INVOLVEMENT OF MINORS IN ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES: CRIMINOLOGY ANALYSIS OF QUANTITATIVE INDICATORS

Abstract

The article is devoted to the criminological analysis of the quantitative measurement of the reproduction of criminal offenses provided for in Art. 304 of
the Criminal Code of Ukraine. It has been established that over the past ten years
in Ukraine there has been a general trend towards a statistically fixed and very
significant decrease in the studied category of crime. The absolute majority of
criminal offenses committed by minors are not the result of their involvement.
It has been revealed that the rate of decrease in officially registered cases of
involvement of minors in illegal activities is much higher than the rate of decrease
in the level of juvenile crime in general. This is also reflected in the decrease in the
proportion of criminal offenses committed by minors as a result of their
involvement by adults in the general array of criminal offenses of minors. The
average share of criminal offenses provided for in Art. 304 of the Criminal Code of
Ukraine, in relation to the array of those committed by minors or with their
participation, over a ten-year period was 5.1%. It is substantiated that the
discrepancies between the indicators of involvement of minors in illegal activities
and the crime of minors and with their participation in general are partly
explained by objective factors of the so-called "criminal emancipation", as well as
factors of latency of the mechanisms of involvement, which, in particular, are
modified in connection with the virtualization of social practices.
It is established that the percentage of latency of criminal offenses provided
for in Art. 304 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine is approximately 73.2%.