Juvenile crime as a symptom of educational poverty, youth gangs and gaps in the law in a system that punishes more than it rehabilitates
Abstract: Juvenile crime in marginal urban contexts is not only the result of socioeconomic hardship, but the sign of a systemic failure: on one side, the absence of educational structures, real opportunities and community networks; on the other, a legal system – national and international – which, although formally based on principles of protection and rehabilitation, still often favours punitive logics. The rules of the CRC, the ECHR and Italian juvenile legislation struggle to translate into effective and uniform practices. The phenomena of baby gangs, youth subcultures and maranza express a search for identity in contexts with no future. The article calls for a rethinking in terms of restorative justice, educating communities and early alternative measures as the only way to break the spiral of deviance and give young people real opportunities for growth and social belonging.
Keywords: #JuvenileCrime #SuspendedGenerations #YouthDeviance #BabyGang #YouthSubcultures #Maranza #UrbanPeripheries #MarginalUrbanContexts #EducationalPoverty #SocialHardship #LackOfFuture #JuvenileJustice #InternationalLegalSystem #ChildrensRights #ConventionOnTheRightsOfTheChild #ECHR #RestorativeJustice #AlternativeMeasures #SocialInclusion #EducatingCommunity #JuvenileReintegration #CristinaDiSilvio #AnnalisaImparato #EthicaSocietas #EthicaSocietasJournal #ScientificJournal #SocialSciences #ethicasocietasupli
Annalisa Imparato: Deputy Public Prosecutor at the Santa Maria Capua Vetere Court; legal advisor to the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry on Ecomafia of the Chamber of Deputies; legal advisor to the Ministry of Defence; lecturer at the CASD and the COVI; listed by Fortune Italia among the “Most Powerful Women 2024”. LinkedIn Profile
Juvenile crime is not only the product of disadvantaged socioeconomic contexts, but also reflects a systemic failure of the legal system which, too often, instead of responding to the specific vulnerabilities of minors, perpetuates forms of exclusion and marginalisation.
International regulations, although broad and theoretically advanced, do not always manage to guarantee effective protection for minors involved in criminal activities, favouring punitive rather than rehabilitative approaches. This orientation contributes to reinforcing the cycle of recidivism and social disintegration.
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC, 1989) is the cornerstone of case law on the rights of minors, requiring that they be treated in a manner consistent with their age and stage of development.
Article 40 states that legal measures must be aimed at re-education and reintegration, not mere punishment.
At European level, the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR, 1950) guarantees every individual, including minors, the right to a fair and public trial (Art. 6) and prohibits inhuman penalties, torture and the death penalty (Art. 4).
However, the disparity among Member States in the application of these principles highlights the structural inadequacy of juvenile justice policies and the need for a more uniform and binding implementation.
In Italy, Law 448/1988, which established the Juvenile Criminal Code, provides for alternatives to detention, in line with international guidelines, but its implementation is often limited by a lack of resources and inadequate facilities.
Despite Article 27 of the Italian Constitution, which states that punishment must be aimed at re-education, and Law 1815/1962, the system continues to favour detention over more effective forms of social reintegration.
Law 62/2011 attempted to improve the educational treatment of minors in conflict with the law, but critical issues remain due to a lack of funding and weak cooperation between institutions.
At international level, the Palermo Protocol on trafficking in minors and the Hague Convention (1993) on the protection of minors from abuse and exploitation represent fundamental legal instruments, but their effectiveness is limited by the lack of cooperation between States and widespread impunity.
UN Security Council Resolution 1612 prohibits the recruitment of minors in armed conflicts, but its implementation depends heavily on the political will of States.
The Optional Protocol to the CRC (2000), dedicated to the protection of minors in armed conflict, represents a significant regulatory step forward, but in many areas protection remains more theoretical than real.
A structural reform of legal policies oriented towards a model of restorative justice is therefore urgent.
This approach, already adopted in several EU States, aims at re-education and social reintegration rather than mere conviction.
Educational communities supported by inclusive public policies and dedicated resources are essential to ensure the reintegration of young people.
Only a cohesive legal system, capable of integrating national and international norms, will be able to effectively protect minors from exploitation and violence.
In recent years, Italian news reports have highlighted an increase in cases of juvenile crime, often linked to phenomena of youth deviance rooted in contexts marked by economic marginalisation, early school leaving and a lack of social opportunities.
In peripheral neighbourhoods and degraded urban areas, the absence of adequate educational services, the fragility of family networks and the presence of entrenched criminal role models favour the early entry of young people into delinquent circuits.
Participation in local gangs or baby gangs is not only an individual choice, but also a form of recognition and belonging, where crime becomes an identity language and a response to the lack of alternatives.
Recent cases confirm this: in Caivano (2023), youth groups exposed social degradation and the absence of educational facilities [RAI News, 2023]; in Naples, episodes of stabbings and robberies among minors highlighted the spread of baby gangs [Il Mattino, 2024]; in Milan, in Via Melegnano, violence among adolescents showed how the phenomenon also affects large cities in the North [Corriere della Sera, 2024].
The term maranza refers to young people identifiable by group codes, ostentatious aesthetics and an identity linked to trap music, fashion and social media [Accademia della Crusca, 2023; Treccani, 2023], a hybrid subculture in which different paths coexist: on the one hand the normality of school and sport, on the other risky behaviour and petty crime.
The most recent data confirm an increase in minors reported for street crimes in the last two years, with post-pandemic growth especially in the metropolitan areas of the North [Ministry of the Interior, 2024; TGCOM24, 2025; Eurocomunicazione, 2025].
In Lombardy, restrictive measures for robbery and assault demonstrate the attention of juvenile prosecutors’ offices and a preference for community or home measures, in line with educational principles [EspansioneTV, 2025].
The most effective interventions are based on three main pillars:
– extended school and educational presence, with guidance, tutoring and workshop-based teaching;
– community spaces and low-cost sports or cultural activities co-designed with young people;
– restorative justice and early alternative measures, with legal tutors and street mediators.
The goal is to neutralise the identity function of the deviant group by offering positive forms of belonging and opportunities for social recognition.
Juvenile crime cannot be reduced to mere individual deviance, but must be interpreted as a collective response to a fragmented social fabric, where the absence of solid educational institutions and concrete prospects generates a widespread sense of generational abandonment.
Our collective responsibility is to guarantee pathways of reintegration and real opportunities for growth, restoring to young people the possibility of choosing the road of life, not that of mere survival.
As Edoardo De Filippo used to say, “Fuitevenne” – not as an invitation to run away, but as a call to break free from a system that suffocates dreams and prevents young people from growing.
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