Characteristics of young offenders depending on the type of crime

Abstract

The aim of this study is to define a profile of juvenile offenders depending on the type of crime (againstproperty or against persons), according to several socio?demographic variables, and a number of indicatorsof juvenile risk. Participants were 395 adolescents between the ages of 14 and 18 with a criminal record inthe juvenile court over a two-year follow-up period. Results showed that in property-related offences theoffender is more likely to be male, from an Eastern European country, and with inconsistent parenting. Onthe other hand, crimes against persons would be committed mostly by girls, Latin American or Africanjuveniles, and with individual factors such as aggressive behaviour, outbursts of anger, poor frustrationtolerance, or little concern for others. These results may be useful in designing crime prevention andoffender intervention programmes.