Ce travail vise à questionner l’accompagnement des jeunes ayant commis une infraction pénale suivis à la protection judiciaire de la jeunesse dans le contexte d’implémentation prochaine du Code de la Justice Pénale pour les Mineurs.

Une recherche des textes et travaux associés à la délinquance juvénile a été effectuée à partir de sites officiels et bases de données Medline et Google scholar.

La justice des mineurs française s’est construite sur l’excuse de minorité et l’éducabilité des jeunes. Ils sont accompagnés par les professionnels de la protection judiciaire de la jeunesse en milieu ouvert, en insertion et sont parfois confiés à des lieux de placement. Des modèles développementaux attribuent la délinquance à la combinaison de prédispositions et facteurs de vulnérabilité. La sur-prévalence des troubles psychiques et conduites addictives présentée par ces jeunes donne à la santé mentale une place essentielle, en collaboration avec les secteurs judiciaires, éducatifs et pédagogiques. Des interventions multimodales, systémiques, valorisant la réhabilitation du jeune dans et avec sa communauté, soutenues par des professionnels formés, semblent plus efficaces que l’enfermement. La désistance – processus de dégagement de la délinquance – apparaît complexe mais largement majoritaire.

Le nouveau Code de la Justice Pénale pour les Mineurs permet un raccourcissement et une prévisibilité des délais entre l’infraction et son jugement ; ce qui apparaît plus compatible avec la temporalité adolescente et bénéfique en termes de contenance psychique et de mentalisation. Néanmoins, sa faisabilité est questionnable au regard de la disponibilité accrue requise de la part des éducateurs, des facteurs de vulnérabilité des jeunes concernés, et des modalités de traitement judiciaires actuels.

En l’absence de moyens adaptés et équitables avec les autres secteurs de la protection de l’enfance, la scansion du nouveau code de la justice pénale pour les mineurs risque de favoriser un traitement principalement punitif, en contradiction avec les approches recommandées par la littérature internationale ayant montré des bénéfices dans la réduction des conduites délinquantes.

This article questions the support provided to youth who have committed a criminal offense by educational social workers in France's juvenile judiciary protection system, in the context of upcoming implementation of the new code of justice for minors.

A literature review of the official texts and the main academic works on juvenile delinquency was conducted on official website and on two databases, Medline and Google Scholar.

France's juvenile justice system was conceived on the basis of the excuse of offenders’ minority and on their educability. Following the ruling of February 1945, professional from the juvenile judiciary protection system supported youth through social rehabilitation programs, with education prevailing over punishment. But the “tough on crime” turning point in the Nineties encouraged a reinforcement of judiciary treatments. Youth in juvenile judiciary protection are mainly males, in the second half of adolescence, who express their suffering through acts, sometimes violent. The prevalence of psychiatric disorders and drug abuse in this population is higher than for their age cohort, and many have experienced abuse and/or have grown up with parents suffering from psychiatric disorders. Several developmental models explain behavioral disorders by combining predisposition and vulnerability factors. The intervention of educational social workers supplements judiciary condemnations, through in-depth investigations of the young person's history and of the environment in which they grew up. Social workers foster social reinsertion while providing regular reports to the judge on the youth offender's progress. In some cases, youth are removed from their home environment. Other social interventions can include supporting a return to school or, more frequently, professional training. A wider multidisciplinary team supports the work of education social workers (psychologists, teachers, supervisors, etc.). Overall, encounters with these social workers can be an opportunity for repair when youths feel an authentic involvement. Psychiatrists can feel unequipped to treat these youths, whose symptoms can express psychic suffering as well as socioeconomic precariousness or cultural exclusion. Yet, beyond the treatment of psychiatric disorders, several psychotherapy approaches to behavioral disorders have proven to be effective, when compared to external control techniques. Moreover, a systemic approach encouraging reintegration in community, involving the youths and their families, appears to prevent the repetition of behavioral disorders; whereas both incarceration as well as “scared straight” approaches appear ineffective. A growing body of literature depicts the process of “desistance,” or disengagement from delinquency, moving from a static and dichotomic approach to a dynamic understanding of the transformations of identity at play. Whereas desistance follows a long, complex, and non-linear path – and one that is singular to each youth –, some factors appear essential (such as age, steady employment, and durable emotional commitment), while the role of religion appears less protective than was previously thought. Mental disorders and drug abuse delay the process of desistance. The main defenders of the new code of justice for minors in France cite its continuity with the core humanistic principles of the ruling of February 1945. However, the judiciary, socio-educational, and mental health workers are already overwhelmed by their missions. With no additional resources budgeted, the acceleration of justice creates the risk of increasing punishment instead of providing the further in-depth interventions required to respond appropriately to these higher demands. Yet, for these youths exposed to multiple vulnerability factors during their childhood, behavioral disorders can be a cry for help, demonstrating both early deprivations and sign of hope. If punishment remains the main response, this encourages double sentencing and the repetition of criminal offenses.

The new code of justice for minors in France supports a shortened and reliable delay between the offense and its judgment, which seems better aligned with adolescent temporality as well as beneficial in term of mental reassurance and mentalization. Nonetheless, the feasibility of this project may be undermined in light of the increasing demands placed on educational social workers, the vulnerability factors facing these youths, and the current modalities of justice.

Without strong and reliable resources, the innovations laid out in the next French code of justice for minors create a risk of an increasingly punitive approach to juvenile sentencing, unaligned with the multimodal and inclusive approaches recommended by international literature to reduce behavioral disorders.