Summary Report on the Relationship between Juvenile Delinquency and Educational Environment

This article explores the relationship between educational environment and the level of juvenile delinquency. The four main characteristics of juvenile delinquency are young age, low education level, organized structure of criminal groups, and high proportion of sexual crimes committed by offenders. The main factors causing juvenile delinquency are unequal family and social environment, educational environment, and access to quality education. The analysis of statistical data indicates an increase in the number of arrests of minors, highlighting the need for action. This article proposes suggestions for improving the educational environment and cultivating young people, aimed at preventing abnormal behavior. One of the central aspects of this article is the interaction between families, schools, and law enforcement agencies to comprehensively carry out the prevention of juvenile delinquency. Discussed the role of parents, the importance of incorporating legal education into schools, and labor education practices that promote social adaptation and sense of responsibility among young people.

Introduction

Research Background and Current Status

Juvenile crime, as one of the three recognized hazards worldwide, is a common social phenomenon in countries around the world, just like drug trafficking and environmental pollution. The criminal behavior of minors poses a serious threat to social order and security, while also affecting family relationships and personal development. According to the information released by the Yuzhong District Public Security Bureau of Chongqing, China, a survey on juvenile delinquency in China shows that juvenile delinquency has four major characteristics: young age of criminal age, low cultural level, organized structure, and high proportion of sexual assault crimes [13]. Analysis and investigation show that the important factors affecting juvenile delinquency mainly include family environment, social environment, and school environment.

According to NBC, the Chief Executive of Prince George County, Maryland, Angela Osobrooks, stated on September 5, 2022 local time that at least 4 people in the county died from gun violence last week, and the police have arrested 430 minors this year, almost twice the number in 2021. To prevent similar problems from happening, they will strictly enforce curfews and prohibit minors from going out at night. Prince George County Police Chief Malik Architz stated that out of 84 minors arrested for car robbery this year, 55 have been arrested and 34 have been arrested for violent or gun related crimes.

According to the white paper on juvenile procuratorial work released by the Supreme People’s Procuratorate of China on June 1, 2023, from 2020 to 2022, the number of suspects of juvenile crimes accepted, reviewed, and arrested by procuratorial organs nationwide will be 37681, 55379, and 49070, respectively. From 2020 to 2022, 54954, 73998, and 78467 juvenile suspects were prosecuted, respectively. On December 13, 2022, NHK TV reported that from March to May 2020, the number of criminal offenses in Japan decreased by 3,5% to 32,1% compared to the same period last year, while the number of juvenile offenders increased by about 35%. The European Times reported that in 2022, the number of crimes in Germany was significantly higher than the previous year, with approximately 5,63 million registered criminal offenses, an increase of 11,5% from 2021. According to Deutsche Presse-Agentur and German Daily News Network, in 2022, the number of suspect under the age of 14 recorded by the German police increased by more than 35% compared with 2021, reaching 93095.

Research value and research ideas

Juvenile delinquency has always been an important research field in multiple disciplines such as sociology, criminal psychology, and education, and has received widespread attention from scholars from all walks of life. This study mainly analyzes the psychological characteristics of juvenile delinquency through data analysis and literature review, combined with the current research status, to gain a deeper understanding of the relationship between juvenile delinquency and educational environment [5]. Based on the research results, targeted recommendations are proposed to prevent and reduce the occurrence of juvenile delinquency.

At present, there is relatively little research in this field in academia, and the timeliness of existing literature is insufficient to fully meet the current social needs. This study compares similar issues with existing data internationally, draws on and integrates existing advanced experiences, provides educational inspiration for families, schools, and society, helps cultivate correct values and life directions for minors, and prevents and reduces the occurrence of juvenile delinquency. This study is of great significance for maintaining social security and stability, helping to promote the improvement of relevant laws and regulations, and laying the foundation for research in related fields.

The research approach of the entire article can be roughly divided into five steps:

1. Understand the research status and significance.
2. Analyze the psychological characteristics of juvenile delinquency.
3. Analyze the relationship between educational environment and juvenile delinquency.
4. Based on the conclusions of the analysis, propose targeted suggestions and opinions.
5. Summarize the problem based on the research findings [5].

