The perspectives of social workers and teachers on youth delinquency : the significance of family

Abstract

Juvenile delinquency has become an issue of public attention and concern in Hong Kong as the rate of young people committing crimes has been disproportionately fluctuating in recent years. Research indicates that the causes of youth crime can be influenced by various risk factors such as the individual’s community, family and school. The identification of risk factors, are heavily shaped by those working on the frontlines such as social workers and teachers. This study seeks to explore the perceptions and beliefs of these two groups who work closely with adolescents and develop a working definition and understanding of the risk factors associated with troublesome youth behavior. The present study incorporated a qualitative design method approach in which two groups of professionals (social workers and secondary school teachers) participated. A total of two focus groups were held, with one consisting of six social workers that work closely with adolescents, and another consisting of six Hong Kong local secondary school teachers. In order to have a more in-depth understanding of the perception of youth delinquency, a total of ten individual interviews were carried out. Of the participants, five were social workers and five were Hong Kong local secondary school teachers in which both groups of participants work closely on a daily basis with adolescents. The goal of the individual interviews is to gather different insights of how each group perceives a troubled youth and their family. This can examine the influences of different organizational culture the two groups adopt in defining, treating and responding to youth delinquency. From the data analysis, the findings show that social workers and teachers’ perspectives were based on their working experience and the types of young people they would face on a daily basis. The findings show that social workers and teachers have different perspectives in defining a troublesome youth and their level of acceptance in troublesome behaviors. Furthermore, the findings also show their different views towards the troublesome youth’s parents. It was found that teachers would often blame children’s parents for their misbehavior by drawing a line between the school’s reputability and the family environment. On the other hand, social workers were empathetic in which they understand that most parents of troublesome children do not have time to monitor or supervise them, thus leading these children to have a greater chance to engage in delinquent acts. The different perceptions between the two groups could be due to the fact that social workers are more likely to have encounters with a greater range of youth’s behaviors, especially those who might be more troublesome than teachers would encounter. Furthermore, social workers’ were more open-minded when discussing about how to treat and respond to troublesome behaviors as opposed to teachers in which they would always maintain a normative position. The findings of this study are useful in raising the awareness of social workers and teachers about their ways of dealing with youth deviance, so that they can keep in mind the influence of their organizational cultures.