No Shifting of Responsibility in Addressing Peer Violence and Juvenile Delinquency
Podgorica, 23 March 2026
A sound systemic response to peer violence and juvenile delinquency must be swift, but not panicked. It must protect the victim, while also working with the perpetrator. It must involve the school, the family, the social welfare centre, the healthcare system, the police when necessary, and the local community. The worst outcome is when each actor shifts responsibility onto someone else. It is precisely then that the child is left caught between growing risks and an absent response, it was stated today at the first panel of the conference “Between Risks and Responses: Preventing Peer Violence and Juvenile Delinquency”, organised by the Centre for Civic Education (CCE) within the project “SRCE: Supporting the Empowerment and Resilience of Young People Today”, which it is implementing in partnership with the Regional Academy for Democratic Development (ADD), with the support of the EU Delegation to Montenegro and co-financing from the Ministry of Public Administration.
“This project emerged from the need to act before the consequences become severe, through a responsible and systemic approach. Peer violence and juvenile delinquency are serious social problems that require coordinated action by institutions, the community, and young people,” said Miloš Knežević, Development Coordinator at the Centre for Civic Education, also noting that the research findings serve as a warning that there is no room for relativising the problem and that a far more decisive, serious, and continuous response by all competent stakeholders to peer violence is necessary.
“The analysis also showed that the system must be much more strongly oriented towards the resocialisation and reintegration of minors, through better interinstitutional coordination and stronger practical support. The normative framework in itself is not sufficient if, in practice, it does not ensure effective measures, timely support, and genuine opportunities for young people to return to a safer and more supportive environment,” Knežević emphasised.
As Knežević pointed out, the project also strengthened the capacities of the police, schools, the judiciary, and other actors working with young people and minors, because an effective institutional response is not possible without continuous cooperation, professional development, and greater sensitivity to the needs of children and young people. “It is important that those who are often the first point of contact within the system have the knowledge, tools, and support to respond in a timely, responsible, and sensitive manner,” he said, warning that peer violence is an enduring problem in our society that continues to grow, while opportunities to curb it are being missed.
“One of the most important conclusions is that young people are not only a group that needs protection, but also agents of change, to whom society must give more space, trust, and support. Through camps, peer workshops, the debate programme, and other activities, it became clear that when young people are given knowledge, opportunity, and encouragement, they can become strong allies in building a safer, more resilient, and more inclusive society,” Knežević stressed.
Aleksandra Jerkov, co-founder of ADD, emphasised that “peer violence and juvenile delinquency are the result of accumulated risks — from domestic violence and social exclusion, to school failure and the lack of institutional support, as well as increasingly pronounced digital violence.” She also warned about the normalisation of violence in the public sphere through language that encourages intolerance and aggression.
“When reflecting on Serbia, it is impossible to overlook the tragedies of May 2023: the Vladislav Ribnikar Primary School, followed by Dubona and Malo Orašje. Those events shook the entire society and opened up an enormous public debate about violence among young people, the availability of weapons, the responsibility of parents, and the role of schools, the media, and institutions. However, to this day, neither society nor the families of the victims have ever received an answer to the key question: which parts of the system failed in prevention, and which failed in responding to these tragedies,” she said.
“Why was the system’s response inadequate? Because it became clear that the normative framework and the system’s actual capacities are not the same. It is not enough to have a strategy if it is not fully implemented. It is not enough to have a rulebook if the school does not have the support to enforce it. It is not enough to react only once violence has occurred. UNICEF’s situation analysis for Serbia warns of the need for stronger psychological and emotional support for children and adolescents, as well as of broader institutional weaknesses that affect child protection,” Jerkov explained.
“The fight against peer violence and juvenile delinquency is directly linked to the overall social climate. It is not possible to build a culture of non-violence within the education system while, at the same time, patterns of aggression and impunity are tolerated or encouraged in the public sphere,” Jerkov concluded.
