Delinquent Behaviour of Young People in Lithuania: What Does the New Delinquency and Victimisation Study Reveal?

Abstract

The article is based on the data of the International Quantitative Study of Youth Delinquency and Victimization ISRD, which was conducted in Lithuania in 2006, 2013 and 2022. It analyses the property-oriented and violent delinquent behaviour of Lithuanian juveniles who were born after 1990s. The authors raise the questions (1) how the dynamics of this kind of delinquent behaviour has changed through the three age cohorts, born in 1991–1993, 1998–2000 and 2007–2009, (2) to what extent it corresponds to the trends of registered juvenile delinquency and (3) to what extent gender remains as a differentiating factor in delinquent behaviour. The study results revealed differences in delinquent behaviour between the three age cohorts. Also, the latest study showed that in the age cohort born in 2007–2009 delinquent behaviour is equally characteristic of both genders and, in general, juvenile delinquency has drifted from violent to property-oriented infringements.