Architectural space in rehabilitating juvenile offenders

Abstract

Juvenile offenders seem to be a phenomenon of social degradation in global context and the particular issue remains as a hidden layer in Sri Lankan society with out giving much concern. Juvenile offenders and Issues behind making such an offender, reveal dark edges of the society, which never exist with in habitable social dimensions. But we human beings are the society, and these offenders represent a portion of it, so it's really important that juvenile offenders become peaceful members, for the well being of the society. So it's a vital concern to study the social, personal and economic factors which would possibly contribute to make a child in to juvenile offender. Their behaviour patterns and related characteristics show the tendency for offending and become liable to the society. When a child engaged with an offence, it's obvious that there should be a process to identify him/her in legal terms, in order to guide the child with rehabilitation and prevent being misused. Since the legal process is essentially engaged with rehabilitation process, it's important that the legal environment should be child friendly, or at least less intimidating towards the child. An offender or a child suspect for an offence is engaged with an institution for rehabilitation. A check list with rehabilitation strategies or programmatic measures used in both local and global context was prepared to study the current practices in selected facilities for juvenile offenders. And the question is, whether there a process or juvenile offender programs with adequate rehabilitation measures included, in action, for the time being in local context. The spatial contribution for rehabilitation is another important issue since appropriate allocation of space facilitates the particular activities helping with rehabilitation.