Abstract
The developmental path of the minor may be marked by particular situations such as conflicts with the law, various crimes. The situations, contexts and processes that lead to crime are multiple. Thus, the aim of our research was to study the characteristics of minors judged for crime, seen in a judicial space. This was a retrospective, cross-sectional, descriptive study carried out at the Cotonou First Instance Court. Data were collected from the judicial files of minors tried for crime by the juvenile court ruling on criminal matters from 1 January 2011 to 31 December 2015; 34 files were taken into account. The respondents were all adolescents aged between 10 and 18 years. The majority of them were tried for homicide (61.7%) and rape (32.4%). For 35.3% of the minors tried for crime, the relationship with opposite sex parent had poor quality. These minors received a firm prison sentence (88.2%), and 11.8% of them were placed in a foster centre without receiving a prison sentence. Crimes committed by minors calls into question our ability to supervise and provide a safe and appropriate framework for the psychological construction of children and adolescents in our society. Measures should be taken in terms of prevention at various levels to reduce the risk of children developing criminal behaviour.
Highlights
From 1 January 2011 to 31 December 2015, we have identified 34 cases of minors judged by the juvenile court ruling on criminal matters in Cotonou, that meet our selection criteria
The offence was recognized by 67.6% of minors
88.2% received a firm prison sentence and 11.8% were placed in a safeguard center without receiving a prison sentence; 23.5% should be placed after serving their prison sentence
Summary
During the developmental path of these minors, situations may arise which have a significant meaning and impact, and which give rise to different interpretations. This is the case of conflicts with the law. The situations, contexts and processes that lead to crime are very diverse; a typical profile of the criminal juvenile cannot be extracted from them. The criminal act cannot be reduced at the individuality of the gesture. It is the intersection or condensation of the psychopathological, existential, social and cultural [1]. The aim of our research was to study the characteristics of minors tried for crime, seen in a judicial space
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