According to the 2001 South African census, about 35% fo the South African population can be classified as youths, that is, below the age of 35 years, while 22% is below 20 years of age (Statistics South Africa, 2003). Schönteich (1999:22) emphasises that South Africa faces some serious challenges because of the high proportion of young people in the population. Reffering to criminal behaviour in particular, he suggests that juveniles and young adults commit crimes "...far in excess of their proportion of the general population", and that these rates seem to be similar all over the world. He also points to conviction rates that show that young males in South Africa are at greater risk of being convicted for a wide range of crimes that older males or females of any age group
