Contemporary Readings in Law and Social Justice Volume 4(2), 2012, pp.

10551061, ISSN 1948-9137

Juvenile Delinquency Security Threats in the Extended Black Sea Region

Gheorghe CALOPREANU geocal81@yahoo.com Carol I National Defense University, Bucharest Filofteia REPEZ filofteiarepez@yahoo.com Carol I National Defense University, Bucharest Mihaela POSTOLACHE postolachemihaela@yahoo.com Carol I National Defense University, Bucharest ABSTRACT. In the current context of globalization, countries of the Wider Black Sea are called upon to deal with an advanced area of issues concerning security. Juvenile delinquency is such a problem, determined by other social problems, closely related to way in which communities manage their resources, education and socialization processes and also the functioning of various structures and social institutions. To educate a teenager, pedagogically speaking, means to adapting it at the constraints of teaching and the social prohibitions. There are often situations in which adolescent actions, the language, the behavior or the relations with the entourage or with adults are in contradiction with the moral ideal values and legal norms. The evolution of the phenomenon under review increased the public interest for the minors who commit crimes. The only way to prevent and combat the juvenile delinquency in this region is to adopt a common strategy. Based on these considerations, this article aims to highlight the delinquent manifestations of young people in the Wider Black Sea and the established measures to combat them. Keywords: security, juvenile delinquency, threatening, criminal, social reintergrare, the Extended Black Sea Region

1. Introduction Juvenile delinquency has become one of the major social problems faced and still faces the most of contemporary society, despite the development and welfare programs applied.
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This serious problem with direct and negative consequences on security, especially the individual security can be found in the Wider Black Sea countries, states which, after the Cold War have emerged in the shadow cone of totalitarianism ..., and faces not only to the economic and political difficulties, but also with many social problems.1 As a distinct form of deviance (relating to criminal law), juvenile delinquency is a complex phenomenon that defines all the behaviors in conflict with the values protected by the criminal norm. In strictly legal terms, this phenomenon characterizes breach of the rules that reflects the needs of all forms of human coexistence (limit personal freedom, adequate adaptation to social environment, the correlation between individual attitudes and social requirements, compliance with the prohibitions and prescription normative the adoption of those action criteria enabling the normality and predictability of behavior, etc.).2 Juvenile delinquency is a concept often encountered not only in current speech, but also in science, is also a notion that causes confusions if the two terms that compose it, namely juvenile and delinquency are not well known. Delinquency, according to the dictionary3 is a social phenomenon which consists in committing crimes or all crimes committed at a time, in a certain circumstance or by persons of a certain age. The term juvenile, according to the same dictionary, means young, its own young people, which is typical for young people. Associates, the two terms give birth of juvenile delinquency, notion that can be defined as all deviations and violations of social rules committed by minors under 18 years, judicial sanctioned. The term juvenile delinquency is a creation of the penal doctrine and criminological and sociological theories in their attempt to group a number of crimes based on grounds of age, justified appreciating that the facts penal has some features that are determined by biological maturity level and especially the one mental. Synonyms are: criminalita giovanile (Italian) criminalit juvnile (French) kriminalitat Jugend (German). 2. Juvenile delinquency or behavioral disturbances? Research related to adults behavior make distinction between juvenile delinquency and behavior disturbances. Juvenile delinquency is a component of crime, a deviance phenomenon manifested by the inability of some minors and young people of adapting to the rules of conduct in society, inability due to reasons of bio-psycho-social order. Delinquency is reflected in different types of crimes committed by minors until the age of 18 years such as: robbery, murder, theft, prostitution, etc..

