Abstract

Juvenile delinquency, due to the developmental, psychological, and social characteristics of this age group, is a major challenge for contemporary criminal justice systems and requires differential, preventive, and rehabilitative policies. In modern criminal policy, responses to children and adolescents should not rely solely on deprivation of liberty and punishment, but must emphasize reform, education, treatment, and resocialization. Nevertheless, in Iran, placement in Juvenile Correction and Rehabilitation Centers remains a primary response to juvenile offending, and its effectiveness in achieving reformative and educational goals has often been questioned.

This study critically examines the criminal policy of Chapter Ten of the Islamic Penal Code (2013) and highlights the need for reform by moving beyond a correctional center–oriented approach toward “Special Educational Schools” based on an educational–therapeutic framework. The research provides a theoretical and legislative foundation for redesigning penal responses to children and adolescents in line with genuine reform and resocialization. It adopts a descriptive–analytical and comparative method, using library studies, analysis of domestic laws, criminological and developmental psychology findings, field research, and a review of documents and practices of the U.S. juvenile justice system.

Findings show that detention in Juvenile Correction and Rehabilitation Centers, due to focus on deprivation of liberty, weak specialized interventions, peer delinquency, and disconnection from education, has limited effect on behavioral reform and recidivism and may increase psychological harm, social stigma, and academic decline. In contrast, Special Educational Schools, with an education-centered, family-oriented, and semi-open structure, maintain the child’s connection with educational and social systems and offer greater potential for behavioral reform and successful reintegration.

Keywords: Special Educational Schools, Juvenile Correction and Rehabilitation Centers, Differential Criminal Policy, Rehabilitation, Juvenile Offenders, Right to Education