Characteristics of Juvenile Delinquency

Compared to other criminal groups, juvenile criminal groups have the following series of characteristics:

1. Social characteristics of juvenile delinquency:

a) Diversification of crime types: With the development of society, the types of juvenile delinquency have shown a trend of diversification. In addition to traditional theft, robbery, fighting, sexual crimes, etc., new types of crimes have also emerged, such as online fraud, online gambling, spreading obscene pornography, drug crimes, etc. [3].

b) Juvenile criminal groups are becoming younger and criminal methods are becoming more adult: The underage group is in a special period of rapid physiological development and insufficient psychological development. Faced with various temptations that can be seen everywhere on the internet, they often lack judgment and self-control abilities, so they are extremely prone to making deviant behaviors. And now many minors are more inclined towards intelligent crime and cybercrime.

c) Most of them are sudden cases: due to the young age and lack of social experience of minors, their considerations are relatively simple, and their motives and purposes for committing crimes are often simple and have a certain degree of blindness, resulting in more sudden crimes.

d) Cruel criminal methods: Minors are in the stage of growth and development, with rapid physiological development, but relatively slow psychological development. They exhibit immaturity in their thinking, are easily stimulated by external factors, and generate impulsive emotions. Cases caused by anger and impulsive emotions are often reckless, and the means of committing crimes are more brutal and barbaric.

e) Crime is repetitive: minors have strong imitative tendencies, and due to the different punishment methods for minors in different countries or regions, the lack of reasonable punishment methods can easily lead to minors committing crimes again. For example, for minors who have committed criminal acts, only fines are imposed without labor education or detention [7].

f) Joint crime: Due to the young age, immature thinking, and strong dependence of minors, most of their deviant behaviors are committed by gangs and have a certain “gang” nature.

2. Psychological characteristics of juvenile delinquency:

a) Emotionalization: Before committing criminal acts, minors, due to their lack of emotional experience and relatively weak self-control ability, are prone to impulsive behavior when emotionally agitated, without considering the consequences [12].

b) Imitation: Due to a lack of social experience and the ability to distinguish right from wrong, minors are easily influenced by their surroundings and the behavior of others in order to seek a sense of identity, and may imitate some bad behaviors. When committing criminal acts, their imitation is not limited to the criminal act itself, but may also include aspects such as criminal methods, language, attitudes, etc.

c) Curiosity psychology: Curiosity is one of the driving forces for exploring and understanding the world. Minors are often curious about new things, and with their vague understanding of legal boundaries, they may try dangerous or illegal behaviors due to curiosity [10].

d) Contrary psychology: The majority of juvenile delinquents are in their adolescence, and adolescents during adolescence may develop a rebellious mentality, developing resistance to rules and authority, leading to criminal behavior.

e) Loneliness and Desire for Identity: Some minors may feel lonely and crave attention and recognition, thereby engaging in criminal behavior to attract the attention of others.

f) Immature cognitive development: Due to the lack of social experience and judgment ability among minors, they may be more susceptible to external temptations than adults, and their insufficient understanding and understanding of the law may lead to their inability to realize the seriousness of their behavior [5].

Adverse Educational Environment Causing an Increase in Juvenile Delinquency

From the characteristics of juvenile delinquency, juvenile delinquency often has characteristics of blindness, imitation, and suddenness. The reasons for his crime are complex and multifaceted. There are both subjective and objective factors [8]. Generally speaking, it mainly includes the following aspects:

1. Social Education Environment and Juvenile Delinquency.

There is an inseparable relationship between juvenile delinquency and the social education environment, which plays a shaping role in the psychological development and behavioral construction of minors. It mainly affects the values, moral concepts, and behavioral patterns of minors directly or indirectly through public information dissemination channels such as communities and media. With the development of the internet era, the dissemination methods of mass media have changed. Various types of information and ideological concepts are rapidly spreading on self media platforms. Books, magazines, and video products that exaggerate pornography, killing, and violence are flooding the cultural market, containing various negative thoughts such as hedonism, materialism, and violence, which are also easily infiltrated into the vision of minors [4]. All these negative social information infringe on the physical and mental health of minors in the form of spiritual and cultural elements.

