CRIMINOLOGICAL FEATURES OF YOUTH CRIME, MECHANISMS FOR ITS PREVENTION, AND THE EFFECTIVENESS OF EDUCATIONAL INFLUENCE MEASURES
Keywords:
Juvenile delinquency, youth crime, criminological characteristics, risk factors,crime prevention mechanisms, primary, secondary and tertiary prevention, educational intervention,social and emotional learning, restorative justice, family environment, social inequality, early intervention, juvenile justice system.Abstract
Juvenile delinquency remains one of the most pressing challenges facing modern society. This article examines the criminological characteristics of youth crime, identifying its structural features, typological patterns, and principal risk factors. The analysis then turns to prevention: what mechanisms have the strongest empirical support, where systemic gaps persist, and why criminal justice responses alone consistently fail to produce durable reductions in offending. Finally, the article evaluates the role of educational influence measures — from school-based programmes and vocational training to mentorship and restorative justice — assessing their documented effectiveness, conditions for success, and the limits of the current evidence base. The central argument is that sustainable crime reduction among youth requires integrated, early-stage intervention grounded in criminological understanding, not reactive punishment
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