Youth delinquency in Greece
GIANNOPOULOU I., TSOBANOGLOU G.

The rapid increase in youth delinquency rates in Europe during the past two decades has been the focus of interest by many professionals, policy makers, the general public and of course the media. In this paper we are attempting to describe and analyze the situation in Greece.

Firstly, we attempt to chart youth delinquency rates over the last two decades in Greece, using data from the National Statistical Bureau, the Police and the Juvenile Court in Athens records. In contrast to the rapid increase observed in other O.E.C.D. countries, the Greek data suggests a slight increase in the official figures of offending behaviour over the past twenty years (from 12.9% in 1990 to 16.7% in 1999). The proportion of young people (under 21 years of age) convicted in Greece was less than 14% in 1993 as compared to 46% in the United Kingdom. Regarding the pattern of offending behaviour, the vast majority (about 70%) are traffic violations, followed by offences of criminal damage to property and thefts, which account for 20% and a further 2-10% concerning violent acts against others. The overall trend for armed robbery, serious bodily harm including rape and murder has been stable remaining at a rather low level (e.g. at 0.8% in 1995 as a percentage of all youth crimes recorded). Interestingly enough, however, self-reported surveys of delinquent behaviour in Greece indicate higher rates of such behaviour than the rates registered in the official records. They also indicate a developing trend in delinquent acts being carried out in small "gangs", although this has not been confirmed by official records, according to which the majority of offences (83.7%) are being carried out by one youth only. It is worth noting, however, the increase in illicit drug use among Greek youth, the prevalence of which has reached the European average level.

Secondly, we are describing the way the Greek Juvenile Justice System has been dealing with young offenders before the enactment of new legislation in 2003. In this focus we took under consideration the relevant social rehabilitation and other related services in place for managing young delinquents. The analysis clearly indicates weaknesses in the formal organizational framework, which had resulted in a rather formal legalistic and punitive rather than rehabilitative way of "managing" young delinquents up to now.

Thirdly, we proceed to the discussion of the key, to our view, aspects of the recent legislative changes in the Greek Juvenile Justice regime. It appears that these new amendments in law reflect a rather drastic shift from the punitive emphasis, dominant up to now, to the social welfare perspective, i.e. shift towards prevention, rehabilitation, training and the general social integration of all young offenders. It appears that this shift will represent a harmonisation of Greek policies with the current dominant social rehabilitation policies for young offenders in practice in other European Union member States. We undersatnd that this shift is fundamental and in line with similar policies for social integration and other mainstreaming practices focusing on youth, marginals and others. This radical shift represents a cardinal challenge for Greek Social Institutions. There are many difficulties in implementing this new policy, based on "educative or therapeutic measures", which are due to the relative lack of professional expertise, e.g. lack of formal training in child and adolescent forensic psychiatry/psychology, lack of adequate funds and most importantly the lack of a network of alternative to custodial provision services both at the governmental and private/ voluntary levels.

Fourthly, we review the evidence-based treatments for young offenders, with a particular reference to non-custodial Multisystemic Therapy (MST) developed by Henggeler and practiced with success in other European States and the U.S.A.

Finally, taking into account the main points from our overall review we are proposing measures priority actions that need to be put into practice in order to help Greek young people at risk.

Key words: Child, adolescent, young adult, delinquency, juvenile justice, therapy, intervention.