Juvenile delinquency. Between representation and reality

PRESS RELEASE

Juvenile delinquency. Between representation and reality

«Juvenile deviance – explains the President of Eurispes, Gian Maria Fara – is one of the most delicate and complex phenomena in our society. The complexity of the problem makes a multidisciplinary approach indispensable, one that takes into account law enforcement activity, explores dynamics and trends, and examines origins and motivations, in order to respond to widespread social alarm without falling into easy simplifications. The youth world is not a homogeneous sociodemographic group, and it is advisable not to yield to the temptation of treating it as such, even when examining episodes of deviance and crime. Some young people have simply been denied a future, enlisted by organised crime, or excluded from a normal educational path and from the support of a family. But even apparently less problematic contexts can generate antisocial or criminal behaviour: a “bourgeois”, “normalised” deviance, expressed through vandalism, bullying, and self-destructive behaviour. For many young people, deviance expresses the unease arising from confrontation with a society of which they do not feel truly a part, let alone protagonists. Research and analysis activity confirms a widespread juvenile malaise that manifests, in some cases, in silent social exclusion, in others, in antisocial and, at times, criminal behaviour».

«Social networks – concludes the President of Eurispes – frequently prove to be tools that amplify deviant behaviour, turning it into appealing models, spreading its example, dehumanising victims and desensitising perpetrators, normalising violent and abusive conduct.

It is also necessary to bear in mind that a part of the phenomenon remains “submerged”, as it is restrained by family resistance and by the young people’s own withdrawal. This too is a challenge that cannot go unmet».

The Eurispes survey

The sample survey of the population conducted by Eurispes contributes to outlining the picture of prevailing opinions among Italian citizens, investigating both social interpretations of the juvenile gang phenomenon and the most widespread representations: from the groups considered most involved or vulnerable, to the territorial distribution of the phenomenon, through to the assessment of the most effective strategies to counter it.

Among the objectives of the field survey is also that of comparing data provided by the Police Forces on reported young people with citizens’ opinions and experiences, in order to investigate whether or not numbers and widespread perceptions correspond. The set of answers provided by citizens is, on the whole, consistent with data from recent years and with their recent evolution. The increase in offences committed by young people, and in particular by minors, in categories that cause strong social alarm appears consistent with the fact that just under half of Italians consider the locality in which they live not at all or not very safe with regard to juvenile crime, describe the spread of deviant/unlawful behaviour by young people as having increased compared to the past, and are aware of the presence of juvenile gangs in the city/locality where they live. According to citizens’ assessment, the mass media represent the problem of juvenile crime in a realistic manner or even less seriously than reality, rather than amplifying it. We are therefore not facing a gap between reality and social perception.

Does juvenile violence affect the sense of safety in one’s place of residence?

The perception of safety regarding juvenile violence almost evenly divides the population: 46% assess the situation of the city or locality where they live positively, while 44.5% express a negative assessment. The spread of deviant or unlawful behaviour by young people compared to the past is considered to have increased by 46.7% of citizens.

The underlying causes of deviant behaviour among young people

The most relevant factor in the spread of juvenile crime is, according to citizens, the inadequacy of the family (19%), followed by the lack of a culture of legality (18.9%), the shortage of employment opportunities (13%), economic hardship (12.2%), the influence exerted by the world of the Web (9.4%), the limited presence of state institutions in local areas (6.6%), the power of criminal organisations (6.4%), failure of social integration (5.3%), the inadequacy of the school system (3.6%).

Which triggering factors require attention

The factors that negatively affect young people by contributing to violent behaviour would be the absence or negligence of the family, judged to be influential in 85.5% of cases. This is followed by a degraded social context (77.4%), overly permissive upbringing (75.3%), the lack of authority of institutions (73.1%), social exclusion (70.9%), the educational failure of the school (69.2%). The desire for youthful rebellion represents the element with the lowest share of attributed responsibility (60.1%).

