Foreign minors in the italian juvenile justice system

Abstract

The subject of crime committed by foreigners takes on unique characteristics when it refers juvenile delinquency. This article presents both the numerical data and characteristics that define this phenomena. Foreign minors who commit crime represent a diverse universe: unaccompanied minors, first and second generation minors, nomads, EU citizens, and non-EU citizens. While each of these categories follows a different trajectory, they share difficulties ranging from the burden of trying to feel that they are an integral part of the country to exposure to numerous risk factors. At the same time justice system responses, despite some signs of change, still demonstrate the juvenile justice system’s difficulty in dealing with foreign minors.