The adolescence of underage children is a crucial period for a person’s successful socialization. During this critical period of socialization, children and minors have a strong desire to imitate the social information and images they can obtain. This imitative behavior is not only targeted at children, but also includes those who have just entered society. Physiological adulthood does not necessarily represent psychological adulthood. These young people who have just entered society lack social experience and firm willpower. When they are exposed to various temptations in society, they are extremely prone to deviant behavior and even embark on the path of illegal crime.

It is crucial to improve the social and educational environment in order to prevent juvenile delinquency. This includes strengthening the standardization of media content, creating a good community environment, advocating correct social values, and strengthening legal education.

2. Family education environment and juvenile delinquency.

Family is the first school in life, and parents are the first teachers in life. Family education has a very important impact on everyone’s life, which can be positive or negative. However, whether it is a positive or negative impact, the impact of family education on minors has its significant characteristics, namely authoritative and long-term. Excluding social and personal factors, a poor family education environment is the direct cause of juvenile delinquency.

Poor families often like to instill in their children the concept of absolute obedience. On the basis of this concept, obey parents, teachers, or leaders. But this kind of “obedience to education” is incorrect. He only prioritizes money or power, blindly pursuing money and power, and neglecting the true purpose of education. In this “obedient education” family education environment, underage children are unable to receive proper care and supervision, and they often feel neglected or undervalued. Over time, they are more likely to develop a rebellious mentality during their teenage years, causing greater rebellious phenomena and triggering deviant behavior.

In addition to obedience to education, an excessively indulgent or indulgent family education environment, due to the lack of clear rules and boundaries, may also lead to children being overly self-centered, manifested as a lack of responsibility and self-discipline. As time goes on, they are also prone to committing illegal acts. In addition, family conflicts, domestic violence, and other negative behaviors of other members in the family are also highly likely to cause intentional or unintentional imitation by minors. During the process of imitation and observation, they are prone to unstable negative emotions. Minors are in a critical stage of physiological and psychological development, and their thoughts are not mature as their physical development is faster than their psychological development. Compared to adults, they are more likely to take the wrong path. And they are more likely to develop impulsive emotions due to external stimuli, and then go to extremes.

In order to prevent juvenile delinquency and establish a good family education environment, parents should give their children sufficient care and supervision, set correct examples, cultivate healthy family relationships, provide appropriate education and guidance, and establish good communication channels with their children [9].

3. School education environment and juvenile delinquency.

The fundamental purpose of education in the new era is to cultivate well-rounded individuals. However, most schools still have an educational philosophy guided by utilitarianism as their educational value. This kind of education has a direct impact on the construction of values and the cultivation of judgment ability among minors. As children grow up, they hear many words that influence their values: “Success is money”, “The meaning of life is to have power”, “Victory is...”. This low-quality educational philosophy may lead to students lacking correct values, moral concepts, and social skills, causing them to make wrong decisions when facing temptations or major choices, and ultimately leading them to the wrong path.

In addition, there may be a series of violent behaviors such as exclusion or bullying among students with different socio-economic backgrounds or personalities in schools, which can exist between groups or individuals. Students who participate in campus violence, whether they are victims or perpetrators, are more likely to learn how to solve problems through violent means, increasing the likelihood of committing crimes.

In order to prevent juvenile delinquency, schools can adopt a series of targeted measures, such as strengthening disciplinary management, providing mental health education, establishing good teacher-student relationships, conducting moral and legal education, etc. Improve the quality of students themselves, create correct values, outlook on life, and worldview directions for them, guide them towards the correct learning direction, determine the correct learning goals, and help them plan the correct learning path. Enable them to establish their own correct and unique perspectives, and become well-rounded students in the new era of educational philosophy.

