Correctional centres often act as “schools of criminality” where children learn more offending strategies and sometimes create life-long friendships with other offenders, UNICEF stated. Photo: Internet Source

UNICEF outlined its concerns to a Joint Select Committee of Parliament on Tuesday.

UNICEF argued that the proposed changes are contrary to Jamaica's obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).

International child justice specialist, Shelley Casey, who spoke on behalf of UNICEF, also argued that harsh sentences do not deter offending by children; the most effective way to ensure public safety is through rehabilitation, not punishment; and that lengthy mandatory terms of imprisonment are cruel and inhumane and do not recognise children's greater rehabilitative potential.

She further argued that imprisonment increases the likelihood of re-offending and puts the public at greater risk and that a better solution to societal concerns is to invest in the root causes of violent offending.

Casey noted that children engaged in persistent or violent crime are generally influenced by a range of social and environmental risk factors outside of their control, such as family violence, abuse and neglect, trauma, educational exclusion, socioeconomic disadvantage, drug and alcohol addiction, and mental health issues.

She said many of these problems are compounded by children's psychosocial immaturity and their susceptibility to peer pressure and exploitation by adults.

“Imprisonment of children fails,” Casey stressed. “That is not to say that custodial sentence is never necessary, but it should be for the shortest appropriate time, as stipulated by the CRC,” she pointed out, adding that more time may be required for rehabilitation in some cases, but confining children for longer than is necessary fosters further criminality.

Correctional centres often act as “schools of criminality” where children learn more offending strategies and sometimes create life-long friendships with other offenders, UNICEF stated.