1.Interviewee ‘Mr. Kim’ interviewed by Jae Won
Our interviewee,
Mr. Kim, is a male policeman who works for a police station in Gyeonggi-do,
Hwaseong-si. He started working here about 5 years ago when the city was just
in a developing phase. There are lots of schools near this police station so he
had plenty of chances to take care of juvenile delinquents who we planned to
interview about.
Before
they are investigated in the Police Station.
He explained that there
are many routes of visiting the station. Sometimes the school requests for an
investigation of a student, or a citizen notifies the police about juvenile
delinquents committing a crime. Mostly, the crimes are shop lifting, violence,
or illegal drinking and driving. Bigger crimes are sexual harassment, arson,
and murder. But he has never seen these kind of crimes.
From Mr. Kim’s
experience, these delinquents usually had a negative environment in their
family. There were some single parents who got divorced. When the parents are
summoned to the station, lots of them fight. But Mr. Kim said that the juveniles are usually
very close to their friends. All the young delinquents he saw were in a group
of two or more.
Investigating
in the Police Station.
He said that the
policemen including him are taught to treat the young and adult differently. The
object of investigating juvenile delinquents is not only knowing the incident,
which is the main role of a policeman, but has to help them adjust well to the
society too. So the juvenile delinquents usually have a social worker who could
help them in this field. He thinks when the teenagers are in the police station
getting investigated, they are usually scared. He said the reason was that
police men can’t be too kind because their main role is to know what crime
they did. So when the young delinquents talk to the social workers, many of
them cry and talk freely about what they are going through. He also said, but
sometimes the delinquents seem to have no thought of being sorry.
After
the Investigation.
When the
investigating is done, the police decide if the delinquent has to be sent to a
juvenile court, or punish them differently other than using the justice system.
But because the crime is usually not too big, Mr. Kim would lecture about
discipline and warn the young delinquents. Then they reach an agreement with
the victim. But the ones who doesn’t regret at all of his behavior or committed
a big crime has to be sent to a juvenile court.
After
Getting Out of the Police Station.
When the juvenile
delinquents are out of the station, he and other policemen don’t contact them.
But the social worker who worked together stays alert to the teenager to help
or prevent another crime. Even when the teenager gets put into a juvenile hall.
What
the Interviewee Thinks About Juvenile Delinquents.
Mr. Kim once had a
middle school second grade delinquent who would drink alcohol, drive a
motorcycle and just wander around the city picking on young people. When this
kid was put into the police station, he didn’t think of it as a big deal. When
this student was released from the station, he would come back with a similar
crime few days later. Mr. Kim said he thought this kid would never change. But,
about a year of helping problems in their family and school, he started to
regret what he has done. Mr. Kim was surprised at first but he started to feel
sorry to the victims. From this, Mr. Kim understood why juvenile delinquents
needed help.
‘I
want people to know with enough care and guide, young kids have the mind to
adjust good to the society’
He talked about how life was like in the detention center. The interesting part was that the detention center in Korea is just like military. It was a place where existed order of power between teenagers, and the difference in power made the teenagers act accordingly just like military. Since there weren't any schedules besides meal and exercise, life in the facility was lethargic and restricted. He felt that he was being controlled and looked upon because of the CCTVs. He felt that he was actually in the detention center at the first day of the center, because the life in the facility was totally different from what was like only few hours ago outside the facility.
Relationships in Detention center
There were basically two types of relationships. The first one is one-time short relationship where they do not keep in touch after they served their time in the facility. It was the situation that made them live altogether, it wasn't something of their choice. Also, it's basically like a military, so there aren't much chances where you can become friends with one another. However, there is another type of relationship. Those who try to keep in touch after their service most likely want to work in such dark area. They want to join a gang and make friends in the facility in order to ask for help when joining a gang. He also thought that teenagers who committed crimes and came to facility were cool, but now he thinks that they weren't just mature enough and wasn't "cool".
Life after serving time in the facility
He said that he got used to the facility life, where violence, both verbally and physically happened often. Naturally when he served his time and came back to society, people, especially friends around him felt that he became violent and stormy. It made people around him feel awkward toward him. It was similar for the parents as well. On the other hand, he felt guilty and very sorry for his parents and his friends because he felt that there were imaginary stigma that followed him everywhere he went. In order to forget about the past, he tries his best to learn mechanics and hopes to find his career in the field of technology because he thinks that it's too late to go back to high school and finish his study.
