Įgalinanti partnerystė -- paauglių nusikalstamumo edukacinės prevencijos forma. (Lithuanian)

Empowering partnership as a means of educative prevention of juvenile delinquency. (English)

Criminality is a complex social and juridical phenomenon. Many different scientific theories attempt to explain its origins. Tarolla, Wagner and Rabinowitz (2002) argue that the juvenile delinquency is one of the most depressing social problems that causes harmful emotional, physical and economic effects felt throughout the community. Juvenile delinquency, a part of common criminality, is one of the reasons for adult crime. According to the data of the Centre for Crime Prevention in Lithuania (2009), in 2008, 849 juveniles were in standings of the correctional inspectorate of territorial divisions. This figure is highest since 2005 when it reached 831. Since 2005 gradually decreasing numbers of real custodial sentence serving juveniles (2005 - 184, 2006 - 179, 2007 - 171) began to rise again. In 2008, 192 juveniles served custodial sentences, in 2009 -200 juveniles. It is important to note that the official crime statistics does not accurately reflect the number of crimes committed in the certain territory, because many of them remain officially unregistered for different reasons (Kiskis, 2008; Giddens, 2005). Contradiction in the statistics may affect an inadequate perception of the problem and the need for its solution. The trends of juvenile crime growth still remain. A comprehensive analysis and deeper perception of this phenomenon is particularly important for understanding its reasons, and for the development of new, more effective prevention programs. It should be noted that both Lithuanian and overseas researchers mostly talk about the importance or significance of empowerment in different contexts and situations: Juceviciene and Lipinskiene (2001), Lipinskiene (2002), Adams (2003), Graves and Shelton (2007), Logan and Ganster (2007), Lorion and McMillan (2008), Monnickendam and Berman (2008). The origin of causes of juvenile delinquency as well as preventive means have been explored Dermontas (2001), Liaudinskiene (2005), Zukauskiene (2007), Skiecevicius and Zydziunaite (2007), Mann and Reynolds (2006), Rohall, Milkie and Lucas (2007), Sorlin and Hagen Ogden (2008). The issues of empowering partnership have been explored by Brown, McWilliam and Ward-Griffin (2006). However, there are still no completed studies that use empowering partnership as a form of educative prevention for juvenile delinquency. In this article crime will be analyzed not as a legal, often negatively treated phenomenon, but as one of the possible forms of personality adjustment and self-realization in the society. Also, the concept of negative competition will be introduced. Juvenile justice and the society are dominated by stigmatizing approach to crime-prone juveniles. Such juveniles are mostly regarded as 'bad', 'selfish', 'incorrigible'. The proposed educational solutions to this problem are often viewed in a too narrow and primitive way. For instance, there is a provision that specialists, by the application of their pedagogical skills and competencies, will teach juveniles to behave properly and thus help them learn to behave properly in society. In the context of the above mentioned problem, such an understanding is determined by the reason of a crucial gap between educational theory and practice. Therefore, the final result is trivial - juveniles learn how to apply the specific social skills correctly, but in the familiar criminal context the acquired skills are being adapted for consolidating negative behaviour. Juveniles who tend to behave in a criminal manner, the surrounding environment with prevailing values and attitudes have an influence on such teaching and learning transformations. A one-way conveyance of information, referred to as teaching (information provider - the authority and the receiver of information - a teenager who must take that information and use it) or, in other words, educational dominance is inefficient. This happens because of the fact that the conciliation with the positions of authority and subordinate is often ignored in the subculture of juvenile criminals. A feasible alternative is building an educational partnership in which the educator and the learner (in this case - a teenager who is inclined to commit a crime) have the same status - both are active partners in the educational/ learning process. The aim of the study is to conceptualize the empowering partnership as a form of educative prevention for juvenile delinquency. The article addresses the following questions: What are the links between empowerment and partnership approaches in educational science? How is an empowering partnership in educational/ learning environments associated with positive social functioning of the adolescent who is inclined to commit a crime? Can it be seen as a form of educational prevention, aimed at negative competition of teenagers with a tendency to commit a crime? A systematic screening and review of research literature and documents has been used (n = 250). A total of 8,531 research articles were found using different electronic databases. Ten different databases (Academic Search Elite EBSCO; Willey InterScience; Cambridge Journals Online; Emerald; JStor; Oxford Journals; Project MUSE; Sage Journals Online; Science Direct; SpringerLink) were used. Literature search and selection was carried out using 14 keywords: Empowerment; Social partnership; Social ties; Self - directed learning; Symbolic interactionism; Social constructivism; Grounded theory; Negative competition; Social competence; Competence development; Juvenile delinquency; Empowering partnership; Educative prevention; Competition concept. The selected articles enumerated and classified in tables, according to the search keywords. Also the selected articles were classified in tables presenting the aims, methods, study sample, survey in detail. The outcome analysis included summaries, their descriptions and criticisms relating to the methods, results and their application. The first part of the article introduces the