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From historical point of view, juvenile justice system focused more on rehabilitation and treatment, rather than on punishment. After 1990, have been adopted in many states, tighter rules to condemning the adolescents, including the disqualification or transfer of a large number of young delinquents to the adult instances.4 Behavioral disorders represents one of the causes of bio-psychological nature of juvenile delinquency. The essential feature of behavioral disorder is a repetitive and persistent model of behavior in which the fundamental rights of others or the society rules and regulations considered appropriate for a certain age have been violated. These behavioral disturbances can manifest itself by: physical aggression, property destruction, etc. suicidal behaviors. Classified as a juvenile delinquent may or may not fulfill the criteria for the diagnosis behavioral disorder, if an adolescent adopts a delinquent behavioral it is possible to suffer from a disturbance of behavior.5 3. Could be the Extended Black Sea Region protected from juvenile delinquency? Interest for the Extended Black Sea Region at the beginning of XXI century is not a happening one.6 The region, considered to be a fact of European geopolitical map7 is not avoided by vulnerabilities, risks and threats relating to security. Juvenile delinquency is a vulnerability in that region. We appreciate that there are many reasons that determine the appearance them: the absence of material and financial funds for real protection of the familythat ensure conditions for growth and education of children, aggressive family climate, various factors that promote an increased fragility and a sensitivity pronounced (deaths, illness, change, divorce of parents or conflicting factors), the appearance and increasing the number of groups that favors committing the offenses made up of delinquents where are attracted major and minor; price increase for all products while decreasing of purchasing power - in these circumstances parents can not ensure for the children a decent living, the existence of mental illness at minors and not treating due to lack of financial resources or because of family problems (lack of medicines, bureaucracy, etc..) healthcare system, existence of some degrees of delay in intellectual development of the minor, uncontrolled proliferation of some publications, videos, films with pornographic nature or violence, all of them due to lack of education. After the 1989, the new generation identity crisis of, manifested by increasing its critical attitude towards public institutions and justified revolt against of some patterns and inclusive education have generated new methods of perception of social reality by young people from the Extended Black Sea,
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resetting a realignment of their values system, norms, motivations and moral and civic attitudes. Young people in the region, unable to adapt to the rules of conduct in society, slide to different risk behaviors: alcohol, drugs, violence, antisocial acts, and even suicidal thoughts. According to the Report of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime published in June 2009, the students aged between 15-16 years from countries which are part of the Wider Black Sea (Bulgaria, Romania, Russia, Ukraine) participants at the research conducted, declared the increases for frequently consumption of drugs. Another conclusion of the same report is that heroin is mainly in the countries surrounding Afghanistan and along the routes to the West Balkan, Turkey, Bulgaria, Serbia and Romania, transitional areas.8 In 2006, Mary McAuley and Kenneth I. Macdonald, in an article titled Russia and youth crime - a Comparative Study,9 have developed a comparative study on public perception about how the State acts vis--vis to juvenile delinquency. In the U.S. public opinion positively assess the court's performance in relation to young people, on the other hand public opinion from Great Britain and Russia (power in the Wider Black Sea, who insisted to maintain influence in different occasions using frozen conflicts as levers to restrict European and transatlantic ambitions of countries involved) is very critical concerning the performance of the courts in relation to young people. From drug to juvenile delinquency step is not large. Parents, other family members, friends, doctors, schools, various non-governmental organizations plays an important role in such situations, by getting involved in trying to help the minor or young person to ask for professional help. Also, the involvement of such young people (of course with specialist supervision required) in various activities would be a way to test the adaptation to the conduct norms in society. Looking for a possible answer to the launched question we consider that it is difficult to protect the Wider Black Sea from juvenile delinquency. There is a impossible mission, the efforts of the non-state actors engaged in maintaining security region must be united, coordinated materialized into common strategies. Awareness of the media, politicians and civil society from the Wider Black Sea concerning the the dangers arising from juvenile delinquency would be a way to prevent and reduce juvenile delinquency cases in the region. 4. Preventing and combating juvenile delinquency in the Extended Black Sea Region Crimes committed by minors raises specific issues of prevention and control, due to many factors which lead to the adoption of criminal behavior by the
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minors easy influenced and receptive to foreign positive or negative stimulation. The growing percentage of the last two decades concerning juvenile delinquency in European countries have called for a reform and harmonization of national criminal policies for the joint European approach and for the fight against crime among juveniles also. The European Parliament resolution of 21 June 2007 on juvenile delinquency: the role of women, the family and society10 it is provides that those causes which motivate them to adopt a juvenile delinquent behavior are difficult to classify in an absolute way, since the development personal, the one that leads to deviant behaviors, and finally, to offenders, in each case is explained by a specific individual context, which corresponds to its own life experiences and core nucleus around which shall be develop each child and teenager, namely: family, school, entourage and socio-economic environment in which they live. Resolution calls on Member States and the European Commission to develop minimum standards and guiding principles in the field of juvenile delinquency common to all Member States which may concentrate on three fundamental pillars represented by: prevention, judicial and extrajudicial measures and rehabilitation, social integration and reintegration based on internationally agreed principles by Beijing Rules and Riyadh