Thoughts about crime
He really regretted having done such a crime, but at the same time, he doesn't regret or blame anyone else because he thinks that he had learned a lot from the experience. If he could, he wants to reverse the time and correct all his actions. If he can travel time, he wants to go back when he was a normal student and study as hard as possible because he dreamed of becoming a policemen.
2. Hoon - Interviewed by Okchul Jung
The interviewee, Hoon is 20 years old and he was in the detention center when he was 17 years old. He committed special rape and served for the detention center for one year and a half.
Life in juvenile hall
Life in juvenile hall
He talked about how life was like in the detention center. The interesting part was that the detention center in Korea is just like military. It was a place where existed order of power between teenagers, and the difference in power made the teenagers act accordingly just like military. Since there weren't any schedules besides meal and exercise, life in the facility was lethargic and restricted. He felt that he was being controlled and looked upon because of the CCTVs. He felt that he was actually in the detention center at the first day of the center, because the life in the facility was totally different from what was like only few hours ago outside the facility.
Relationships in Detention center
There were basically two types of relationships. The first one is one-time short relationship where they do not keep in touch after they served their time in the facility. It was the situation that made them live altogether, it wasn't something of their choice. Also, it's basically like a military, so there aren't much chances where you can become friends with one another. However, there is another type of relationship. Those who try to keep in touch after their service most likely want to work in such dark area. They want to join a gang and make friends in the facility in order to ask for help when joining a gang. He also thought that teenagers who committed crimes and came to facility were cool, but now he thinks that they weren't just mature enough and wasn't "cool".
Life after serving time in the facility
He said that he got used to the facility life, where violence, both verbally and physically happened often. Naturally when he served his time and came back to society, people, especially friends around him felt that he became violent and stormy. It made people around him feel awkward toward him. It was similar for the parents as well. On the other hand, he felt guilty and very sorry for his parents and his friends because he felt that there were imaginary stigma that followed him everywhere he went. In order to forget about the past, he tries his best to learn mechanics and hopes to find his career in the field of technology because he thinks that it's too late to go back to high school and finish his study.
Thoughts about crime
He really regretted having done such a crime, but at the same time, he doesn't regret or blame anyone else because he thinks that he had learned a lot from the experience. If he could, he wants to reverse the time and correct all his actions. If he can travel time, he wants to go back when he was a normal student and study as hard as possible because he dreamed of becoming a policemen.
3. Interviewee Ms. Park interviewed by Seung Yeon
Ms. Park is the
school counselor who works for the center called ‘Wee center’. ‘Wee center’ is
the center that deals with students who are maladaptive in schools of Seung-Beuk
dong. Ms. Park has worked as a teacher for more than 20 years and been
dispatched as a school counselor of ‘Wee center’ this year to learn more about
maladaptive students.
Before
being sent to the detention center
According to Ms. Park, the juvenile delinquents tend to be abandoned
by their parents due to economic burdens. Most of the parents of juvenile
delinquents have low socio-economic status and be forced to work all day. The
parents of juvenile delinquents cannot afford to let their children study in private
education institutes or spend time productively. Therefore, a lot of juvenile
delinquents tend to get along with the gangs and commit crimes as they do have
nothing to do and their lives seem so tedious. In addition, the students who commit
crime tend to decide things on impulse and rely on their friends a lot even
more than their parents.
The relationship between
juvenile delinquents and their parents
Most of the parents of
juvenile delinquents are divorced or passed away. There are two types of
parents of juvenile delinquents. The first type is the parents who are too
strict to their children. The children of this type of parents are exposed to
domestic violence a lot. The second type is the parents who are too permissive
to their kids. They let their kids do whatever their kids want since they
cannot allocate much energy into their children as they are too busy with their
work. When those parents get to know that their kids have committed crime, a
lot of parents tend to abandon their kids and do not care about their kids.
After coming back from the
detention center
There is a strong need for taking
holistic approach towards juvenile delinquents but as the budget is limited, the
consulting is done for not their parents or teachers but only for juvenile
delinquents. In addition, the teachers need to do so much administrative work
and there are too many students in one class. Therefore, there is little chance
for juvenile delinquents to get proper attention. Furthermore, the schools do
not introduce future plan rather than university entrance and many juvenile
delinquents who are not good at studying feel isolated and helpless.