In relation to the factors contributing to juvenile deviance (understood as the onset of unlawful or violent behaviour), variations are observed in the levels of incidence attributed to different forms of influence. The bad example of friends or acquaintances garners the highest share of medium-high incidence assessments, with 85.5% of responses. This is followed by the bad example of parents, siblings or other family members (79.5%), the significant incidence of negative role models transmitted by influencers or celebrities (65.5%) or conveyed by series, films or video games (63.2%), but also, although to a lesser extent, by music (53.8%).

What people fear most is petty crime

In terms of safety, 36.9% of citizens feel threatened by petty crime. Organised crime, including the mafia, is cited in 26.1% of cases as the second most relevant source of threat, while juvenile gangs are mentioned by 17.4%.

The presence of juvenile gangs on the territory

The data collected offer an indication of the declared degree of awareness regarding the presence of juvenile gangs in local contexts. 52% of citizens declare they have no information on the matter. 33.5% report having learned of the existence of juvenile gangs indirectly, through accounts from relatives, friends or acquaintances. The remaining 14.5% states being aware of the phenomenon through direct experience, having lived it personally or through concrete contact.

The analysis of responses by geographical area returns an articulated picture of levels of knowledge, direct or indirect, regarding the presence of juvenile gangs in one’s city or locality of residence. In the North-West, 33.6% report having heard about it through acquaintances, and 14.2% report a personal experience. A similar distribution is found in the North-East, where 36.9% report having heard about it through relatives, friends or acquaintances, while 14% report a direct experience. In the Centre and the South, indirect knowledge is reported by 34.9% and 29.9% respectively, while direct experiences are reported by 17.9% and 13.1%. Finally, in the Islands, 32% of residents refer to third-party accounts and 12.8% report a personal experience.

The conduct most frequently associated with juvenile gangs consists of episodes of insults and mockery (68.5%) and acts of vandalism (67.3%), followed by threats (60.8%) and physical assaults (46.8%). Non-negligible percentages also relate to minor offences: 43.4% of citizens report bag-snatching and pickpocketing, while 42.6% cite theft of cars or mopeds. Less frequent, but nonetheless significant, is the association with episodes of harassment or sexual violence, reported by 25.4% of the sample.

Foreigners or Italians? The composition of juvenile gangs

According to 42.4% of respondents, juvenile gangs are made up of Italian and foreign young people together, indicating a perception of the phenomenon as a heterogeneous and mixed reality. The idea of groups composed exclusively of foreigners is reported in 25.4% of cases, while 16.6% refer to gangs made up solely of Italians. Among respondents, the highest share (70.9%) states being aware of the existence of gangs composed exclusively of boys. 41.1% reports the occasional presence of one or two girls in predominantly male contexts. A minority (30.8%) declares knowing gangs with a balanced composition of boys and girls, while only 9.4% reports having learned of the existence of gangs composed entirely or predominantly of girls.

Almost four citizens in ten have indirect knowledge of the activities of juvenile gangs, while a third have had direct experience

37.4% of citizens report being aware of problematic situations experienced by acquaintances due to juvenile gangs. Among those who instead declare a direct experience (a total of 33.7%), 17% report episodes of threats or insults, 9% have suffered a theft and 7.7% have been physically assaulted.

The propensity to file a complaint is not yet well established

When faced with problems related to the phenomenon of juvenile gangs, more than half of the sample (57.5%) declare they have never filed a complaint. Among those who do declare having filed a complaint, 26% did so on only one occasion, while 16.5% did so on multiple occasions, indicating more repeated involvement or a greater propensity to rely on the police.

Almost seven citizens in ten (69%) declare having avoided, at least once, certain areas of their locality because they were considered to be frequented by juvenile gangs. Specifically, 34.6% state having avoided such areas on an occasional basis, while 25% report doing so frequently. A further 9.4% systematically adopt this strategy, always avoiding certain urban spaces.

The majority of citizens consider Italian legislation on offences committed by minors to be too lenient

The largest share of citizens (47.2%) considers current regulations to be too lenient, while 32.9% declare they have no clear opinion on the matter. Finally, 16.2% consider the regulatory framework to be adequate, while only a minority (3.7%) regard it as excessively strict.

Which strategies would be most effective in addressing the problem of juvenile crime?

