“Is Juvenile Delinquency in Lithuania Increasing because of the Bad Influence of the West”? Punitive Attitudes of the Lithuanian Population towards Juvenile Offenders

Abstract

This article aims to assess the Lithuanian population’s punitive attitudes towards juvenile delinquents, to discuss them from the perspective of authoritarianism and to connect them to Lithuania’s communist past. This study was a cross-sectional population-based study, administered in 2021. Multistage stratified sampling techniques were used to create a representative sample of 1,508 Lithuanian residents aged eighteen years and older. A measurement of attitudes was created by the authors based on the ideas about the tripartite attitude structure: measuring multiple attributes from the areas of affect (feelings towards juvenile offenders), cognition (explanations of the causes of juvenile offending), and action (measures for reduction of juvenile delinquency). The study revealed that almost half of Lithuanians hold punitive attitudes towards juvenile delinquents. These punitive attitudes correlate with negative feelings towards juvenile delinquents related to common stereotypes and inaccurate explanations of the causes of juvenile delinquency. Punitiveness was also connected with fears of “bad” Western influences such as the perceived overvaluing of children’s rights and disapproval of violence against children and authoritarian parenting. The statement “Is juvenile delinquency in Lithuania increasing because of the bad influence of the West” divided the Lithuanian population into two almost equal groups: “Pro-Westerners” and “Anti-Westerners.” “Anti-Westerners” were more likely to hold authoritarian views, while “Anti-Western” attitudes were more prevalent among older, less-educated, and lower-income citizens.