Vicarious liability is a term used to refer to situations where parents are punished because of the offenses committed by their children. This happens because it is assumed that children are not conscious about their actions, and thus parents should regulate their behavior. There are advantages and disadvantages of this liability, and this paper will focus on both sides, that is, the positive and the negative.
Vicarious liability is an act of law practiced in many countries and exercised on children who are above the age of eight to ten years, and ends when a child reaches eighteen or nineteen years depending on the country one resides in. Vicarious liability states that a parent shall be held accountable for any offense committed by their child. The offenses include murder, access to firearms, and driving recklessly among many other offenses. In such a case, the parent is made to pay for the financial penalty charged by the court. However, Harbord (2006) points out that some countries have an established limit that a financial penalty cannot exceed. In other words, vicarious liability views parental responsibility, just as organizations are held accountable for the faults done by their employees.
Many people are in support of this legislation because many parents are ignorant about the conduct of their children. There are many situations where justice is denied, just because the offender was a minor, but with vicarious liability, at least there is surety of justice being served. This is because if such offenders were left unpunished parents could take advantage of the situation and thus use their children to harm other people because their children are immune from the law. Besides, children do not know what is wrong or right, and it is the responsibility of every parent to teach her/his children about good morals because that way they will grow to be responsible citizens. Additionally, if a child is not corrected while still young, it would be difficult to mold him/her once he/she is fully grown into an adult.
In this regard, there are several advantages of punishing parents for the crimes committed by their children. Vicarious liability makes the parents to be fully committed to regulating the behavior of their children because they know that if they break the law in one way or another they will surely pay for it. According to Giliker (2010), this act further makes parents cautious about the activities of their children, such as their movements and their interactions with people. This vigilance entails assuming the role of a supervisor over one’s children.
Vicarious liability contributes to reducing the rates of crimes because many criminals use children as accomplices in committing crimes. They do this by using them as vessels of delivering drugs and weapons because no one would suspect them: this includes children who escape from their homes.
However, there is a lot of criticism of this act. The first argument is that it fails to achieve the purpose of punishment, which entails correcting the offender. This is because in vicarious liability the real culprit is not punished, and thus may not learn the intended lesson. Statsky (2003) argues that it would be logical if the punishment was directed towards the child who committed the offense, but then it is impossible because children do not earn any income and in cases of criminal law, the children involved are yet to be conscious. An individual commits a crime is and thus, punishing parents implies that their children reflect their behavior, which is wrong. About Holy Scriptures, God does not punish parents for the sins done by their children. This implies that people live as independent entities.
In conclusion, when children are involved in breaking the law the parties involved should first seek to find out why the child behaved in a particular manner. This is because adults can manipulate children to behave in a way that suits them. Therefore, parents should monitor the conduct of their children towards others because if they are not taught how to co-exist with others, they will become a burden to the whole society.
References
Harbord, D. (2006). Enforcing Cooperation Among Medieval Merchants: The Maghribi Traders Revisited. SSRN Working Paper series: Economic History Research Network.
Giliker, P. (2010).Vicarious Liability in Tort: A Comparative Perspective. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Statsky, P.W. (2003). Family Law: The Essentials. New York: Cengage Learning.