Social factors of causality of juvenile crime in Lithuania

The article analyses the most essential social factors that determine reasons for juvenile crime. Following the results of the research conducted in Kaunas Juvenile Remand Prison and Correction House, the main social and reasons that determine the juvenile violations of law were identified. These factors are important from legal and sociopedagogical point of view. The legal aspect is relevant because the court, interpreting juvenile criminal acts, handing down convictions and pronouncing an appropriate sentence to a juvenile, has to consider his/her living and education conditions, health situation and social maturity, the surrounding environment, his/her own characteristics and those of close to him/her people . Such position is provided for in international legal acts that contain mandatory or recommendable provisions in the sphere of criminal law: “the background and circumstances in which the juvenile is living or the conditions under which the offence has been committed shall be properly investigated “. Thus, an increasingly bigger attention is paid not only to the commitment of a criminal act but also to investigation of causality of this act. In terms of sociopedagogy, the analysis of social factors may contribute to complex solutions to juvenile crime prevention and to involvement of all participants of education process, school community: educators, school administration, social educators, psychologists, law enforcement officials, parents and children themselves