What is delinquent behavior: 5 main signs

What is delinquent behavior?

Delinquent behavior is a type of antisocial behavior in which a person regularly commits acts that cause harm to society and are considered offenses. In this case, the goal is often the illegal action itself, and not obtaining any benefit. The word "delinquent" comes from the Latin delinquens (criminal, delinquent).

Delinquent behavior is an important subject of study for sociology, pedagogy, psychology, criminology and other sciences. One of the most important goals is to promptly stop illegal actions without limiting the rights of individuals prone to such behavior. In particular, a big problem is the delinquent behavior of adolescents, for many of whom this period of life can become a turning point.

A characteristic feature of delinquent behavior is that it causes public outcry and condemnation. It is condemned in any society. At the same time, there are special legal institutions, the main task of which is to create conditions in which individuals prone to delinquent behavior would not commit offenses.

Delinquent and deviant behavior should not be confused. Both concepts imply that a person violates the norms and rules accepted in society. But deviant behavior is usually not associated with crimes and does not entail criminal or administrative punishment. In fact, delinquent behavior is always a type of deviant behavior, but not vice versa.

Definition

Every society has its own traditions and rules of behavior. They can be either formal or unwritten. There are also mechanisms to enforce them. You need to understand that this is not only law enforcement agencies, but also the fear of condemnation from loved ones. A person can talk as much as he wants about the fact that he does not accept generally accepted morality, but subconsciously follow it. A completely different situation can be observed in a society that is in a constant process of reform. During this period, old norms are destroyed, and new ones, although they appear, do not have time to take root and acquire enforcement mechanisms. Therefore, all reforms and revolutions imply an increase in the level of delinquency of the population. This explains the situation in modern Russia, as well as the destructive trends throughout the world. The concept of delinquency implies any violation of social and legal norms. It must be distinguished from deviance. The latter implies deviation; it is a relative concept. It has to do with the rules that have developed in a particular social group. Delinquency is an absolute concept. It has to do with the laws of a given country. However, delinquent behavior covers not only those actions for which formal punishment is required.

Signs of delinquent behavior

Delinquent behavior is manifested in violations of the law, for which administrative or criminal liability is provided. It differs from ordinary criminal activity by the motives that force the criminal to commit illegal actions. To better understand what delinquent behavior is, it is advisable to remember the key signs of this phenomenon:

1. Causing material or other damage. A characteristic feature of delinquent behavior is that actions are aimed specifically at causing harm. Such a person can break a window, throw an unextinguished cigarette butt into a trash can, or puncture a car tire. At the same time, he does not receive any benefit, but feels satisfaction from his action.
2. Deliberate violation of the law. When committing a delinquent act, a person is usually well aware that his actions imply criminal or administrative liability.
3. Antisocial nature of actions. Such actions often express a protest against existing norms and rules adopted in a given society.
4. Demonstrativeness. As a rule, a person does not seek to hide his misdeeds, but commits them in such a way that they are seen by both those who will approve of them and those who will condemn them.
5. The desire to attract attention. This is one of the main goals of delinquent behavior. A person wants to be discussed, even if it is discussed in a negative way.

A person exhibiting delinquent behavior does not necessarily have to be a sociopath. He may find it difficult to harm a specific person, so his actions usually harm public order, public or private property. If he damages someone’s property (for example, punctures a car tire), he usually justifies himself by allegedly punishing a person who has earned a lot of money through dishonest means.

Definition of the concept

Delinquency is a variant of deviant behavior. This phenomenon is interesting because there are no clear criteria by which it could be recognized. This social phenomenon is studied by various sciences:

1. Pedagogy. In pedagogy, delinquent behavior is understood as the totality of an individual’s actions. The key point is that such behavior disrupts the normal functioning of the classroom or school community and threatens the safety of children or employees of the educational institution.
2. Psychology. In psychology, delinquent behavior is such human actions that contradict legal, moral and ethical standards. The basis of such actions is the conflict of interests of an individual and the requirements of society, the state or a small social group. Psychologists are developing methods for diagnosing deviations and methods for correcting deviations.
3. Social science and sociology. In these sciences, delinquent behavior is actions of an antisocial nature. Sociologists analyze the reasons for its occurrence and correlate them with certain historical features of the development of society.
4. Law and criminology. From the point of view of jurisprudence, delinquent behavior is considered to be misdeeds, offenses, and socially dangerous acts of a minor citizen. Sanctions for them are contained in regulatory documents. This indicates that delinquent behavior is a form of criminal behavior. In other words, lawyers consider delinquency as a type of criminal action.

A delinquent is a person with delinquent behavior, and his antisocial actions are torts. A teenager who is prone to breaking laws, upon reaching 18 years of age, is considered a criminal.

As a result of a comprehensive study of the phenomenon of delinquent behavior in adolescents, its distinctive features were identified:

• the basis for the formation of such a model of life is the conflict between the individual aspirations of the individual and the interests of society;
• unlawful actions of an individual violate the usual way of social life and receive condemnation from society;
• such behavior violates the provisions of current legislation;
• it is difficult to establish the degree of responsibility of a delinquent, since there are no unambiguous criteria for classifying this form of deviation;
• organizations that combat delinquent behavior are correctional colonies for juvenile offenders, KDN and PDN.

