Peers of independence: delinquent behavior of minors (1990s — early 2000s)

Abstract

The article attempts to analyze the social phenomenon of juvenile crime as a structural component of adult crime from the point of view in terms of identifying its causes and consequences, as well as the possibility of finding ways to prevent it, not only among the current adolescent generation and youth, but also among future generations. It is noted that the teenage cohort of the generation of peers of independence, which was formed in 2001–2009 — these are Ukrainians born in the 1990s, whose socialization took place during the period of anomie of Ukrainian society, and, consequently, their consciousness was formed under the influence of values and pseudo-values that were contradictory in their content. It is concluded that the social nature of juvenile criminality is due to historical variability, as well as a system of causes and factors that determine its appearance. Taking into account the statistical distributions of the total number and types of crimes committed by minors or with their participation, it has been proved that they, to a certain extent, reflect the laws of the development of society, since they are determined by the state and changes in material, social and spiritual conditions of life. It was also determined that juvenile crime is characterized by a high degree of latency due to the peculiarities of the legal and physical status of minors, the "regulation" of statistical indicators in investigative and judicial practice, and the real scale of the spread of juvenile criminality is several times higher than its registered component.