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PHENOMENOLOGY OF JUVENILE CRIME IN CROATIA

Purpose: The aims of this research are to provide an overview of the relevant body of literature into an area of the juvenile offenders and to analyze the scope, structure and dynamics of juvenile delinquency in the past decade (2011– 2021) in the Republic of Croatia. Design/Methods/Approach: Empirical analysis is based on secondary data from registered crimes of the police, state attorney’s offices and juvenile courts in the observed period, which is an indirect measure of juvenile delinquency in a particular area. Juvenile offenders are analyzed in relation to gender, age, educational attainment, types of crimes committed, and other relevant variables in order to identify trends and crime patterns spanning decade. Findings : The paper discusses the continuous downward trend of reported, accused, and convicted juveniles, as well as the relatively large number of dismissed criminal charges by applying the principle of opportunity as a rehabilitation approach of the State Attorney’s Office to juvenile offenders. Although conditional opportunity as a measure of diversion relieves the courts and shortens the time from the commission of a crime to the beginning of treatment, the simultaneous increase in the number of juvenile recidivists is worrying, indicating that the current system of juvenile sanctions does not fulfill its primary purpose of special prevention. Originality/Value: The research paper builds on the existing knowledge of the topic and addresses possible implications of future developments within the mixed model of the juvenile justice system that is lacking in the existing literature.

juvenile crime, scope, structure and dynamics, models of juvenile justice, Croatia

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