Youngsters Will Seriously Injure, Rape, Humiliate

Last year there was 30% more inflicting of injuries by minors than 2007, and there were drastic examples by 12 and 15 year olds.

The newspapers are becoming more and more filled with news that young underage people, or even children are the perpetrators of criminal acts. As we find out from Lana Peto-Kujundzic, a judge for minors at the Zagreb County Court, in recent years there has been a great increase in minors and children that have committed offenses with elements of violence.

“Even though we cannot say that juvenile delinquency has risen in recent years, meaning the number of armed robberies and similar offenses, it is sad that the number of violent offenses are growing, which is concerning” said judge Peto-Kujundzic.

Also, she added, society should be especially concerned because according to the research by the State Attorney’s Office, 30 percent of minors that commit offenses continue to do so in adulthood, especially in the period when they are legally classified as younger adults.

“Here offenses with elements of violence are in question again, whether it be violent armed robbery, or inflicting bodily harm” said Peto-Kujundzic.

Dr. Gordana Buljan-Flander from the clinic for protecting children in Zagreb, says a reason for violence amongst children and minors is the lack of empathy with children, which was not developed whilst growing up.

“Children are not born violent, but they become so due to various causes. Maybe during growing up in their family they did not experience closeness to their parents, or did not get enough attention, support and love. In those cases, the children do not develop empathy, so when they enter a conflict, they hit somebody and similar, the suffering of their peers does not stop them” says dr. Buljan-Flander, and explained that a person that has not developed empathy does not stop other people’s pain.

As dr. Buljan-Flander says, in her long career she often asked if it was possible that violent children do not regret their actions, but due to the lack of empathy and regret, in those cases it is missing.

“If you have a child that grows up in violent surroundings, and all children live in such surroundings today, then imitate the behaviour of grownups and create values that are imposed either in their family or through the media. You can say that they identify with violent heroes and imitate them through their acts” says dr. Buljan-Flander.

Also, she added, one important fact must not be forgotten, and that is that today’s children are wartime and post-war children, who were subject to various stress and family problems since birth.

Children are not born violent, but they become so due to various causes. Maybe during growing up in their family they did not experience closeness to their parents, or did not get enough attention, support and love. In those cases, the children do not develop empathy, so when they enter a conflict, they hit somebody and similar, the suffering of their peers does not stop them

Dr. Gordana Buljan-Flander

“The time that they were born in was very hard, their parents were unemployed and could not dedicate themselves to their children. However, we should never give up on those children, but we should work on helping them, as well as their victims, so that they do not grow up to become violent. It is important to start with prevention in year one or two of primary school. The cases of children and minors committing offenses that we face today are simply screaming for us to work on prevention” concluded dr. Buljan-Flander.

Judge Peto-Kujundzic agreed with this, saying that prevention should start in kindergarten, at the local level.

“Lets see where, in which suburb, neighbourhood, place where the largest number of these cases are, and open some sort of advice centre for them. The practice in some other countries says that it is possible to even change the behavioural pattern for adults, that they can learn to solve disputes peacefully, and according to that children should learn something even easier, and not leave them to the streets” says the judge for juveniles.

She stresses that a large number of offenses committed by children and minors are a mirror to the parents’ lack of care, and evidence that society has failed. As she says, when children growing up without their parents’ care is in question, society should provide some sort of social program with various sports and other activities that would move children from the street where they learn violence.

“The battle should definitely be started immediately, or we will get children who act like violent grownups. We should not forget that today children grow up in families where their parents suffer from PTSD who have violent episodes themselves, or are raised by people who cannot even take care of themselves. A young person is emotionally very unstable and every bad situation in them provokes rage that they do not know how to control, but if we show them how to avoid violence, we have gained a good youngster. This is why the institutions should work on prevention, and as I said, act immediately” stressed judge Peto-Kujundzic.

Remember, in the last few weeks the public has been disgusted by news about youth gangs that have committed a large number  of armed robberies, especially the case of a 12 year old who, instead of playing with lego blocks, took a gas gun and sewed fear in Karlovac’s stores and betting outlets. Nearly at the same time a gang of minors from Sibenik fell, which was led by a monstrous 15 year old. Besides a large number of armed robberies, the minor is being charged with brutally beating a person from the centre for education “Subicevac”, and forcing her to do sexual acts at the bus station in Sibenik.

First he intercepted her with his friends and tried to talk her into and for her into offering her oral sex with a ten kuna note. The statistics from the Ministry of Internal affairs shows how bad the situation is. In 2007, minors committed 4,068 offenses, of which most were serious theft with 1,375 cases, then the abuse of drugs with 402 cases, and inflicting bodily harm with 266 recorded cases.

There were slightly less cases in 2008, 3,869 of them, where the same offenses are represented, in a somewhat reduced number, even though the number of cases where bodily harm was inflicted rose to 326 cases.

In 2007 and 2008 two murders were recorded, nine rape cases as well as three attempted rapes, and 32 cases of intercourse with children. The statistics of offenses committed by children is not any better. In 2007 children committed 907 offenses, whilst in 2008 they committed three more, or 910. It is sad that the same offenses are in question, them being theft and inflicting bodily harm.