Reintegration of minors in juvenile justice

Abstract

The article analyzes the concept of reintegration of minors in juvenile justice. Punitive approach is not effective in working with minors. It is important to understand that the quality of the criminal process in which minors find themselves depends on their future and whether they will commit criminal offenses in the future. It is also necessary to remember that minor victims and witnesses also need reintegration, but different from minor offenders. It is indicated that different terminology is used in the literature to denote the process of reintegration, namely «resocialization», «reintegration», «rehabilitation», which mean a set of measures that provide juveniles involved in the criminal process with restoration, support, ensuring a return to law-abiding behavior and normal life activities, rethinking what happened. The most appropriate modern term is «reintegration», which is most appropriate for use in juvenile justice. The most common view is that reintegration begins after sentencing while serving a sentence, but this is a narrow understanding of the concept. The process of reintegration should be applied starting from the first contact of the minor with the law enforcement authorities and completed only after a certain period after the end of the trial stage. Reintegration should extend not only to minors in conflict with the law, but also to minors in contact with the law. For successful reintegration, it is necessary to develop special programs, it is important to work with a psychologist and the special knowledge of each employee of various structures that work with minors in the criminal process. This will help offenders to fully assess the consequences of their actions and get an opportunity to correct them and prevent reoffending by reintegrating offenders into communities.