Prestupnišvo maloletnika u Beogradu

The scientific study Juvenile Delinquency in Belgrade (Prestupništvo maloletnika u Beogradu), published in 1970 by the prominent criminologist and sociologist Aleksandar Todorović, legal expert Desanka Lazarević, and a team of researchers (under the auspices of the Institute for Criminological and Sociological Research in Belgrade), stands as a foundational interdisciplinary study of juvenile delinquency in the former Yugoslavia. The book emerged from years of empirical fieldwork and statistical analysis—encompassing court files, police records, and social surveys—conducted on a sample of juvenile offenders in the Yugoslav capital during the late 1960s. In this work, the authors examine in detail the links between rapid urbanization, rural-to-urban migration, housing issues, family dysfunction, and the influence of peer groups and leisure-time activities on the emergence of antisocial behavior among youth. Particular attention is devoted to the typology of criminal offenses (primarily property crimes), the psychological profiles of the juveniles, and the effectiveness of the rehabilitative measures and institutional treatments in place at the time. Due to its methodological rigor and its integration of sociological, legal, and psychological perspectives, this publication retains enduring historical and professional significance as an authentic record of the social changes and criminological thought of its era.