Types of delinquent behavior

Psychologists identify three main manifestations of delinquent behavior:

1. Disciplinary misconduct. A person deliberately violates labor discipline, causing damage to the organization for which he works. At the same time, he always comes up with excuses for himself, which are usually based on the fact that he is underpaid or is not provided with proper working conditions.

2. Administrative offenses. This type includes all kinds of violations of public order that imply administrative liability: hooliganism, noisy behavior in the dark, drinking alcohol and smoking in places where it is prohibited, obscene language, violating traffic rules, etc.

3. Criminal offenses. This category includes the acts listed in the Criminal Code. Crimes include offenses that cause serious damage to someone else's property, health or life.

In addition, addiction can be a sign of delinquent behavior. Although it is a deviation, it should be taken as an alarm bell. Addictive behavior includes alcoholism, drug addiction, gambling addiction, as well as sexual, food and other addictions. Habits themselves are not crimes, but they often provoke them.

Causes of delinquent behavior

From a psychological point of view, delinquent behavior rarely results from a single cause. Usually it is caused by a combination of several factors of different nature. Psychologists divide the causes of delinquent behavior into three groups: psychophysiological, family and social. Let's look at each group in more detail.

Psychophysiological factors:

• personality and character type;
• presence of dependencies;
• transitional age;
• mental disorders.

Family factors:

• parental divorce;
• dysfunctional family situation (quarrels, domestic violence);
• loss of a dear relative or loved one;
• alcoholism, drug addiction, gambling addiction and other bad habits of one of the family members;
• overprotection and excessive control on the part of parents.

Social (socio-economic) factors:

• lack of education and good job;
• lack of funds;
• problems of social and material inequality;
• national and ethnic contradictions;
• finding yourself in an unusual social environment.

Psychophysiological factors usually serve only as prerequisites, but it is family and social circumstances that provoke delinquent behavior.

Differences from deviant behavior

To accurately understand what delinquent behavior is, it is important to be able to distinguish it from deviant behavior. First of all, there are three main differences to remember:

1. Deviant behavior is directed against generally accepted rules. Delinquency is directed against law and order.
2. Deviant behavior is determined by public opinion, morality and ethics. Delinquent behavior is defined by criminal and administrative law.
3. Deviant behavior often involves conflict with specific people (parents, teachers). Delinquent behavior is directed against society and public order as a whole.

As noted above, delinquent behavior is a type of deviant behavior, but not vice versa. The main difference is whether the person seeks to cause harm to society and public order. Delinquent behavior usually involves a violation of criminal or administrative law. The actions committed in this case are called torts (from the Latin delictum - “misdemeanor”), and the criminal himself is called a delinquent.

Causing harm

Causing harm by a delinquent is associated with an encroachment on a person, his rights and freedoms, property, rights of legal entities, other public and state interests, as well as the legal order established by the state. Various types of delinquent behavior are subject to not only social condemnation. They are formalized by the state in legal norms by describing the features that characterize them and defining them as offenses for which various types of liability are established in the legislation.

Acts committed by a delinquent may constitute civil torts: causing property damage to a person or organization, causing moral harm to an individual, discrediting the reputation of a person or legal entity, etc. Persons who commit them are subject to liability established by civil law.

Delinquent behavior of adolescents

The tendency of adolescents to engage in this type of behavior is a big problem in modern society. Against the background of a general increase in the well-being of citizens and a decrease in the crime rate, the number of crimes committed by teenagers remains quite high. The important thing is that committing a crime at a young age, as a rule, determines the rest of a person’s life.

At the same time, teenagers have not yet developed moral and moral guidelines; they do not realize responsibility for their future life. Therefore, law enforcement agencies, teachers and psychologists must work together to ensure that juvenile crime is minimal.

The main features of delinquent behavior in adolescents:

• the main reason for delinquent behavior is the denial of the authority of adults and the fight against the rules they impose;
• offenses are most often committed by groups of teenagers, since they perceive them as a way of socialization;
• in adolescence, a person has the highest tendency to addiction;
• the psyche of adolescents is unstable, they are prone to taking risks and committing impulsive acts without considering the consequences;
• Teenagers do not have enough life experience and no understanding of responsibility.

Lack of experience, lack of moral and ethical principles develop in adolescents with their impulsiveness, desire to stand out and demonstrate their importance. Therefore, they themselves cannot always explain the reasons and motives for their actions. For example, while asserting himself through bullying and other offenses, a teenager himself does not understand why he is doing this. But at the same time, he feels more significant; it seems to him that in this way he strengthens his authority within the social group.

Study of juvenile delinquency

Antisocial actions of young people are characterized by increased aggressiveness and pose a particular danger due to a number of reasons of a psychological and socio-economic nature. The desire for independence and self-affirmation in the adult world in the absence of sufficiently developed feelings of self-control, responsibility, and empathy takes the form of violent achievement of goals. And due to the fact that the child is not able to assess the possible consequences due to lack of necessary experience, there is a high probability of him breaking the law.

