Italy study links minor migration reception quality to criminality risk

Marina Terragni, the Italian Authority for Children and Adolescents, has released findings from a study titled ‘Unaccompanied foreign minors: reception and risk of criminality’. The report, conducted by the Psychoanalytic Institute for Social Research (IPRS), examines the relationship between the reception of unaccompanied foreign minors and their risk of entering the criminal justice system.

The research highlights that while there is a high number of unaccompanied foreign minors in the juvenile justice system, which causes social alarm, the causes are complex. The study suggests that the experiences occurring before and during the journey to Italy, rather than the minors themselves, are the primary factors exposing them to marginalization and deviance.

Analyzing 80 male minors currently in the juvenile criminal circuit—primarily from Tunisia and Egypt—the study emphasizes that the quality of reception can significantly influence a minor's trajectory. Terragni argues that municipalities must play a central role in the protection network, ensuring continuity in care and coordinating local interventions to prevent social exclusion.