Kariery kryminalne nieletnich sprawców przestępstw
Criminal careers of juvenile delinquents

Summary/Abstract: Thirteen years ago, while conducting criminological research of juvenile delinquents within a research programme of the Ministry of Education “Juvenile delinquents in the past and today” I decided to research two groups of juvenile delinquents representative for Poland: 1. The first was juvenile delinquents tried in the courts between 1985 and 1988, the choice of files was made on the basis on their availability. According to assumptions I planned to research a representative group of cases of criminal deeds committed by juveniles and tried in criminal courts in 1980. It appeared to be impossible, files of juveniles from 1980 in 2000 when I organized research were, according to regulations, destroyed (hereinafter I use the term “80’s group”). 2. The second is a sample of a group of cases of criminal deeds committed by juveniles and tried in criminal courts in 2000 representative for Poland The main research assumption of the project of research of juvenile delinquents was to investigate and characterize juvenile crime and their social profiles. The research concerned contemporary juveniles – “2000 group” and juveniles in the past who were tried in courts between 1985 and 1989. I intended to investigate juvenile delinquents who belonged to the generation of the parents of those from “2000 group”. Yet a step backward by a generation was impossible (the files were destroyed). I decided that the object of the research will be the group of juvenile delinquents tried in juvenile courts in the 1980s. In 2010 I searched the National Criminal Registry for the records of both “1980s” and “2000 group”. Follow-up period for the latter group was 9 years. After they turned 17 (which is the age limit of legal responsibility under Polish law), from the “2000 group” tried in 2000 in juvenile courts 390 persons, that is 51,3%, were later convicted for crimes. This group, at the moment of record search, was between 20 and 28 and majority of perpetrators were between 24 and 28 – that is young adults in the period of the highest criminal activity. The group of juvenile delinquents from 1980s was 555 persons. The follow-up period was 22 to 22 years. In this group, according to National Criminal Registry information, 187 persons, that is 33,7% had a criminal record at the moment of file search, and they were be-tween 35 and 44. As far as this group is concerned, part of criminal records were erased so a part of convictions in this group remains unknown. Study of previous juvenile delinquents life histories, longitudinal study, criminal career study – these are the names of the same types of research in criminology whose main and common questions is: how many of previous juvenile delinquents commit crimes in adult life. More detailed questions are: - what is the type and significance of crime commited by previus juvenile dalinquents in their adult lives?

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