International comparison of manifestations and tendencies of registered juvenile delinquency in Lithuania

Abstract

In the article manifestations of registered juvenile delinquency, its‘ structure and tendencies in Lithuania are analyzed, Lithuanian indicators are also compared with the indicators of other European countries. The comparative study shows large differences in registered juvenile delinquency, which are primarily determined by different scopes of criminalization of delinquency, different intensity of formal control, as well as different rules for registering juvenile delinquency. The absolute indicators of registered juvenile criminal offences in Lithuania have been decreasing for the past two decades, and the relative indicators of registered juvenile criminal behavior have also been consistently decreasing for the last five years. 2020–2021 the number of administrative offenses committed by minors in Lithuania also decreased, which is primarily associated with restrictions in public life introduced due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Serious violent crimes by minors, characterized by low latency, are often widely described in the media, and constitute a small part of the structure of crimes committed by minors in Lithuania, and the number of murders is consistently decreasing – in 2021 it was the smallest during the entire period of independent Lithuania – only one murder was registered. After completing this study, it can be said that the indicators of registered juvenile delinquency compared to other countries should be seen first of all as an output of the juvenile behavior control mechanisms operating in each country, which tells little about the real extent of juvenile delinquency. The minor juvenile delinquency is more latent and its rates should be first evaluated. Cases of serious delinquency are characterized by a much lower latency, but in this case too, in order to compare registered delinquency, it is necessary to simultaneously assess complex differences in criminal prosecution between countries.