Juvenile Delinquency: The Notion of Juvenile Delinquency
Very often, behavioural disorders, if they are not seen and eliminated in time, can turn into delinquent behaviour. According to Dervišbegović (1997) and Tomić (2005a), delinquent behaviour is the most severe form of behavioural disorder. We shall state several definitions of juvenile delinquency.
“Delinquency is not a medical diagnosis; it is a social disease, because delinquents are considered to be persons who do not live in accordance with the moral and physical norms of society and who are therefore occasionally or permanently in conflict with the laws” (Hajduković, 1975: 126). The author agrees that the delinquency of young people should nevertheless be socially defined as the behaviour that minors display in the social environment, which is dangerous to the society and which comes under the jurisdiction of juvenile legislation.
It is similarly defined by Carić (2002) and Martinjak & Odeljan (2016): they say that “basically this term implies such behaviours of minors that are manifested in violation of legal norms, that is, in deviation from generally accepted behaviour”.
Milutinović (1981) and Martinjak & Odeljan (2016) explain two understandings of juvenile delinquency, one of which is broader and the other narrower. According to a broader, more extensive understanding, juvenile delinquency implies all forms of deviations that occur in their behaviour, “mismatches”, in the broadest sense of the word. This term includes antisocial to associative behaviours that range from various predelinquent deviant forms to those behaviours that are incriminated. “This practically means that the transference of minors, which we take as a general concept, not only for all forms of conduct incriminated by positive laws, but also for other activities of minors that are morally unacceptable and that create such negative consequences on social goods and subjects of behaviour that the application of social, protective, educational, and other measures is necessary.” (Jašović, 1991: 56).
The narrower understanding, which is based on existing normative systems, refers to those behaviours that are incriminated in the applicable criminal codes, which constitute criminal offences, as well as in the cases when they are performed by adults (Martinjak & Odeljan, 2016).
A narrower understanding, which is based on existing normative systems, refers to those conducts that are incriminated in the applicable criminal codes, which constitute a criminal act as well as in the case of adult practices.
The term, juvenile delinquency, (the word “delinquency” comes from the Latin word “delinquere” (to do wrong) or “delinquens” (offending)) is identified as criminality in its form of manifesting, i.e. by the pathogenic mechanism underlying its manifestation. Juvenile delinquency, in its manifestation in the form of aggression towards other people and material goods, can be regarded as being much the same as adult criminality. When talking about elements of phenomenology of juvenile crime, data on the behaviour of young people who are punished under the provisions of criminal laws are used. This approach also corresponds to one of the definitions of juvenile delinquency provided by Milutinović (1990), by which juvenile delinquency covers all activities of minors who are incriminating (the Latin word “criminari” to be accused or prosecuted), according to the positive criminal laws of individual countries.
There are reasons why youth crime, i.e. juvenile delinquency, is discussed in isolation. The first reason is that all behaviours of young people are traditionally distinguished from adult behaviour, including those that are marked as criminality, i.e. juvenile delinquency. Another reason for talking specifically about youth crime is that youth crime, in many of its dimensions, especially in a number of social, psychological, legal, and other characteristics of children who manifest it, differs from adult crime (Jašović, 1978; Tomić, 2005a).
All classifications of delinquent behaviour emphasize the basic aspects: biological, psychological, and sociological. According to Brkić (1998), the biological aspect emphasizes physical and nervous system diseases, psychological aspects of lower intellectual ability, emotional instability, neuroticism, aggression, inferiority complexes, etc., while the sociological aspect emphasizes industrialization, various migrations, family, school, peers, mass media, etc. Delinquent behaviour is linked to sociopathic personality structure, which does not always have to persist. According to the type of delinquent behaviour, sociopathic personalities are divided into two groups.
Sociopathic personalities with antisocial behaviour are children and adolescents who are constantly conflicted with social norms. Educational and punitive measures have little effect on them because they do not draw positive lessons and positive experiences. They do not respect the moral and aesthetic needs of people from their surroundings, and their work and behaviour harm human society (Tomić, Šehović, Karić & Hasanović, 2008).
Antisocial behaviour is the behaviour of minors that is contrary to all norms of society and by its meaning is closest to felony behaviour (Zrilić et al., 2011; Martinjak & Odeljan, 2016).
Another group of legal-criminological definitions defines delinquency as violations that violate general criminal-legal norms and that conflict with other legal regulations in a company. The third group of definitions of juvenile delinquency is represented by sociological and criminological definitions of this phenomenon. According to this definition, the concept of delinquency, in addition to violations of criminal and other legal norms, includes the social behaviours of minors that a particular socio-cultural environment considers negative. These include all forms of social behavioural disorders of children and minors that deviate from the moral norms, the value system, and the legal norms of a particular social community.
This broader concept is represented by these of theorists: H. Mannheim, D. Szabo, T. Morris, and S. Robinson. The broader understanding of juvenile delinquency is defined by Todorović (1983: 22): he states that juvenile delinquency includes “such deviant behaviours of young people of a certain age who violate legal norms and the relevant regulations of certain institutions and communities as well as the moral norms of the social environment”. A broader understanding of juvenile delinquency equates this phenomenon with all forms of social behaviour disorders of minors in the community.
According to the shorter understanding of juvenile delinquency, “youth delinquents cover all activities of children and youth who are sanctioned under the positive criminal laws of certain countries.” (Milutinović, 1990: 241). This is about disorders in social behaviour resulting from the commission of misdemeanors and criminal acts. This category of behavioural disorder is socially dangerous when it comes to the personality of underachievement and serves as a warning for taking preventive and other measures and activities (Tomić, Šehović, Karić &Hasanović, 2008).
The underlying problems of juvenile delinquency are on the rise in more and more parts of the modern world.