| Summary: | The purpose of this study was to examine young offenders’ attitudes towards crime, and to the penalty they have been sentenced to as juveniles. More specifically its aim was to examine an intervention program called Galaxen, specifically used to deal with juveniles in Växjö. This intervention program consists mainly of conversations with social workers from social services, aiming towards better self-awareness and the ability to understand the consequences of one’s actions. In two focus groups, ten social workers involved in Galaxen were asked to discuss these matters. Three individual interviews with young offenders previously attending Galaxen were also conducted. The analysis was based on a social learning perspective, identifying anti- and procriminal attitudes. It was concluded that young offenders’ attitudes towards crime may be the result of previous and present exposure to anti- or procriminal attitudes, and that modeling and social control conducted by grown-ups, especially parents, is quite important when it comes to young people’s behavioral development. It was also concluded that one’s self-efficacy may be altered, by learning to think through new perspectives.
|
|---|
