Introduction

The VIII Antigone Report on juvenile justice, "I Don't Believe You Anymore", offers a detailed and critical mapping of the functioning of Italian Juvenile Detention Centers, accompanied by individual institution profiles, thematic insights, video materials, and a mapping of the communities hosting young people involved in the penal system.

The title of the Report, "I Don't Believe You Anymore", reflects a sentiment frequently expressed by young detainees: a complete loss of trust in Italian juvenile justice and in adults, who fail to demonstrate welcome, attentiveness, or support.

The central theme running throughout the entire Report is the criminalising and punitive rhetoric directed at minors, promoted by the current government through a series of legislative measures,  for instance the Caivano Decree of September 2023, which have produced significant and worrying effects on the entire juvenile justice system.

Anna Marietti, national coordinator of Antigone and head of the Observatory on Juvenile Justice, warns: "We are not witnessing an explosion of juvenile crime, but an expansion of the penal response."

The Rhetoric of Emergency and the Real Data

A central theme of the Report concerns the alleged growth of juvenile crime, which has been presented in public and political debate as a national emergency. However, the data tell a different story: reports involving minors for homicide stood at 27 in 2022, 25 in 2023, and 26 in 2024, figures below the average of approximately 33 per year recorded between 2014 and 2017.

The Report cites Eurostat data, updated to 2023, according to which Italy is among the European countries with the lowest rates of reported minors, with a rate of 363.4 per 100,000 inhabitants, almost half the European average of 647.9.

It is worth emphasising, as the Report does, that reports of minors to judicial authorities do not equate to proven offences and therefore do not constitute what is commonly referred to as "crime". These reports represent only potential indicators of criminal activity and, as complaints, are merely allegations. Between 2023 and 2024, reports to judicial authorities increased by 16.7%, while cases taken on by the Juvenile Social Services Offices increased by only 2.4%. This discrepancy suggests that the rise concerns reports, not necessarily actual offences. However, these data refer to 2023 and 2024; figures for 2025 are not yet available.

The Report also references the 2026 Security Decree, approved on 6 February, which is described as a "justificatory instrument for punitive power", in which "many provisions target young people because they are at the forefront of protests".

Overcrowding in JDCs

The Report proceeds with an analysis of alarming data regarding overcrowding in Juvenile Detention Centers.

Between 2022, the last year before the introduction of the current government's new legislation, and 2025, the population within Italian JDCs increased by 50%. In 2022, juvenile prisons housed 381 individuals; by the end of 2025, this number had risen to 572. The Report notes that these figures are likely underestimated, given a notable increase in transfers to adult prisons of young people who came of age while held in JDCs for offences committed as minors.

Specifically, between 2023,  the year the Caivano Decree came into force, and 2024, the average daily population of young people detained in juvenile prisons rose from 425.1 to 556.3, an increase of 30.9%. Between 2024 and 2025, these numbers rose further, reaching 587.8 (an increase of 7.4%).

A particularly emblematic sign of the growing population within Italian JDCs is the opening, for the first time in history, of a juvenile penal section within an adult prison in Bologna. This section, active from March to September 2025, received a total of 52 young males over the age of 18, transferred from JDCs in Bologna, Treviso, Milan, Florence, Palermo, Catanzaro, and others.

Among the possible causes of this increase, Antigone highlights the serious consequences of the Caivano Decree, which, by eliminating the time limit on detention in JDCs, facilitated the permanent conversion of community-based measures into custodial ones. Indeed, in 2025, there were 216 such permanent conversions (compared to 40 in 2022), contributing to the rise in the prison population.

Who Are the Detainees in Italian JDCs?

As of 31 December 2025, the minors and young adults held in Italian JDCs were 572, 242 of which were of foreign origin (42.3% of the total). The Report proceeds to deconstruct the notion that foreign minors are the primary perpetrators of the most serious offences. In fact, the authors of the most serious offences against the person, including sexual violence, stalking, and homicide, are young Italians. Italians account for 63% of perpetrators of sexual violence and stalking, with foreigners accounting for 37%. With regard to homicides, 86% of perpetrators are Italian and 14% are foreign.

In practice, foreign youths enter JDCs primarily for property offences, which account for 60% of the charges brought against them, compared to 42.6% for Italian youth.

The Report examines in depth the discrimination faced by young foreigners in accessing alternatives to imprisonment. They are significantly overrepresented in custodial facilities, not because of the severity of the offences committed, but because of their greater social vulnerability. Indeed, property offences, generally less serious, are overrepresented among the detained population in JDCs relative to offences against the person, suggesting that the system selects who ends up in prison not so much on the basis of offence severity, but on the basis of the individual's social vulnerability: young people without family, without a home, surviving through petty crime, end up in prison more than the gravity of their actions would justify.

