What to do?

Not even of age yet, but already a criminal

What can be done to prevent delinquency among young people?

(Bild: stock.adobe.com/motortion)

While fewer and fewer young people are committing crimes, the number of violent crimes in Tyrol remains relatively constant. How can teenagers be prevented from going off the rails?

Young people who "rip off" other young people's cell phones, beat, steal and take drugs. How do we deal with delinquent teenagers and how can we prevent them from becoming criminals in the first place?

The Tyrolean Green Party asked the Aranea girls' center, the Z6 youth center and the Neustart association - institutions that deal with young people on a daily basis - for an assessment. The reason: Zeliha Arslan, member of the state parliament, is calling for more prevention services for young people - both at school and digitally and especially in at-risk groups.

The number of convictions is trending downwards

(Bild: Krone Kreativ)

Those who become offenders have usually been victims before 
Social institutions agree that perpetrators are or have often been victims of violence. It is therefore important to offer young people a safe environment. Important factors in preventing young people from committing crimes are therefore, as Z6 describes, committed parents or caregivers, a legal residence permit at the place where they live, respectful guidance from teachers, a stable circle of friends - to name just a few points.

Violent behavior is often superimposed on their own feelings of powerlessness and is seen as a legitimate (counter)reaction.

Young people are not exclusively victims or (co-)perpetrators of violence, but often both.

Jugendzentrum Z6

The Neustart association points to an unchanged or even declining trend in violent crimes committed by young people (see chart). On the one hand, this is due to an increasingly non-violent upbringing, as children and young people who grow up without violence are less likely to use violence themselves. On the other hand, risk factors include problematic consumption of alcohol and substances, a delinquent circle of friends or experience of violence - especially from parents.

Expanding support services for parents would also strengthen the family system and the social environment and thus have a protective effect.

Verein Neustart

If you look at the numbers of convictions and reports, you should also note that the willingness to report violence is growing - violence is no longer normalized, the detection rate is increasing, the population is growing in that age group, and the reporting statistics were switched to "multiple counting" in 2018.

We must not wait until young people have committed crimes to act, but must act at an early stage. Only through targeted programs can we offer prospects away from crime.

LA Zeliha Arslan, Sozialsprecherin der Tiroler Grünen

Bild: Birbaumer Christof

Reducing the age of criminal responsibility is not a solution here
The Neustart association also refers to the "Swiss model". In Switzerland, you are of criminal age from the age of ten. However, up to the age of 15, a maximum of 10 days of "personal service" is required. In Austria, 14-year-olds can already be sentenced to several years in prison. In contrast to Austria, juvenile criminal law in Switzerland is "not offense-oriented, but offender-oriented". This means that the decisive criterion for the choice of response is the juvenile's situation, not the severity of the offense.

The decision of the juvenile prosecutor is therefore not based on the idea of punishment, but on the logic of which measure will protect the young person from committing further serious crimes.

Verein Neustart über das „Schweizer Modell“

The reactions are also socio-educational or therapeutic measures, not a punishment. Against this background, lowering the age of criminal responsibility in Austria would not be a sensible measure, the association concludes. On the other hand, the focus on school-based programs, prevention work in at-risk groups and digital prevention work mentioned in the urgent motion would be welcome. Exclusion from school should be avoided.