The report is the fourth on this issue and comes two years after the previous one, published in 2015. As the government is about to reform the penitentiary system, it is again time to draw attention to juvenile detention in Italy.

The report contains data analysis, numbers, in-depth examination on specific topics and it is also based on what emerged from the visits of the Antigone’s Observatory in the Institutes.

The 'extrema ratio'

Since the mid-80s, the number of minors and young adults (those aged 18-25 who committed a crime while of minor age) in Italian penal institutions for minors (IPMs) has been around 500, which represent the 3% of those who are reported to the judicial authorities.

It is therefore possible to affirm that in the case of juveniles prison constitutes the 'extrema ratio', or solution of last resort, of the system, which favours instead other measures, such as probation and alternatives to detention.

“Guardiamo oltre” refers, in fact, to the idea that it is necessary to look beyond the successes that the juvenile system has achieved up to this day and to aim to completely overcome the idea that the prison detention system is an acceptable way to deal with minors.

IPMs should look and function less like prisons and more like 'comunità' - foster homes where some alternatives to detention are offered.

Crimes against property are the most prevalent among the minors who entered IPMs during the year. Juveniles who end up in prison are mostly foreigners (who are more present in the north rather than in the south of the country) and the most marginalised children from the south of Italy. There are some differences between foreign and Italian minors; for example, the percentage of foreigners who are subject to precautionary detention is far greater than that of Italians.

Regarding tragic and critical events, data demonstrate that, despite some isolated incidents, IPMs in general provide a calm detention environment that offers no justification for the use of repressive measures.

An internet site for juvenile justice

The website Ragazzi Dentro includes the latest report with fact sheets related to every IPM, in-depth analysis on specific issues, photo galleries, graphs and videos (the shootings were done by Antigone’s observers), but also Antigone’s previous reports on juvenile justice. Ragazzi Dentro was thought to become a source of information on juvenile justice for students, researchers, and prison workers.

These and other matters were addressed during the presentation of the report, where the speakers included Patrizio Gonnella, the president of Antigone, Susanna Marietti, Antigone's national coordinator, Alessio Scandurra, who runs the Antigone Observatory on the Conditions of Detention, Francesco Cascini, the president of the Commission for the Reform of the Juvenile Penitentiary System, Mauro Palma, Italy's national guarantor of the rights of people in custody, Andrea Gualtieri, a journalist from Repubblica, and Concetto Zanghi, the head of Statistics Section of the Department for Juvenile Justice.