Problemos, susijusios su jaunų buvusių pažeidėjų reintegracija Estijoje

Based on 22 semi-structured interviews with 24 young ex-offenders in Estonia, this article looks at the effect that stigmatization has on the reintegration of young ex-offenders. The study looks at to what extent and in which domains ex-offenders experience stigma, how they manage it, and what effect it has on social participation and involvement. The results indicate that young ex-offenders experience stigma while looking for jobs and accommodation and when interacting with the criminal justice system. The strategies for managing stigma mostly include secrecy and withdrawal. These strategies are closely related to self-stigmatization, low societal participation, and a low level of trust toward state institutions.Remiantis 22 pusiau struktūruotais interviu su 24 jaunais buvusiais pažeidėjais Estijoje, straipsnyje analizuojama, kokį poveikį jaunų buvusių pažeidėjų reintegracijai turi stigmatizacija. Studijoje nagrinėjama, kokiu mastu ir kokiose srityse buvę pažeidėjai yra stigmatizuojami, kaip jie su tuo susidoroja ir kokį poveikį tai turi jų socialiniam gyvenimui ir įtraukčiai. Rezultatai rodo, kad jauni buvę pažeidėjai jaučia stigmatizacijos poveikį ieškodami darbo ir gyvenamojo būsto, taip pat susidurdami su kriminalinės juticijos sistema. Pagrindinės strategijos, padedančios susidoroti su stigma – slaptumas ir atsitraukimas. Šios strategijos glaudžiai susijusios su savo pačių stigmatizacija, žemu socialinio dalyvavimo lygiu ir mažu pasitikėjimu valstybės institucijomis

Children’s Rights and the Juvenile Justice System in Estonia

Approaching from the UN Convention of the Right of the Child (UNCRC) and the principle of best interest of the child is mandatory in all decision-makings in all EU countries. However, we can see notable contradictions between the articles of UNCRC, the best interest principle and the practice of juvenile justice systems almost in every EU member state. International organisations and national states make efforts to cross the contradictions and to guarantee the rights stated in the UNCRC. In this paper, we present some attempts to enhance the juvenile justice systems while focusing on Estonian case. Participation in two international action research projects enables authors to give an overview about the situation how the rights of Estonian children in detention are followed and what are the main tendencies in everyday practice

Dear reader,

The 29th Baltic Criminological Seminar, organised by the Faculty of Law of the University of Tartu, took place in Tallinn on 16–18 June 2016. This year, the seminar celebrates its 30th year, continuing a tradition begun in 1987 by what was then the Laboratory of the Sociology of Deviant Behaviour at the University of Tartu. The series of annual criminological seminars was initiated by our close colleague Dr Eduard Raska (1944–2008), who was director of the laboratory at that time. Originally, the event brought together social scientists from the Baltic States, Saint Petersburg, and Moscow in efforts to create an alternative, even competing, paradigm to that of Soviet orthodox criminology. Later, the seminar expanded in scope, and it now draws international participants from not only the Baltic region but all over the world. The Baltic Criminological Seminar has become a scientific enterprise that is highly valued by specialists in the field of crime research and control as an arena for presentation of novel ideas and approaches. The title of this year’s seminar and collection of papers, ‘Crime, Culture, and Social Control’, was not chosen arbitrarily. Amidst globalisation and cross-cultural exposure, new forms of crime are emerging that require new means of control. Furthermore, criminology should be able to identify and monitor the social changes, in order to find alternatives to today’s dominant, West-centred approaches. Thirdly, in addition to following this ‘cultural turn’, responsible criminology must deal with new social dangers and harms that are emerging from combinations of criminality, psychopathology, and economic and military factors. Thereby, the ways of the past – positivistic precise categorisation of forms of deviance and their study – can be replaced with a holistic approach that brings synthesis. The articles in this volume of Juridica International address developments and tendencies in crime and crime control in various countries. Some articles offer theoretical investigation of the above-mentioned problems; others present results of empirical research. Most of the journal articles elaborate upon material presented at the seminar, in addition to which there are some authors who could not attend the seminar but were able to contribute to this issue. We would like to thank all the authors and those reviewing and language-editing the articles for their work, which has resulted in a publication of high scientific quality. Finally, we are very thankful to the university’s Faculty of Social Science and School of Law for their financial support for organising the seminar and publishing this volume.  The seminar and this issue of Juridica International are further proof, should any be needed, that the University of Tartu is an excellent place for holding international scientific events and meetings for the exchange of ideas and experience in the field of crime control. The tradition of the Baltic Criminological Seminar has stood the test of time, weathering the many changes that the region has experienced over the last 30 years. It is clear that analysis of crime that knows no borders requires ongoing in-depth international scientific co-operation, and with the current issue we aspire to respond to this need

