Project
Centre for the Prevention of Youth Crime
Term: 01.07.1997 - 30.06.2024
Short-URL: www.dji.de/youthcrime
Set up in 1997, the Centre for the Prevention of Youth Crime provides professionals, politicians, media, researchers and those engaged in education and training with information about the concepts, strategies and practices of youth crime prevention. The various approaches to crime prevention currently followed by the Child and Youth services, schools, police and justice are conceptually compared, examined in terms of their prerequisites and the conditions of their success, described with regard to their target groups and overall aims and – as far as possible – evaluated.
Main activities and central perspectives of our research
- Collecting and analyzing data/information on practical experiences of various approaches of crime prevention for children and young people
- Collecting, processing and analyzing data on delinquency and victimization of children and young people in Germany
- Providing advice and consulting services to professionals and politicians
Current topics
- Risks of criminalization and victimization in the context of cybercrime
- Evaluation of crime prevention
- Custodial placement within youth services
- Help for young victims of crime
- Cooperative networks for multiple offenders
Permanent topics
- Surveys on juvenile courts and juvenile court welfare services (Jugendgerichtsbarometer/Jugendgerichtshilfebarometer)
- Monitoring of networks and multiprofessional collaboration and its structure
- Monitoring of legislative amendments/changes on national and federal state level
- Cooperation project: Youth Service in criminal proceedings (Jugend(hilfe) im Strafverfahren)
Publications/Format
- Factsheet
- Booklet
- Website
- Research paper
- Presentations
For more details see the German website
Evaluation of crime prevention: Two articles now available in English
We are pleased to provide you the following articles:
- The logical model as an instrument of evaluation in child an juvenile crime prevention by Annalena Yngorn and Sabrina Hoops. Please follow this link to download (for free).
- Prevention of Delinquency in childhood and adolescence – a complex subject for evaluations by Thomas A. Fischer, Bernd Holthusen, Annemarie Schmoll and Diana Willems. Please follow this link to download (for free).
The articles were first published in 2018 in German within the following publication: M. Walsh, B. Pniewski, M. Kober & A. Armborst (eds.): Evidenzorientierte Kriminalprävention in Deutschland. Ein Leitfaden für Politik und Praxis (pp. 289-312). Wiesbaden: Springer VS.
Youth Crime Prevention in Germany
In recent years a number of innovative strategies have been developed and tested in Germany in connection with preventing crime among children and young people.
As in many other countries, crime among the younger members of society has become a subject of intense public debate in Germany, and the question ‘what can be done about it?’ will continue to occupy all those active in the youth services, the police, the legal system and education. The major issues to be addressed are: How can cooperation between institutions be improved? How can a systematic exchange of ideas and experiences be promoted? How can the effectiveness of provisions and measures be evaluated? How can experience gained in other countries best be applied in Germany?
Support for Young Victims of Crime: a comparison
With Sara Thunberg (Örebro University, Sweden) Diana Willems, Annemarie Schmoll and Annalena Yngborn published a text in the European Journal of Criminology. It compares the support to young victims of crime in Sweden and Germany to see what can be learned between the countries regarding, for example, the organization and specialization.
A critical perspective: Children and young people as so-called “intensive offenders”
Here is a text, written by Bernd Holthusen, that describes the concept of the “intensive offender” and the way child and youth services, the police and the justice system deal with this group of children and young people in Germany.
An overview: Child and youth services in terms of crime prevention
Research project: Pathways to delinquency in between Youth Services and Justice
The project ‚Pathways to delinquency in between Youth Services and Justice‘ (2011-2014) focused violent male juveniles as addressee of Youth Services and Justice in Germany.
final report (in German)
A Report: Strategies of Violence Prevention
With their Decision dated 26th June 2003, the Head of the State Governments (henceforth MPK) re-emphasised that following the dreadful events at the Gutenberg Gymnasium in Erfurt, the entire social alliance for the rejection of violence and its glorification must be supported at the highest political levels.
more Informations
Interested to get in contact with the Centre for the Prevention of Youth Crime?
If you are interested in knowledge exchange or cooperation, please don't hesitate to contact us. We
- provide information on approaches to youth crime prevention
- promote the exchange of knowledge among institutions and individuals involved in youth crime prevention
- promote the establishment of quality controls
- propose innovative projects and implementing them for a limited length of time
- assist in the evaluation of strategies
- assist in research on topics dealing with the prevention of youth crime
- establish contacts and exchanges on an international basis among researchers and those active in prevention work
- produce publications and other forms of documentation, including a website