negative competition among teenagers as a premise of criminal behaviour. In the contemporary global society, which is characterized by sudden changes, competitiveness is considered as a guarantee for successful survival. Young people's choice is conditioned by internal and external factors. Without having possibilities to achieve their objectives in a socially acceptable way, teenagers compete negatively. The development of negative competition mostly takes place among individuals who have a tendency to commit crime. In this context, individuals are often guided by the negative competition-based values and norms. The useful skills for negative competition are also developed. In the case of success, the criminal activity may be many times more profitable than legal. Without having the necessary competence for accomplishment of socially acceptable activity, moreover after making calculation of the cost-benefit ratio, teenagers find themselves in a situation of choice, in which they must decide whether to behave in socially acceptable way or to develop the activities which are based on negative competition. Probably, they can be several times more profitable. It is likely that, in the case of success, the discovery that the illegal activity is many times more profitable than legal action, may motivate teenagers for choosing the social functioning based on negative competition. The second part deals with the relationship of empowerment and partnership concepts in the field of educational science. A systematic literature review revealed that different authors highlight different aspects of partnership and empowerment concepts, but a deeper analysis of these concepts showed the close relationships between them. Equivalent, associative participation, cooperation, working 'together', but not 'for somebody'- these are just a few common elements of these concepts. Empowerment in its nature and purposes is inseparable from partnership. This trend continues and in the field of educational science. By providing the knowledge in the process of education, personality gains control over personal life. The success of this process is associated with relation between teacher and learner based on partnership, also their common activity, particularly when it is difficult or even impossible to achieve a specific learning result individually. Without an activity in partnership, also without an interaction between teacher and learner, there is no real education. A personal power is strongly connected with the acquisition of knowledge and its disposal; hence an education can be regarded as one of the strongest forms of empowerment. Given the fact that knowledge is becoming increasingly important in nowadays modern society, empowering partnership in gaining knowledge and skills is an apropos educative strategy. In the third part, rationale is provided for empowering partnership in juveniles' educational/self-learning environments as a means of educative prevention targeted at juvenile delinquency. Empowering partnership created by competent specialists together with juvenile criminals in educational/self-learning environments would offer alternative behavioural means and strategies that often are unknown or in some cases unacceptable. Considering the educational peculiarities of juvenile criminals, it is likely that empowering partnership would contribute to the development of learning motivation. It is presumed that empowering partnership would condition the positive attitude of juvenile criminals towards their teachers and educative processes. Moreover, it would contribute to the strengthening of authority of empowering person among juvenile criminals. It is also possible that adolescents would take greater control and responsibility of their learning processes. Completion of a learning task in collaboration with a teenager as an equal partner would facilitate the educational process of juvenile criminals. This purpose could serve the above mentioned aspects of empowering partnership. The enumerated issues allow us treating empowering partnership as a means of educative prevention aimed at juvenile delinquency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Šiuolaikinėje pokyčiais charakterizuojamoje visuomenėje, konkurencingumas traktuojamas sėkmingo išlikimo garantu. Turimi gebėjimai, esamas aplinkos kontekstas bei ankstesnė patirtis daro įtaką paauglio elgsenai konkrečioje gyvenimiškoje situacijoje. Neturėdamas galimybių įgyvendinti savo tikslus socialiai priimtinais būdais, paauglys konkuruoja negatyviai. Nusikalstamumas - praktinė negatyvios konkurencijos išraiška. Straipsnyje konceptualizuojama įgalinanti partnerystė kaip paauglių nusikalstamumo edukacinės prevencijos forma. Pasirinktas tyrimo objektas - įgalinanti partnerystė. Straipsnyje sprendžiami šie probleminiai klausimai: kaip įgalinanti partnerystė ugdymo/ugdymosi aplinkose siejasi su pozityviu paauglio, linkusio nusikalsti, socialiniu funkcionavimu ir ar ji gali būti traktuojama kaip edukacinės prevencijos forma paauglių, linkusių nusikalsti, negatyviajai konkurencijai? Sisteminė literatūros analizė atskleidė ne tik įgalinimo ir partnerystės koncepcijų ryšį edukologijos mokslo požiūriu, bet ir sudarė prielaidas argumentuoti įgalinančios partnerystės strategijos taikymo poreikį tarp nusikalsti linkusių paauglių. Įgalinanti partnerystė ugdymo bei ugdymosi aplinkose turi būti kuriama kompetentingo specialisto (pvz., socialinio pedagogo, socialinio darbuotojo, penitencinės veiklos specialisto ir kt.) kartu su nusikalsti linkusiais paaugliais, pateikiant jiems alternatyvius elgesio būdus ir strategijas. Atsižvelgiant į nusikalsti linkusių paauglių ugdymo/si ypatumus, įgalinančios partnerystės strategijos taikymas prisidėtų prie paauglių motyvacijos mokytis stiprėjimo. Įgalinanti partnerystė sąlygotų pozityvaus nusikalsti linkusių paauglių požiūrio į mokytojus ir mokymo/si procesą formavimąsi bei prisidėtų prie įgalinančio paauglį specialisto, kaip mokymosi partnerio, autoriteto didinimo tarp nusikalsti linkusių paauglių. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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