Youth violence in Vienna

“I never thought about the victims”

For two years, probation officer Denise K. (left) has been accompanying Gabriel (center) step by step into his new life without violence.(Bild: Reinhard Holl)

Gabriel has made it and turned his back on the youth violence scene in Vienna. In an interview with the "Krone" newspaper, he describes his path back into society: with a lot of discipline, his probation officer and reflection on himself and his mother.

Gabriel (self-chosen name) is an 18-year-old with a beaming smile - and a dark past. He talks about aimlessness, his slide into juvenile delinquency, what brought him before the judge two years ago, the motives behind youth violence, how he turned his life around after the conviction and what he would like to say to his 15-year-old self today.