Aggressive Youthful Action. The Role of the School in Youth Deviance

In Italy, as in many countries, it is difficult to measure the phenomenon of youthful deviance and associate it with the role of educational institutions in growth and training. It is a silent, hidden, overbearing bond, which is not measurable by the indicators represented in the social, psychological and economic systems and which often hides one or many truths (misunderstandings, personal, family and socio-economic distress, baby crime, gang initiation). We will try to highlight the elements of this link. What can be done to reduce the discomfort of young people that very often results in aggressive behavior towards themselves and towards others?


Introduction
The educational institution is considered the second promoter of socialization after the family. It is a formal institution specifically intended for the transmission of culture and the education of new generations. Essentially there are two fundamental functions of the school: • the socialization function: the school is inserted between the family and the world of work to continue the secondary socialization process. The latter prepares individuals for taking on adult roles; • the selection function: in addition to having an education role, the school is part of a social mechanism that tests individuals' skills, selecting them and directing them towards the social positions most suited to their attitudes. The selection is made in terms of intelligence and levels of knowledge.
School socialization allows the emancipation of young people to the emotional attachment to the family www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/jecs Journal of Education and Culture Studies Vol. 4, No. 2, 2020 30 Published by SCHOLINK INC. and an internalization of social values and norms, which entails a step forward compared to what has been learned within the family.
From this point of view, undoubtedly, school plays a fundamental role with respect to adolescent growth. In fact, school as an institution can also be the cause of maladjustment, in particular of relational maladjustment, not of learning.
Many teenagers, in fact, reveal that they felt devalued and "damaged" by the school or that they had difficulties in dealing with teachers deemed too rigid or uninterested in their problems. This can lead to a drop in school motivation and exacerbate the children's relationship difficulties.
On the whole, however, adolescents still consider school important for their preparation for the future also as an aid for their own personal growth, although they consider it not very oriented towards practical and concrete life and the world of work.
However, they would like greater understanding and creativity on the part of teachers who, in this phase of loss of self-confidence and self-esteem or lack of identity, should correspond to their expectations of significant teachers / adults ready to understand, help and solve their difficulties selflessly, but often argue that they are unable to play this role.
Although the role that the teacher of adolescent students is called to play is very complex, often finding themselves facing unexpected or difficult to identify problems, in the school context they work beyond what is strictly connected to the acquisition of teaching skills starting from a emotional and relational education, from the possibility of opening spaces of listening and reciprocity, from an education to diversity, without thereby denying one's own authority as adults.
By assessing the school environment from this point of view, we can reach the conclusion that it is a very important place to grasp the possible manifestation of some problems of the minor, this because it is the first relevant and stable area of communication with adults outside the family.
At school, in fact, teenagers experience different forms of communication than family ones.

Youth Discomfort
The need to feel autonomous and the awareness of their dependence on adults can sometimes generate a profound uneasiness and profound suffering often incommunicable in the adolescent and the consequences depend on the adolescent's personal characteristics and on the possibility of receiving adequate support in affective environment that surrounds it.
The disadvantaged young man is transgressive, he also questions the relationship with the educational and social rules.
It becomes difficult to understand to what extent transgression, which seems to be a universal characteristic of adolescents, can be considered an expression of a desire for growth and greater autonomy and when, on the other hand, it is the alarm bell of a profound unease.
Here the role of parents and teachers is fundamental, they have the arduous task of welcoming, listening and understanding the discomfort and disorientation that, most often, are manifested through the development of deviant or dangerous behavior. Dialogue, listening and understanding of adults can allow that transgressive conduct, which risks turning into antisociality and in extreme cases even in crime, take on the mere meaning of the harmless transgressiveness typical of adolescence.
The Italian Society of Pediatrics, on the occasion of the National Congress, presented the survey carried out in collaboration with the regional school offices. The survey revealed the existence of an emotional unease widespread among young people together a distance from the adult reference figures.
More of ten thousand young people, aged between 14 and 18, from all Italian regions were observed, who, by answering a questionnaire, made it possible to investigate different areas: nutrition and relationship with their body, perception of the received listening, psycho-emotional distress, bullying, sexuality, addictions, use of the internet, family.
Over half of the respondents said they were (always, often, sometimes) so bad that they were unable to find relief. And if you add to this percentage those who have "rarely" experienced this sensation, you get to about 80% of the sample. 15% of the sample intentionally inflicted injury often to find relief (or for pure pleasure). About one in two children felt the need for psychological support, but 84.2% did not go to a psychological help service and only 4.8% used that of the school. Those who turned to the specialist (7.4%) did it mainly for family problems (27.3%) followed by sentimental and behavioral problems (both at 21%), school (16%) and with peers (13, 3%).
Dr. Alberto Villani, president of the SIP reports: "The investigation confirms that adolescence is a difficult age, the news is that emotional and behavioral difficulties emerge faster and faster" (Note 1).

