10,000 suspects – Dramatic increase in child crime

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Worrying development in child crime: the rise of mobile phones and the internet is also causing an explosion in our advertising. In ten years, the number of offenders under the age of 14 has almost doubled.

They are the prisoners of tomorrow: delinquent girls and boys who, because of their age, cannot end up in the dock. The range of crimes is diverse: from cyberbullying to bodily harm or even murder. As in the shocking “Luise case” in Germany. As reported, two classmates lured 12-year-old Luise into a forest path – and after 75 (!) stab wounds, the girl threw the embankment behind her, dying.

25 percent of the ads are about girls
But what is the situation in Austria? The “Krone” did the fact check on child crime. In any case, we are by no means an island of the blessed. An average of almost 29 reports per day from more than 2,000 child victims speak a clear language and set the alarm bells ringing among the experts of homeland security. More figures: In 2013 there were almost 5,600 minors, ten years later, in 2022, more than 10,000 children will be searched by the police, which is almost double.

New forms of crime through mobile phones and computers
After all, a quarter of them – exactly 2522 – girls. Of course, this also has an impact on the general statistics. Every 29th suspect is now under the age of 14.

There are many reasons for this: more violence due to a lack of empathy (see also the interview with renowned forensic psychiatrists below), and ever easier access to computers and mobile phones leads to new forms of crime such as grooming or sexting. In addition, there are sensitized teachers who report violence at school more quickly.

Politicians currently do not want to change the age limit of 14 years for a verdict…

In any case, the conclusion of the youth psychologists is almost identical between Vorarlberg and Burgenland: On the one hand, the children are under constant stress from environmental influences, on the other hand, the parents are often increasingly overwhelmed by the situation . There would be only two sides to education: the overprotection or the complete withdrawal of the legal guardians.

The country has recently been rocked by the Halloween riots in Linz or the New Year’s Eve riots in Vienna by underage gangs – often with a migrant background and from social hotspots in local cities.

Also increasing abnormal offenders among teens
And what about the law from 14 years old? According to the Ministry of Justice, there were 563 convictions of child suspects by national courts in the previous year alone. Some 90 “dairy boy offenders” are even in the so-called prison for the mentally disturbed. Admittedly, lawyers are quite critical of jail time because young people behind bars face crime everywhere.

But it is also important to look at the victims themselves: the number of child victims rose – after a pandemic decline – as did that of young suspects. From cyberbullying to naked violence…

“Empathy gets under the wheels”
Forensic psychiatrist Univ.-Prof. Reinhard Haller analyzes why children become criminals.

“crown”:prof. Haller, as a forensic psychiatrist, do you notice an increase in criminal offenses among children and young people?
Reinhard Haller: I do believe that this is the case and cannot be observed only in isolated cases. This also has to do with the fact that the age of maturation is much earlier nowadays. The age at which girls and boys start puberty has been falling continuously in recent years. In addition, a lot of aggressiveness does not go away due to the increasing lack of exercise. This lack of outlet then manifests itself in the form of crime.

What role do parents and schools play in this development?
The loss of family relationships has increased. Children are much more left to themselves. You must see that. This promotes such negative developments. It is essential to ensure that young people are given attention and tenderness when they are all very short on time. It is therefore important to start with education and also place more value in school on promoting empathy, which is increasingly neglected.

What do you think about lowering the age of criminal liability?
In my opinion, crime should have some sort of impact on 10-14 year olds. There should be controlled pedagogical measures here, not immediate prison sentences, but therapeutic sanctions.

Source: Krone

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