Gevaarlijke kinderen. Veranderingen in de aard en aanpak van jeugdcriminaliteit, 1960-1995

Samenvatting

Dangerous Children. Changes in the Nature of an Approach to Youth Criminality, 1960-1995. Examines changes in the severity of youth crime and how juvenile judges and welfare workers have tried to control the behavior of delinquent juveniles in the Netherlands, drawing on 1960s-1990s file data on 206 adolescents and children in the Dordrecht district. It is found that both the number and the severity of crimes committed by children increased significantly, whereas external constraints by parents and juvenile justice workers decreased. A figuration-sociological perspective suggests that the transition toward more equal, negotiation-based, rather than command-based, power relations between adults and children requires a level of self-control and self-discipline that tends to be underdeveloped in children who grow up without adequate parental supervision. Further research is required regarding circumstances that are conducive to the development of insufficient self-control; gender- and ethnicity-related factors are also discussed. 61 References. Adapted from the source document.