Understanding youth recruitment to inform prevention: Insights from EUCPN

ABSTRACT

Young people are increasingly being drawn into organised crime, with criminal networks exploiting social, economic and personal vulnerabilities to involve children and young people in criminal activities. Recruitment can take many forms, ranging from direct approaches and peer influence to online recruitment, family ties, exploitation and self-initiated involvement.

Understanding the factors that shape young people’s vulnerability is essential for effective prevention. These include individual and emotional vulnerabilities, social exclusion, school disengagement, prior offending, family involvement in crime, exposure to criminal networks, and the search for income, belonging and status. The accumulation of these factors can increase vulnerability, while protective factors such as supportive relationships, positive school engagement and access to meaningful opportunities can strengthen resilience.

Effective prevention therefore requires action at multiple levels and across different sectors. Relevant approaches include community-oriented policing, family and school-based interventions, diversion and alternatives to justice, online prevention, and exit support for young people already involved in criminal networks. Early intervention is particularly important, alongside cooperation between law enforcement, education, social services, local authorities, families, youth organisations and other relevant stakeholders.