This report presents the results of a unique study conducted in six new EU member states that joined the European Union in 2004. Five former eastern European countries: the Czech Republic, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovenia, and Cyprus, a southern European country and a former British colony in the eastern Mediterranean. Often little is known about the prevalence of youth delinquency in these countries, let alone in a trans-national comparison. In this study we examined the variability in patterns of self-reported youth delinquency behaviour and the relative ranking of the prevalence of different types of juvenile delinquency. We also tested whether a number of sociological and criminological theories on the prevalence and occurrence of youth delinquency are valid in these six countries.
This report is based on the data collected in six capital cities from students aged 13 to 15. The EU DAPHNE Programme has contributed to the research in the six new member states.
The findings provide support for Hirschis control theory, provide invaluable comparison data for repeat surveys in the countries concerned, emphasise the importance of a youth bonding with family, school and the local community and can be the basis for delinquency-prevention intervention programmes by the authorities in the five countries