The Function of Retaliation or Revenge in the Formation of Juvenile Delinquency

• In Event: ISRD Panel 3: Family Dynamics and Social Identity in Youth Delinquency

Abstract

The paper draws data from the fourth wave of the ISRD project in the Czech Republic (2023), which affected 2026 primary and secondary school students in Prague and Pilsen. It focuses on attitudes towards violence and the problem of revenge violence, both scales differentiate well and show a tendency towards normal distribution. This allows comparing both attitudes not only by gender or type of school, but also by involvement in delinquency and victimization. The association with violent delinquency is confirmed, the link to victimization is much weaker, but the attitude towards revenge is strengthened by serious victimization by a parent, and then, for example, by the feeling of strongly unfair treatment by society. The tendency to take revenge is suppressed by self-control and sensitivity to violence, which is confirmed by the results of the regression analysis. Attitudes towards revenge are also used as a predictor of overall delinquency, the strength of this effect is comparable to self-control. Attitudes towards violence are no longer a strong predictor, probably because delinquency does not always have to be violent in nature. In shaping attitudes towards revenge, violent delinquency itself has a greater weight compared to cybercrime, in which these motives play a smaller role. Although attacks on social networks are perceived as violence by most students, it still seems that the proportion of tolerant attitudes towards violence is still relatively high in the Czech society.

Author

• Jiri Burianek, Katedra sociologie, Charles University Prague