According to citizens, addressing the phenomenon would require above all strengthening the presence of the police forces throughout the national territory (15.5%), followed by tougher sentencing even for minors (15.2%). With almost the same weight, 14.7% propose promoting education in legality within schools, while 14% consider it useful to incentivise the creation of positive youth gathering spaces, such as sports, cultural or recreational centres. Socially oriented interventions are expressed in 13.6% of responses, which identify support for youth employment as a possible lever for prevention, and in 8.8% which mention support for families in difficulty. Furthermore, 8.7% attribute effectiveness to restricting immigrants’ access. Very limited are the indications relating to the promotion of responsible use of the Web (6%) and those referring to other measures not included among those proposed (3.5%).

The representation of the phenomenon in the media

According to almost half of citizens (46.1%), media coverage realistically reflects the severity of the phenomenon. Conversely, 27.4% believe that the media tend to downplay the scale of the problem, arguing that the representation offered is less serious than reality. Finally, 26.5% maintain that the mass media convey an excessively alarmist image of juvenile crime.

Violence in the sporting context

The data show that half of respondents declare they have never witnessed or become aware of violent behaviour by young people in such contexts. However, an equally significant portion of the population reports at least one episode: 28.3% state that it has occurred more than once, while 21.7% report having had a similar experience at least once.

Crime data for the period 2015–2025 among 14–24 year olds

The survey was also conducted with the contribution of data provided by the Criminal Analysis Service of the Central Directorate of Criminal Police. The data provided concern, over the long period (2015–2025), reports of young people in the 14–24 age bracket, reported and/or arrested for the categories of offence that cause the greatest social alarm.

In the period 2015–2025, an increase has been recorded in reports relating, in particular, to offences characterised by violence and aggression, both physical and psychological. These involve above all minors, including with reference to offences relating to weapons and violent conduct.

The phenomenon, likely an expression of juvenile malaise, presents itself as particularly complex and, in light of ongoing social transformations, requires a multidisciplinary investigation that takes into account the multiplicity of factors underlying it.

The offences examined may be considered a direct expression of the aggressiveness and, at the same time, the fragility of an age cohort of the population (14–24 years) that may be regarded as “critical” for a multiple series of reasons. In general terms, total reports of young people aged between 14 and 24 have recorded a decrease over the long period (175,157 in 2015, 142,981 in 2020), showing, however, a recovery in more recent years and, in particular, an increase in 2025 compared to 2024 (170,076, +2.54%). Italians are the subjects most frequently reported in each year of the period examined (89,249 in 2025), while the foreign component (80,827 in 2025), although remaining lower, shows a growing incidence in more recent years.

As regards the distribution by age bracket, unlike young adults, whose reports are overall declining over the long period, those relating to minors show progressive growth in recent years, culminating in 2025 (37,170 minors reported, compared to 25,088 in 2020), confirming increasingly significant involvement of this age group in deviance phenomena.

With reference to property offences, the analysis of reports for theft shows, over the long period, a declining trend. Over the decade, foreigners continue to show a higher incidence compared to Italians (19,549 reports in 2025, against 6,184 for Italians), especially in the young adult bracket.

On the rise over the long period are, instead, reports for the offence of robbery, which, following a phase of substantial stability up to 2021 (7,253 reports), show significant growth in the subsequent period (2022–2025), with an increase in 2025 (10,449 total reports) of 1.81% compared to 2024. This increase has affected both age brackets, but to a more marked degree among minors.

Offences related to narcotic substances show an essentially stable trend, with values in 2015 (18,754 reports) and in 2025 (18,556 reports) being virtually equivalent. In this case too, Italians outnumber foreigners in both age brackets.

Among offences against the person, completed homicide shows an overall declining trend (255 in 2015, 156 in 2025), while attempted homicide shows a growing trend (584 in 2015, 696 in 2025), with an increase in more recent years, with a prevalence of Italian subjects (57%) among both minors and young adults.

Sexual offences show a growing trend with particularly high values in more recent years. In 2025, however, a decline is observed compared to 2024 (equal to 11.27% for sexual violence), without, however, altering the overall growth trend (747 reports in 2015, 1,291 in 2025). Grievous bodily harm, battery and affray also increase in the period 2015–2025, confirming the progressive spread of violent behaviour among young people.