principles, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and other international conventions in this field. One of the measures to prevent and combat juvenile delinquency is the implementation in 2007-2013 of specialized programs, such as: Prevention and Fight against Crime, focused mainly on preventing crime and protecting victims; Criminal Justice, which aims to promote judicial cooperation in the criminal field based on mutual recognition and trust, on strengthening of ties and exchange of information between competent national authorities; DAPHNE III on combating violence against children and youth; Youth in Action Programme, whose primary priority is the support of young people with fewer opportunities or less advantaged backgrounds; the actions of European Social Fund and of the Equal for strengthening social integration and combating discrimination and facilitating the access to employment for people less privileged; the program of initiative Urbact which aims the exchange of good practices between European cities in order to ensure a sustainable better environment for residents, and which includes actions aimed at creating a safer urban environment for young people as well as social integration for the young those less favored in order to socialization and participation; Transnational initiative programs such as Safety Net for Children and Youth at Risk, focused on measures to support children and young people
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who are in danger or in terms of social exclusion, programs which can and should participate partners of more Member States; European helpline for missing children, including victims of juvenile delinquency. These measures do not bypass the states of the Wider Black Sea Region; there are necessary projects, activities, etc. to increase the confidence of young people themselves and into the society they belong. The future EU Strategy for the Black Sea region should contribute to the intensification of regional cooperation between countries, increased coordination between regional organizations and proper management of any kind of those resources to help prevent and reduce juvenile delinquency cases. In Romania, member of this region there was an important step towards combating crime at minors by the Law 272/2004 concerning the protection and promotion of child rights. It feels, however, lack of a real strategy for preventing juvenile delinquency, which to guide the efforts of social actors involved, to establish some clear objectives and a concrete plan of action, as well as to grant the necessary resources to implementing the required activities. There are also positive aspects which must be reported, as is the one posed by the creation of probation. Along with the operation of this institution, the judge benefiting by a very useful tool in deciding - presentence evaluation essay, which includes a full description of child personality and behavior and the factors capable to influence the conduct and to which can be identified the most appropriate measure to re-socialization of the child. The new Penal Code (Law nr.286/2009) gives for this organism a more important role in the essay by stipulating the fact that, for evaluation it will provide recommendations concerning the nature and duration of the social reintegration programs as well as the children obligations should be imposed on. Another important function for the probation service is to ensure the supervision of ordered non-custodial measures to assist the minor during their execution. With all efforts made by authorities, according to recent studies, juvenile delinquency in Romania, is a disturbing problem. Some examples reinforce the statement, namely: Institute for Prevention and Psychosociology recorded in 2007, 16,417 cases of juvenile delinquency in Romania, unemployed minors occupying a share of 50-55% in commission of offenses; the opinion poll realized by Bucharest Police in the summer of 2009 show that 54% of students consider that violence is a constant issue, the National Institute of Criminology study conducted during the 2009-2010 school year revealed that most of minors who have reached to court were students at the time of committing crimes (60.34%), and among them 84.3% were ethnic Romanian and 10.69% were Gypsies.11
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5. Conclusions and orientations The Prevention of juvenile delinquency would have to constitute a concern for the management of a company, regardless of the political color of governors. It is necessary to ensure to young people not only some material and spiritual conditions how decent is possible that the individual personality can be shaped, but also a legislative framework which provides the protection of a free social event. Juvenile delinquency is not a foreign phenomenon for the Extended Black Sea Region. The questions that shape the scientific study of juvenile delinquency constitute attempts to define, describe, explain, and respond to delinquent behavior. The International Juvenile Justice Observatory (IJJO) welcome the European Commissions initiative to launch a consultation process on the future priorities of the EU in the area of freedom, security and justice that will result in the adoption of a new year programme- the Stockholm Programme. The mission of the IJJO is to bring an international and integral vision of juvenile justice in order to create a future for minors and young people all over the world who are in situations of exclusion leading to infringements of the law. It contributes to efficient strategies which promote the international development of appropriate policies, legislations and methods of intervention within the context of harmonization of juvenile justice systems all over the world.
REFERENCES 1. Raicu, Carmen (2000), Noun Tentacles. Bucharest: Step by Step Press, 7. 2. Chipil, Ion (2009), General Criminology. Craiova: Sitech Publishing, 313. 3. http://dexonline.ro/definitie/juvenil, accessed on 14 December 2011, at 20.40. 4. Adams, Gerald R., and Michael D. Berzonsky (2009), Psychology of Adolescence. Handbook Blackwell. Iasi: Polirom Publishing House, 550. 5. Ibid., p.551. 6. Ionescu, Mihai E. (ed.) (2009), The Wider Black Sea Region, Theoretical and Practical Delimitations of a Geopolitical Area in the Middle of Redefinition, Bucharest: Military Publishing House, 33. 7. Ibid., 34. 8. http://www.ziare.com/social/capitala/raport-unodc-din-ce-in-ce-mai-multitineri-romani-consuma-droguri-797777, accessed on 15 December 2011, 11.05. 9. The article can be view at: http://bjc.oxfordjournals.org/content/47/1/2.full.pdf+html 10. Available on http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP// TEXT+TA+P6-TA-2007-0283+0+DOC+XML+V0//RO, accessed on 14 December 2011. 11. Data were taken from accessed on 14 December 2011, at 22.45. http:// www.romanialibera.ro/actualitate/educatie/romania-pe-locul-al-doilea-la-violentadin-scoli-188643.html 1061

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