White paper on crime 2011 Part7/Chapter6
The crime level in Japan has remained at a considerably high level on a long span since WWII, although the number of reported cases for non-traffic penal code offenses was on a decreasing trend after reaching a peak in 2002, and social unrest over public safety has not been fully improved. The 2007 Edition of the White Paper on Crime emphasized the importance of countermeasures against reoffending, based on detailed analysis of the actual situation with repeat offenders. Measures to prevent repeat offenses are being recognized as an important current political issue in Japan. In December 2010, the “Future Development of Measures to Prevent Repeat Offenses” was compiled by the inter-ministerial council for prevention of repeat offences, and the relevant ministries and agencies of the government have been involved in making a united effort to implement the repeat offense prevention measures.
Recent editions of the White Paper on Crime, focused on surveys on, and analysis of, the causes of repeat offenses and the effective prevention measures from various viewpoints, and revealed that treatment for juvenile/young offenders is particularly important to prevent repeat offenses.
This edition of the White Paper on Crime deals with the reality of juvenile/young offenders and prevention of their reoffending as the feature article. Chapter 1 of Part 7 statistically identified some factors in the actual situation of Japanese youth in general, Chapter 2 outlined the trends with juvenile/young offenders using statistical data, Chapters 3 and 4 introduced survey and analysis of criminal act by juveniles discharged from juvenile training schools and the attitudes of juvenile delinquents/young offenders, conducted by the Research and Training Institute of the Ministry of Justice, and Chapter 5 presented various treatment methods that are considered effective in preventing repeat offenses through concrete cases of rehabilitation.
Chapter 6 closes this featured article by presenting ideal measures that can be used to prevent repeat delinquencies/offenses by people of those generations and to promote their reintegration back into society with some points that should be paid certain attention to.