Mavromikhali street. Egaleo. Three children aged 14 and 13 approach three of their peers and begin to scold and threaten them. Children are confused and then shocked when the juvenile delinquents “pull out” a knife and demand their cell phones. In the end, the robbery doesn’t happen as the victims leave in fear.

Serres. History repeats itself with other characters. Two children, aged 15 and 16, wearing face masks, approach a 15-year-old boy returning from school with the intention of robbing him. Juvenile delinquents in this case also threaten their victim with a knife. Finally, the young man succumbs to the threats and hands over his wallet to them.

Imathia. A 12-year-old teenager, accompanied by his mother, turns to the authorities and complains that he was the victim of the rape of a 13-year-old teenager. According to the complaint, the juvenile delinquent took him to different parts of the district and raped him, after hitting him and threatening him.

These are just some of the recent police reports that children are involved in serious crimes, from robbery to rape. The current situation is alarming, as the phenomenon of juvenile delinquency is constantly increasing, and the authorities have been put on alert and have shown themselves in the struggle to collect data for their analysis and, finally, to combat them.

There are many incidents, and in some cases, as in Imathia, they are terrible. Young children, even before they have finished school, become the protagonists of severe beatings, robberies, threats, knife attacks and even murders.

But what is the profile of these children and what ultimately contributes to the increase in the phenomenon of juvenile delinquency? From data collected by EL.AS. it turns out that children’s delinquent behavior usually begins to manifest itself in preadolescence, from the 12th to the 14th year of their life, and, in case of untimely intervention or inaction, can develop into repetitive behavior with even more violent characteristics.

Three items

In Greece, where juvenile delinquency appears to be moving into the low to moderate category, three elements are of major concern:

• Increase in violent crime among young people.

• Reduction of the age limit, from which the bringing of minors to criminal responsibility begins.

• Multiple and very serious problems underlying families of juvenile delinquents and young people (mental health problems, addictions, involvement of parents themselves in the criminal system).

Leaders of EL.AS. talking to “K” they explained that boys aged 14-15 are involved in most cases of violent incidents, adding that more often than not, the problem arises in the family, and not in education or social status. Also, unlike in rural areas where teenagers are more likely to know each other because there is greater social cohesion in small populations, conflicts between groups of teenagers in the capital involve strangers, so depersonalization contributes to more violent attacks. In fact, their activity is similar to their young age, that is, impulsive, so their actions are mainly performed in public in open spaces such as squares, schoolyards or neighboring streets.

But what crimes involving minors tend to increase and, finally, what are the reasons for the growth of the phenomenon?

According to the police, the crimes that are on the rise are related to property, drugs and violations of the general criminal law (bodily injury, crimes against honor, personal and sexual freedom, etc.). As for other crimes, such as robbery or theft, they experienced an increase from 2018 to 2019, noting a slight drop during the pandemic. Finally, with regard to the crime of murder, in 2022 there was one case involving a minor and one attempted murder involving two children.

reactive expression

As for the reasons, Police analysts believe that the structural changes observed in recent years in society, the technological revolution and the growth of social networks have created a completely different environment, which in some cases favors this type of behavior. At the same time, in recent years, violence and intolerant rhetoric have become components of a reactionary alternative expression that includes videos, video games, graffiti, comics, and various types of music. This culture, according to EL.AS., is attractive to young people and for some is a way of self-expression.

Numbers

12-14 years, delinquent behavior usually occurs in preadolescence.

14-15 boys years are involved in most cases of violent incidents.

2018-2019 there has been an increase in robbery and theft, with a slight drop during the pandemic.

2022 one murder case of a juvenile offender and one attempted murder of two child offenders.