Occurrence of a problem

The crisis of adolescence, when a teenager begins to recognize himself as an individual and rebel against what he considers “childish” restrictions, inevitably leads to a conflict with the society in which he is realized. The confrontation is aggravated by the emergence of adult needs and the inability to satisfy them due to social prohibitions. In the Russian Federation, the socially acceptable threshold for drinking alcohol, tobacco and engaging in sexual relations is considered to be the age of eighteen, although the need for young people may arise much earlier.

And in order to satisfy their desires, they are capable of violating prohibitions, which can easily lead to illegal and criminal acts. The difference will only be in the degree of aggressiveness and the amount of damage caused by the violators. And this depends on the conditions for the formation of delinquent behavior of each individual and is determined by the following reasons:

1. Psychophysiological: personality type, level of anxiety, presence of addictions (gaming, computer, drug addiction), deviations in physical development.
2. Socio-economic: chronic lack of livelihood, social insecurity and inequality, ethnic strife.
3. Family: lack of education, domestic violence, divorce or death of a loved one, conflicts in a dysfunctional family, bad example of elders.

As an example, one can cite the fate of the punk movement idol Sid Vicious, bass guitarist of the Sex Pistols, whose deviance was used as an element of the group’s PR. He was raised by a single mother, with the example and help of whom he became addicted to drugs at an early age. In his work he spoke out against the hypocrisy and hypocrisy of society, breaking all known taboos.

He was prone to self-destruction (on stage he cut the skin on his arms and chest with a razor). Constantly participated in skirmishes and fights. All this ended in a tort - the murder of his girlfriend and the early death of the musician (in 1978 he was 21) from a heroin overdose.

Offender typology

Most often, a teenager’s behavior style arises under the influence of older friends and the morality of the team in which he finds himself. Increased hormonal levels push him to take unjustified risks, hooligan, illegal actions in order to gain a foothold in the company and have the right to be called “one of our own.” The tendency to aggressiveness, the choleric type, the desire for adventure and the denial of differences accepted in society are features on the basis of which the deviation of any individual develops. According to the degree of danger, there are 3 groups of delinquents:

1. Minor ones, which are characterized by the teenager having some moral principles, which, in the event of an offense, leads to moral feelings.
2. Unconscious, devoid of remorse and reasons for internal conflict. They are characterized by self-indulgence and a group (anonymous) nature of actions.
3. Conscious, representing the most complete type of offender, cynical about life. To please their clearly expressed needs, they can easily break the law.

Soviet psychiatrist N.I. Ozeretsky studied the issue of childhood crime from the point of view of the degree of severity and impact on mental deformation. In 1932, he defined and proposed a gradation that is still relevant today. It divides juvenile offenders into the following categories:

• random;
• habitual;
• persistent;
• professional.

The study of a person’s psychotype contributes to the diagnosis of its deviations and the determination of treatment methods at an early stage of the disease.

Information impact

The media, television, cinema, computer games, and, more recently, the content of social networks have a huge influence on the formation of child psychology. The distribution of materials with scenes of violence, luxury, pornography, cruelty is a powerful irritant for a consciousness that does not have critical thinking. A teenager is attracted by the primitive external manifestations of a “beautiful life,” and the illusory ease of achieving them through criminal means pushes him to action.

And he can absolutely sincerely consider himself innocent, even having committed a serious or grave crime, if he saw on the screen an excuse for such an offense. In this case, by the example of the behavior of an adult hero, moral and ethical barriers are removed from him, and violence becomes a means of achieving a falsely understood justice. Suffice it to recall the crazy popularity of the TV series “Brigade” in the Russian Federation and the mass of imitators of its characters who created criminal groups throughout the country.

Ways to deal with violations

The most socially dangerous forms of delinquent behavior are crime, prostitution and drug addiction. A long-term study of these deviations has shown that it is impossible to eradicate them from society, but they can be controlled and prevented. The state chooses 3 main methods of influence:

1. Complete ban and punishment for violating it.
2. Conducting explanatory and educational work.
3. Partial approval at the official level with proper medical supervision.

The latter applies mainly to the sex industry and the use of soft drugs, which from an economic point of view brings certain benefits to the country. In Holland, for example, permits for these types of activities account for a significant percentage of tax revenues and contribute to the influx of tourists.

Agreeing that only stable moral principles can prevent an individual from committing a crime, psychologists focus on working with children. It is almost impossible to re-educate an adult with established views and an established psyche, but a child is still subject to correction, and therefore it is on the prevention of teenage delinquency that both law enforcement agencies and educational institutions need to focus their attention.

Prevention of delinquent behavior

As you know, people do not always become hardened criminals after their first offense. But almost always they become so after imprisonment. This statement is especially true for the post-Soviet space. Therefore, preventing delinquent behavior in children and adolescents is much more important than punishing those who have already committed crimes.

Basic measures to prevent delinquent behavior:

• prosperous family relationships, peaceful resolution of problems, absence of aggression and domestic violence;
• refusal to watch films, TV series and programs that romanticize criminal activity;
• improving the quality of education, increasing academic performance;
• the child must receive more positive emotions from parents and teachers in order to understand that they are not his enemies.