POČETAK KRIMINALNE KARIJERE PENOLOŠKIH POVRATNIKA U CRNOJ GORI
THE BEGINNING OF THE CRIMINAL CAREER OF PENOLOGICAL RETURNEES IN MONTENEGRO

Summary/Abstract: There are very few studies that examine criminal careers, that is studies of changes in the patterns of behavior of offenders over time. This research is focused on only one segment of the criminal career of penological returnees - its beginning. The aim of the research is focused on the phenomenological presentation of the criminal beginnings of penological returnees: the age at which the first criminal offenses are committed, the type of the first criminal offense and sociological factors that marked the criminal beginnings of penological returnees. A qualitative-quantitative research method was applied, on a sample of 100 respondents who were serving their sentences in the Prison for Long Sentences in Podgorica. The data were obtained from the analysis of prisoners' self statements and the analysis of prisoner's files. According to the data from the files, the average age of penological returnees when they first committed a crime was 23 years, and in most cases, the first crimes were property crimes. According to self-reports, 69% of respondents committed the first criminal offense which they were not prosecuted as a juvenile, and the average age when they committed the first criminal offense was 13 years. The lowest age that appears in self-statements as the beginning of committing crimes that have not been prosecuted is 8 years, and the highest is 18years. According to the self-statements of 50.73% of respondents who reported that they committed crimes as minors, as a debut crime they committed a violent crime. Sociological factors that marked the criminal beginning of penological returnees in Montenegro are: disruption of family structure or domestic violence (51%); drug abuse (69%); problem with education (63%). Knowledge of criminal careers are applicable to a wide range of social response policies including prevention, rehabilitation, but also disabling for criminal behavior. The analysis of continuous monitoring of antisocial behavior provides data thanks to which potential perpetrators of crimes can be identified at an early age. Also, according to the results obtained by the research of the beginning of a criminal career, many ways to reduce the volume of delinquency can be suggested.

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