Selected problems of criminal law as an instrument of social control in relation to youth delinquency

Abstract

Social pedagogy is closely linked to the law as an instrument of social control where criminal law is a result of a certain effort to solve or control social problem. This problem is currently about increasing number of delinquent youths which has its own specifics. The aim of the paper is to point out, with the help of critical legal analysis, the difficulty of effectively solving (controlling) this problem with the help of criminal law, which determines what will be criminalized, what will be decriminalized or outside the interest of criminal law. It turns out that some measures lead to the rise of experts and their power, unintended results, and violation of the principle of innocent until proven guilty.