Particularly vulnerable are unaccompanied foreign minors (UFM). In 2023, unaccompanied minors identified by the ministerial monitoring system numbered 23,226, while as of 31 December 2025 they stood at 17,011, of whom 5,524 were under the care of juvenile justice social services. These figures, which represent a conservative estimate, show a significant downward trend. Related to this are the data on available places in the System for Integration and Reception (SAI): 6,646 places out of a total of 41,289 were allocated for UFMs, meaning that approximately 11,000 unaccompanied minors have no place in the reception system. Furthermore, the reduction in funding for UFM reception coincides with an increase in the entry of UFMs into the penal system and, in particular, into juvenile prisons.

Alternative Measures and Probation

The Report documents the positive outcomes of the probation institution, which diverges from the punitive trend. This measure provides for the suspension of proceedings against a defendant charged with offences of lesser social concern, conditional upon the completion of an individualised educational programme. As of 31 December 2024, of the 17,027 minors and young adults under the supervision of the Juvenile Social Services Offices, 19.2% (3,273) were enrolled in probation programmes. In 2024, the most recent year for which complete data are available, 4,799 orders were recorded, the highest figure in the historical series, representing a 6.5% increase on the previous year, with a positive outcome rate of 85.5%.

The consistently high success rate recorded over time demonstrates the effectiveness of the measure, which is centred on creating the most individualised pathways possible, tailored to the specific needs of each minor and actively involving the local community. This success is, however, being put to the test by the Caivano Decree Law, which introduces an automatic exclusion from access to this measure for certain particularly serious offences. A marked reduction in the discretion available to juvenile judges is evident, as they can no longer assess on a case-by-case basis the suitability of a rehabilitative pathway for specific offences.

Life, Mental Health and Education in JDCs

With regard to education and schooling in JDCs, the Report notes that all facilities offer primary school courses, literacy programmes, and lower secondary education, while only some institutions provide the opportunity to attend upper secondary school. In terms of numbers, during the 2024/2025 academic year, 308 students were enrolled in literacy courses, 234 in lower-level courses, and 195 in upper-level courses. At secondary level, 65 minors attended lower secondary programmes and 30 attended upper secondary programmes. Overall, 46 followed pathways leading to the school-leaving diploma. Three young people were enrolled in university courses.

With regard to the mental health of young detainees, the Report cites an investigation by Altreconomia describing a significant increase in the use of psychotropic drugs. At the Beccaria JDC in Milan, for instance, a 110% increase in psychotropic drug use was recorded over five years (2020–2024). This figure reflects the profound psychological distress of young detainees and raises questions about the adequacy of the therapeutic approaches being adopted.

Staff: Insufficient Resources for an Expanding System

Against the backdrop of rising numbers in JDCs, the Report highlights a situation of structural staff shortages. As of 31 December 2025, while the staffing plan provided for 52 positions, the directors of JDCs and External Penal Enforcement Offices totalled just 40, down from 44 on 31 December 2024. Furthermore, 12 JDCs have no managerial figure provided for in their staffing structure.

Officials with a pedagogical specialisation, formerly referred to as "educators", represent key figures in the educational journey of young detainees. Specifically, these professionals coordinate the scientific observation of the minor and draw up the individualised educational plan; they design and monitor educational, work-based, and rehabilitative activities, acting as an essential link between the young person, the multidisciplinary team, and external juvenile services to support reintegration. According to data provided by the Department of Juvenile and Community Justice, in mid-2025, the total number of educators in post in JDCs stood at 179 (an increase of 58 compared to 2022, when there were 121), against a planned establishment of 158, a figure that will need to be updated to include the new facilities in L'Aquila, Rovigo, and Lecce.

The Prison Police, assigned to the Department for Juvenile and Community Justice and operating specifically within JDCs, carry out functions that, while centred on ensuring order and security, should be inseparably integrated with the educational purpose at the heart of the juvenile system. In July 2025, Prison Police personnel operating across the various services and offices of the Department for Juvenile Justice totalled 1,529, against a planned establishment of 1,615 (of which 1,010 for JDCs alone), leaving an overall shortfall of 86 positions. All of this takes place against a backdrop of a 1.07% reduction in the budget for juvenile justice, despite the increase in detainees and staff.

Conclusion

The VIII Antigone Report "I Don't Believe You Anymore" presents a picture of an Italian 

juvenile justice system characterised by mounting tensions,  generated not by an objective criminal emergency, but by legislative choices that prioritise a punitive response at the expense of an educational and rehabilitative one. The data presented in the Report document unprecedented overcrowding, a system that appears to penalise the most vulnerable individuals, a human resources crisis, and the progressive erosion of alternatives to detention. All of these factors undermine the rehabilitative function of JDCs, risking turning them into accelerators of social exclusion.