The Risk Factors and Risk Behaviors of the Adolescent
We need to ask ourselves which variables should be considered to try to understand if a teenager has a predisposition towards risk or is taking dangerous paths for himself and for others.
Consequently, it is necessary to understand and identify which elements can negatively influence the adolescent growth path in order to be able to work with them in order to achieve the same development goals without endangering one's physical safety or psychological well-being.
If it is true that all adolescents have the ability to discern good from bad, it is equally true that almost nobody can be considered exempt from the possibility of engaging in dangerous conduct.
The reason why a boy manages to exempt a deviant / dangerous behavior and another no, does not reside solely in that boy but is the result of the interaction of different factors, in fact no single factor is decisive but it is their aggregation that determines a concrete danger to development (Note 2).
Risk factors can be grouped into three categories (Note 3): 1. Biological risk factors. Among these, those related to temperament, cognitive style and those dependent on gender (being male represents a risk factor for the development of violent behavior).
These factors are only partially modifiable from environmental factors since they are connected, in large part, to factors of a genetic nature. into two distinct psychobiological dimensions: temperament and character (Cloninger, 1993).
According to this theory, defined as psychosocial, temperament reflects a biological basis that determines the drive to act in different ways, the character, however, would be the result of the person's interaction, based on his attitudes, with the environment (Note 6).
2. Social risk factors. Among these, the disadvantaged socio-economic conditions significantly influence: poverty, ignorance, unemployment, large family, family members with criminal and repeat offenders, recourse to social services and living in socially risky environments, early experiences.
3. Family risk factors. Corporal punishment up to physical abuse by parents or the total absence of punishment, educational laxity or total absence of education.
Starting from the assumption that the concept of causality cannot be applied in the social and human sciences as it is applied in the natural sciences, risk factors can be considered as probabilities that a deplorable conduct will occur or not occur.
It has been said that the presence or exposure to a risk factor is not enough to determine a risk behavior but the aggregation of multiple factors is necessary. Therefore, direct causality as a linear relationship between cause assumes little relevance for study and observations and effect. On the other hand, the relationship between risk factors and risk behaviors attributable to multifactorial causality and procedural causality is significant.
In multifactorial causality the risk factors act concomitantly and are strengthened with cumulative effects. The risk situation is considered in a global and unitary way through the use of an evaluation procedure, called "risk profile", which allows you to map all the factors present in the situation (genetic, relational, educational, environmental, traumatic factors, etc.) and measure the intensity of each of them (Note 7).
The procedural causality is part of the interactionist development theory which argues that human behavior can be explained by the interaction between the individual and the environment. To the extent that the subject interacts with the risk factors he is not destined to suffer them as the cause of inevitable harmful effects but can also face them and possibly modify them. In the adolescent environment, however, there are not only risk factors but also other positive factors, such as internal or external resources (protection factors) that can interact with risk factors by attenuating or inhibiting their potential negative charge, avoiding or alleviating an uncomfortable situation or certain risky behavior.
The risk factor, following the positive interactions described, can lose its initial negative charge and turn into an opportunity for psychological growth. Here, therefore, that identifying these positive factors can certainly help to implement suitable interventions to encourage the development of recovery capacities in subjects most vulnerable to risk factors. The most relevant protective factor is certainly the presence of good social support capable of significantly reducing the impact of negative factors as it is capable of making the boy feel listened, respected, protected (Note 8).
Risk behaviors include all those actions, those attitudes and those behaviors that can compromise physical, psychological and social well-being, in the immediate or long term. Some of the most common risk behaviors are the use of alcoholic beverages, reckless driving, self-harm, bullying, cyberbullying, sexting, hikikomori, online enticement, unprotected sexual activities, anorexia and bulimia, early school leaving, escapes from home, suicide attempts, behaviors violent against objects, animals or people.