The Effect of Family Factors on Intense Alcohol Use among European Adolescents: A Multilevel Analysis

In Europe use of alcohol by adolescents is a large and increasing problem. The aim of this study is to examine the effects of family factors such as structure, social control, affluence, and negative life events on adolescents' risky alcohol use. Data on alcohol use and family factors were obtained from the International Self-Report Delinquency Study (ISRD-2). Using multilevel analysis, it was found that overall, complete family and high social control by parents were lowering the intense alcohol use whereas negative life events in the family and high family affluence were increasing youngsters' intense alcohol use. Differences between regions of Europe were present for all family factors except affluence. Namely, in Northern Europe the impact of family structure and social control on intense alcohol use was stronger than that in other regions (e.g., Western Europe, Mediterranean, and Postsocialist countries). Also, in Northern Europe where the proportion of adolescents who have not experienced negative life events is the highest, the impact of negative life events on intense alcohol use was stronger; that is, negative life events increased the alcohol use. We conclude that family plays a significant role in adolescents' risky alcohol use

Interim Project Report

The project reported here is a three country project, Estonia, Finland and the UK. It is funded by the European Commission AGIS Programme, The Directorate General Justice, Freedom and Security. It investigates the issues of corruption by organised crime in relation to border controls and immigration using as a case study the Finnish - Russian and the Estonian - Russian border, the methods of illegal facilitation of people across borders, the role of crime groups and networks as well as organised crime and the relationship between illegal facilitation and exploitation in the labour market

Organised crime, corruption and the movement of people across borders in the new enlarged EU: A case study of Estonia, Finland and the UK

The project reported here is a three-country project, Estonia, Finland and the UK. It is funded by the European Commission AGIS Programme, The Directorate General Justice, Freedom and Security. It investigates the issues of corruption by organised crime in relation to border controls and immigration using as a case study the Finnish-Russian and the Estonian-Russian border. It also considers the methods of facilitation of people across borders, the role of crime groups and networks as well as organised crime and the relationship between illegal facilitation and exploitation in the labour market. The aim of the research was to investigate whether at border points there was evidence of corruption of officials in order to facilitate people across the border illegally. The issue of organised crime was identified as an important factor in understanding how people might be moved across borders illegally. If there was evidence of organised crime it would suggest that transnational networks between organised crime groups might exist and that there are strategic forms of communication between the organised crime groups in order to facilitate the maximisation of profit through the movement of people. If such an influence of organised crime in ‘immigration crime’ were to be discovered then it would indicate that EU borders are porous and therefore readily exploited by organised crime groups. In Finland, particular attention was given to the issues concerning the ‘Development Plan of Border Guards’ and the planned cooperation in relation to Organised Crime and Combating Corruption. The contention was that the EU border with Russia is ‘weak’ and vulnerable to corruption at different levels: systemic, institutional and individual. Our argument was that corruption is used to maintain the flow of people across the border illegitimately by utilising existing legitimate channels. It was the Finnish view that organised crime groups used the Finnish – Russian and the Russian – Estonian borders to bring in illegal immigrants into the EU. Consequently the project was designed to take account of organised immigration crime and so was required to address the issue of human trafficking along with people smuggling and facilitation of people across borders. This raised a number of definitional issues and highlighted the varying perspectives between academic approaches to the problem and those of senior policy makers and operational staff