4. Unequal educational opportunities and juvenile delinquency.

Universal education is the foundation of educational development and plays an important role in promoting comprehensive progress of the national economy and society [6]. However, the development of education in different regions is characterized by imbalance and inadequacy. Due to the family factors of rural students, insufficient hardware facilities in rural schools, and weak teaching staff, the development of universal education is still insufficient and unbalanced. In impoverished areas, due to the lack of excellent teachers, teaching resources, and economy, some minors are unable to access high-quality teaching resources, which limits their development in knowledge, skills, and values. They lack competitiveness in the job market due to a lack of good education, making it difficult for them to find satisfactory jobs. At the same time, combined with their already low socio-economic status, poverty and life pressure can easily make them feel hopeless and helpless. When faced with temptation, they are prone to making wrong and impulsive decisions.

Due to their low socio-economic status and unequal educational opportunities, these minors face more psychological pressure and challenges than others, and they are also prone to negative emotions such as inferiority and depression. These psychological issues may increase their risk of deviant or even criminal behavior [1].

In order to prevent juvenile delinquency, we should strive to provide fair educational opportunities, improve the quality of education, narrow the education gap, and provide vocational training and counseling. At the same time, families and society should also provide support and guidance to help minors establish correct values, cultivate good moral character and behavioral habits.

Create a good educational environment and reduce juvenile delinquency

The healthy growth of teenagers is related to the happiness of countless families, social harmony and stability, and the future of the country and nation. In recent years, the forms of juvenile delinquency are diversified, the means of crime are violent and ferocious, and the phenomenon of gang crime is emerging one after another [9].

Teenagers are the future of the motherland. We must do a good job in cooperation. The government, schools, families and other aspects should make efforts at the same time, take effective methods and means, create a good growth environment, and prevent more teenagers from going astray in violation of the law and crime.

1. Cooperation between home and school to create a new style.

Parents are the first permanent teachers of children. They play an important and irreplaceable role in people’s life growth. Soviet educator Sukhomlinsky believed that “school and family are two sculptors who work side by side, have the same ideals and ideas, and act in one direction. It is extremely important that the two sculptors do not have opposite positions in creating people”. Respect parents, guide parents to understand, participate in and supervise school education. In order to give full play to the supervision and education role of parents and organically combine school education with family education. Good family style can enable teenagers to form a correct world outlook, outlook on life and values in the process of growth [11]. No matter how great changes have taken place in the times, no matter how great changes have taken place in the pattern of life, we should pay attention to family construction, pay attention to family and family education, promote family harmony, promote the healthy growth of the next generation, promote the elderly to have a sense of security, and make tens of thousands of families an important basis for national development, national progress and social harmony.

In the process of teenagers’ growth and education, parents should tell their children the harm of illegal events to society and others. Appropriately change an educational method. When encountering an illegal event, we should take the initiative to tell them about the bad impact of this behavior on society, family and individuals, touch the truth, goodness and beauty of teenagers, and form a good personality, rather than just answering that illegal acts will go to prison, make them curious or rebellious, and deliberately touch the bottom line of the law [9].

2. Police and school linkage to protect correct values.

Schools can offer long-term courses in laws and regulations, so that the spirit of understanding and abiding by the law can run through the learning career of teenagers. Accordingly, set up psychological counseling courses, pay attention to the mental health problems of teenagers, timely find the problems existing in the growth of teenagers, communicate and solve them in time, and nip the hidden dangers of contradictions in the cradle. Regularly carry out law popularization activities for public security police on campus, focus on publicizing law popularization on issues such as Youth Rights Protection and prevention of juvenile delinquency in combination with typical juvenile delinquency cases, and tell teenagers how to deal with violations and crimes correctly [2].

The law is a rule that restricts people’s behavior. If you don’t abide by the rules and violate the law, you will be punished. The school interacts with the court to organize young people to visit and study in the people’s court and sit in on the trial of illegal and criminal defendants, so that young people can really feel the seriousness of the law and understand the consequences and hazards of crime. Guide young people to develop good behavior habits, start with themselves and small things, call on young people to learn, understand, abide by and use the law, effectively enhance young people’s concept of rule of law and legal awareness, let young people know how to learn self-protection in daily life and consciously resist all kinds of bad temptations [9].

