The role of sport and psysical activities in prevention of offending

Abstract
Theorists argue that juvenile offenders need constant external stimulus, and that juvenile crime is the result of "risk-taking" or a need for excitement. Sport and physical activity play a significant role in contemporary society. They have an impact on quality of life, development of personality traits such as self-esteem, dignity of a person, self-confidence, development of leadership skills, families strenghtening.

The research evidence also suggest that sport and physical activities have potential in prevention of offending. However, there are no unique connection between reducing juvenile crime and use of sport, but the influence is accomplished through different factors. First of all, the participant in the sport is influenced by significant people with whom they are in contact, such as parents, teachers, coaches and other team-mates. These people are more likely to adhere to conventional, prosocial behavior and therefore should have positive influnce on juvenile. Through the interaction with others in sport, athlete learns to respect the authority and established social norms.

Sport is seen as a ideal means of occupying juveniles‘ free-time. Involvement in sport and physical activities leaves less unstructured time for a juvenile to engage in criminal activities. Sport and physical activity can reduce crime by providing adequate social support including angagement of school, organizations and individuals from local community, professional sporting clubs and famous athletes.

In this paper are presented different mechanisms of how occupation in sports and physical activities might influence prevention of juvenile offending.
Key words: sport, physical activity, juvenile offending, crime prevention

Danica Vasiljević-Prodanović, Fadilj Eminović