training or custodial treatment is necessary for a minority of offenders when no community-based treatment option is suitable. The objective of the Department’s services for offenders, stated in the same document, is: … to use social work approaches to implement the court’s directives in the treatment of offenders, through probation supervision, residential training, the Community Service Order Scheme, the Community Support Service Scheme and statutory aftercare services. Voluntary aftercare services are also provided to ex-offenders to facilitate their reintegration into the society. Thus are approaches oriented toward welfare and social work justified. But are such approaches and CBTs more humanitarian? To address this question, we must look at the fundamentals of humanitarianism. Lewis (1968), in introducing the humanitarian theory of punishment, points out that offenders need to be treated in a mild and merciful way. They should be treated as patients, with deterrence rather than punishment the intent. So, do the CBTs employed in Hong Kong treat young offenders as patients and with deterrence in mind. Police Superintendent’s Discretion Scheme (PSDS) The PSDS, involving the police cautioning previously described, is a CBT. The Scheme began in 1963. With passage of the Juvenile Offenders (Amendment) Ordinance 2003, applicability was revised to include offenders aged of 10 to 17. We have already considered the criteria for qualifying for the Scheme, the procedure in which the cautioning is given, and the follow-up period. Probation Probation services run by the SWD are more welfare-oriented than the PSDS. Most people assume that probationers come under the supervision of probation officers can live with their families. But, as previously noted, residence in a probation home or hostel for up to a year can be required if it is deemed necessary. The history of probation in Hong Kong can be found in Chapter Eleven. Community-based Treatments (CBTs) for Young Offenders 153 Community Service Order (CSO) CSOs are the third community-oriented sentencing option in cases that involve offenders aged 14 or above. It is applied in cases wherein the offence is punishable by imprisonment. We have reviewed the background and use of CSOs in Chapter Eleven. ■ The Advantages of CBTs There can be five advantages of CBTs identified. They are more humane According to the humanitarian theory Lewis developed in 1968, and the International Committee of the Red Cross (http://www.icrc.org/), the humanitarian principle requires us to treat human beings humanely , alleviate human suffering, and protect basic human rights such as freedom. Offenders should be treated as patients, and treatment should be aimed at deterrence rather than punishment. Humanitarianism is also defined as “an informal ideology of practice; it is...