3. Teachers set up views and show new faces.

Teachers must aim at cultivating people with all-round and healthy development, take education as the teaching goal, and pursue value and selective creation. A good teacher must first have professionalism and love students. This can make up for the lack of family and social education and keep the influence of teachers in the hearts of students for a long time.

Teachers are people who cultivate sound personality. Teachers should strengthen students’ mental health education and legal education. Teachers carry out mental health education for students for a long time, enhance students’ ability to withstand setbacks and adapt to the environment, cultivate students’ sound personality and good personality psychological quality, and provide counseling and guidance to a few students with psychological problems or psychological obstacles [6]. According to the characteristics of students’ psychological development and the law of physical and mental development, targeted education should be implemented. Through universal educational activities, students have a positive understanding of mental health education and their psychological quality has been gradually improved. Pay attention to individual differences and carry out various forms of education and counseling according to the different needs of different students. Take students as the main body and fully inspire and mobilize students’ enthusiasm. Mental health education should permeate the whole process of school education. In addition to using relevant classroom education contents for education, it is more important to carry out various forms of activities and counseling. At the same time, it is necessary to establish a communication channel between school education and family psychological education to form an educational environment conducive to students’ physical and mental health development. Constantly create a strong atmosphere of legal education. Teachers use their spare time to continuously improve their knowledge level, regularly carry out rich activities, such as legal knowledge competition, watching legal knowledge publicity videos, making legal knowledge animation posters, blackboard newspapers, etc., establish a model of learning and using law, and formulate long-term plans to let teenagers learn and grow in a good atmosphere of learning law.

4. Emphasize labor education and reduce repetitive crimes.

Labor education is an important means to prevent repeat crimes committed by minors who have already engaged in deviant behavior. At present, the punishment methods for juvenile delinquency vary around the world, which can be roughly divided into three categories: fines, criminal penalties, and labor education. Compared to the punishment form mainly based on fines, labor education allows juvenile offenders to learn to take responsibility and cultivate a sense of social responsibility by participating in labor. In addition, labor education also helps to cultivate the diligence and self-reliance spirit of juvenile offenders, improve their self-management and self-control abilities, and facilitate better adaptation to society. Compared to the criminal punishment forms for adult crimes, labor education focuses on the age characteristics and development potential of juvenile criminal groups. Due to the incomplete physical and psychological maturity of minors, their adaptability is relatively high, and labor education is more helpful in helping them correct their mistakes and return to society.

Russia has achieved significant results in correcting and preventing juvenile delinquency through labor education, becoming a model for preventing juvenile delinquency worldwide. In terms of sentencing for juvenile delinquency, Russia has achieved good results by replacing imprisonment or detention with compulsory labor since January 1, 2017. In 2020, the President of the Supreme Court of Russia, Vyacheslav Lebedev, recently stated that the number of juvenile offenders in Russia has decreased by 80% in the past 16 years, from 96800 in 2003 to 16900 in 2019 [5].

Summary

The motivation for juvenile delinquency is closely related to the educational environment, and the improvement of the educational environment is also the key to preventing and treating juvenile delinquency. The educational environment mainly includes social education environment, family education environment, and school education environment, which play a crucial role in the growth and development of minors. With the development of the current era, juvenile delinquency often reflects different characteristics. At the social level, their criminal behavior has characteristics of suddenness, repetition, group nature, diversity, and younger age. On a personal level, their criminal psychology is characterized by emotional, imitative, curious, rebellious, lonely, and immature cognitive development. There is a catalytic and catalyzed relationship between these characteristics and the educational environment. To address the phenomenon of juvenile delinquency, we need to start with addressing the characteristics of crime. The governance of criminal characteristics also requires stopping the development of a negative educational environment and stopping the catalytic process. To improve the educational environment through multiple aspects such as family school cooperation, police school linkage, teacher training, and labor education, in order to achieve the goal of preventing and treating juvenile delinquency.

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