CRIMINAL ANALYSIS OF WAYS OF INVOLVING MINORS IN ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES: FROM TRADITIONAL PRACTICES TO CYBERCRIME

Abstract

The article is devoted to the main ways of involving minors in illegal
activities, in drunkenness, in begging, in gambling. Emphasis is placed on the
possibility of their conditional division into two groups: those related and those
not related to the use of violence or the threat of its use. Attention is focused on
the choice by the offender of predominantly non-violent methods of involvement
due to the peculiarities of the child's psyche, the ability to suggestibility, and
vulnerability to negative influence from adults. It has been determined that the
most common method of involvement in illegal activity is a proposal to commit a
criminal offense, combined with psychological influence on a minor in order to
arouse in him a conscious desire to engage in illegal activity.
The active involvement of minors in criminal practices using the Internet,
social networks, messengers and other online communication tools is
emphasized. It has been established that this type of activity has become most
widespread in connection with active military operations on the territory of
Ukraine and the involvement of minors in politically motivated crimes related to
intelligence, sabotage, terrorist and propaganda activities.
The importance of studying the method of committing the involvement of
minors in illegal activities as an interdisciplinary category studied within the
framework of criminal law, forensics, criminology, operational and investigative
activities, and legal psychology, as a basis for the formation of theoretical and
practical recommendations for timely detection, high-quality investigation,
effective prevention, and counteraction to the involvement of minors in illegal
activities, is summarized.