In the family sphere, reports for ill-treatment of family members and cohabitants record a constant increase over the long period (1,207 reports in 2015, 2,191 in 2020), further confirmed in 2025 (3,290 reports). A similar trend is observed for stalking, which shows continuous growth, with an increase also in 2025 (2,345 total reports in the year).

Less frequent offences, such as instigation or assistance to suicide, show a fluctuating trend, but with significant recent growth (+36% in 2024–25).

Weapons use has seen significant growth from 2020 (5,195 reports) to the present (9,762 in 2025), for both minors and young adults, with more pronounced dynamics in recent years. In episodes of juvenile violence, recourse to so-called bladed or edged weapons is far more frequent, for example, tasers or electric stun devices and irritant spray, which have been increasingly in use in recent times.

With reference to DASPOs, the analysis confirms that young adults are more affected by the measures (1,370 in 2025 alone) than minors (206 in 2025); however, an overall increase is noted for both age brackets over the long period, attesting to growing attention towards phenomena of violence in the sporting context.

Digital violence and juvenile crime on Italian social media

The research, conducted by Eurispes over a period spanning from 2023 to the first half of 2025, analysed five platforms (TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and X) to identify patterns, hashtags and profiles linked to juvenile crime, and to assess how digital content translates into real-world violence. Social media, in particular TikTok, function as a sounding board and recruitment tool for juvenile crime. It is in the gap between the digital glorification of violence and the vulnerability of young people who are often marginalised that the boundary between screen and street dissolves.

The study documents cases in which social media feuds spill over into physical assaults: clandestine fights filmed and shared online, street beatings, clashes between gangs and “self-defence” groups.

Even young people not directly involved in gangs absorb these models, through bullying videos, decontextualised trap content and social media challenges (such as tampering with electronic ankle bracelets). The risk is that young people lacking the critical tools to distinguish reality from fiction may internalise violence as a social norm.

Interviews with opinion leaders

As part of the survey on juvenile crime, thirteen in-depth interviews were conducted with some of the most authoritative voices engaged in the study and management of deviant, and often criminal, phenomena involving minors and adolescents. The research, born from the need to understand a complex and continuously evolving phenomenon, involves not only the security and justice system, but also the school, the family, social services, the world of education and society as a whole.

The value of this survey, therefore, does not reside solely in its descriptive and informative capacity, but above all in the intention to offer public decision-makers a multidisciplinary and evidence-based framework for guiding effective prevention, intervention and counter-measures strategies.

The interviews represented an essential methodological component of the research, as they made it possible to complement statistical evidence and data analysis with the wealth of experience and knowledge of professionals who work in the field every day.

The interviewees are:

Matteo Lancini, President of the Fondazione Minotauro; Alfio Maggiolini, psychotherapist; Cristina Maggia, former President of the Juvenile Court of Brescia; Maria Francesca Pricoco, President of the Juvenile Court of Messina; Giuseppe Chiodo, Director of the Juvenile Penal Institute of Casal del Marmo; the honourable Simonetta Matone, former magistrate; Francesco Petrelli, President of the Union of Italian Criminal Bar Associations; Professor Susanna Mantovani, formerly at Bicocca and the OECD; Raffaella Milano, Research Director of Save the Children Italia; Tindaro Bellinvia, researcher at the University of Messina; Giacinto Froggio of the Salesian University; Marco Dugato, researcher at the Transcrime research centre of the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore; Fabio Felici, Director of Agimeg.

The testimonies collected converge, as a whole, on several fundamental points: the strengthening of educational communities, support for families, investment in adolescent mental health, territorial prevention, the countering of educational poverty and the promotion of aware digital citizenship. Scholars, magistrates, educators and practitioners have indicated how the emotional dimension represents a decisive juncture in the development of minors. To disturb, manipulate, ignore or violate the emotions of a child or young person means compromising their ability to develop trust, healthy relationships and full citizenship. Behind many deviant behaviours there are often fragilities, suffering, loneliness and unheeded needs. For this reason, the response of institutions cannot be limited to repression, but must translate into a shared responsibility of prevention, protection and accompaniment.