The Consequences of Deviance and Statistics
"About 24% of the boys who become deviant, become deviant because at the base there are discomforts of neurological origin, they are above all boys who present problems of hyperactivity, attention deficit, learning deficit" (Note 9).
In the deviant action of the boys there is a total absence of planning and awareness regarding the social meanings of one's actions and the consequences have resonances in the system of social, economic, cultural and political relationships (Note 10), therefore it is fundamental to try to eliminate and prevent the discomfort in order to avoid the harmful consequences for the entire social system.
Before addressing the consequences of deviance, those that lead to criminal conduct, it should be noted that the term "deviance" and the term "crime" converge and are often used indiscriminately.
But there is a substantial difference between deviance and crime.
"Deviant" is defined as behavior that does not conform to social and moral standards; "Criminal" behavior that, on the other hand, transgresses legal norms. Deviance thus differs from crime in that it includes less serious acts that do not require direct intervention by the competent authorities. Now, although in most cases criminal behavior is also deviant, the opposite is not always true.
In fact, as Becker has well explained, deviance is not disobedience to norms. Deviance is a social construction, in the sense that it is always the result of an interaction. Becker believes that the definition of deviance depends on two parameters: "on the one hand, the rules that are imposed and, on the other, the judgment processes of those who imposed the rules on the outsider and those of the outsider himself (which reject the rules and legitimacy of those who imposed them) (Note 11)".
Criminologists agree that there is a coherent relationship between age and frequency with which crimes are committed, which has long been the subject of investigations, research and criminological analysis.
In fact, minors and young adults commit more crimes than recorded in the population belonging to other age groups. In Italy too, the age percentages of people convicted of theft and robbery grow very quickly in pre-adolescence and adolescence; first in the case of thefts, a little later and in a slightly less marked way in the case of robberies. But in adulthood they tend to decrease again. A similar relationship has also been observed for other illegal or disapproved behaviors, such as the consumption of drugs and, among the crimes against the person, voluntary personal injuries (Note 12).
In particular, if the adolescent and youth population grows, predatory crimes, in particular thefts and robberies, will also grow. In the seventies and eighties the generation born during the baby boom of the sixties reached the age most at risk (Figure 1), and the effect of the increase of this population is clearly visible in the growth of thefts and robberies occurred in those years.
But since the nineties the population in those age classes has started to drop dramatically, and at the    The statistical analysis of the Juvenile Justice Services (2018)    The data refer to the crimes of criminal proceedings against minors in the period in question; the number of offenses is greater than the number of minors as a minor can have one or more offenses charged. The table shows the details of the types of crime with a frequency equal to or greater than 100 or of particular interest. The data highlights: • The highest percentage of minors entering residential services (Community and Juvenile criminal institutes) are of foreign origin (especially from North Africa or Eastern Europe); • The minors followed outside the criminal institutions are mainly Italian, male, between 16 and 17 years of age;

Conclusions
The first signs of discomfort are generally included in behaviors such as smoking cigarettes, abusing alcohol, using joint or drugs of any kind. These signals must be picked up by the family who can ask for help if they cannot manage them, since they can facilitate understanding that there is a sign of uneasiness in the adolescent. Understanding is the first step in taking action.
The school, alongside the family, is the privileged place to develop adequate preventive actions. It must try to catch signs of unease such as: use of cigarettes, isolation, apathy, depression, tendencies towards bullying.
Teachers and all school staff must be reference points for young people, they must be placed in a position to trust and confide.
To be ready to catch the first signs of discomfort, the school needs suitable projects and innovations to support and support all the school staff but mainly the teachers.
A big problem is legal illiteracy. In this regard, many requests have been made in recent years.
The Even more serious if we consider that in the Recommendation of the European Parliament and of the European Council of 18 December 2006 on the eight key competences, which must characterize all the didactic paths of the European States, Europe asks to assure our students the "Social competences and civic, which equip people with the tools to fully participate in civil life thanks to the knowledge of the concepts of democracy, justice, equality, citizenship, civil rights and socio-political structures "and the sense of initiative and entrepreneurship understood as a person's ability to translate ideas into action, which helps individuals, not only in their daily lives, in the domestic sphere and in society, but also in the workplace".
Without a change in the educational institutions that ensures the study of law and economics for students of all school levels and degrees, there is no civil, social, cultural and economic growth.
In schools it is possible to carry out projects to try to help children get better with themselves and in the group. Positive psychology promotes models of self-acceptance, autonomy, personal growth and helps young people to see a purpose in their life so that they can invest in it in all respects.
Another serious problem is the lack of prevention in psychological health against youth discomfort. In fact, the introduction of pedagogist and psychologist figures in all schools would be appropriate.
In particular, the figure of the pedagogist would provide the College of Teachers and the individual teachers, the families of the pupils, the specialists and representatives of the Public and Private Bodies engaged in various capacities and at the different levels of responsibility in educational actions, support, orientation, support, operational indications for a full inclusion of each pupil and to maximize educational success, also in line with the current EU guidelines on the renewal and effectiveness of the national education and training systems of the member countries. Last month (February 4, 2020), the Council of the Puglia region unanimously approved "the School Pedagogy Unit" required by Regional Law no. 31 of 2009.
The constant figure of the psychologist at school would serve to prevent, promote well-being and intervene in the cases of full-blown hardship.
In many European countries this figure is present and has an important role in supporting the education system and contributes to improving the performance of the school system. In Italy, some schools make use of the professionalism of expert psychologists by including specific Projects in the POF (Plan of the Educational Offer).
The proposed law, to introduce the figure of the school psychologist, was assigned to the VII Culture Commission at the referent headquarters on 17 September 2019, all that remains is to hope for its approval.
Finally, the constant presence in all schools of the figure of a professional mediator would be very important to reconcile the different motivations that generate hostility before they generate conflicts.
Conciliation necessary between all subjects operating in the school, not only among students and between students and school staff, but also between teachers and between teachers and manager.
Finally, the constant presence in all schools of the figure of a professional mediator would be very important to reconcile the different motivations that generate hostility before they generate conflicts.
Conciliation necessary between all subjects operating in the school, not only among students and between students and school staff, but also between teachers and between teachers and manager.