Delinquency and the school : the role of interaction between youth and school officials in the development of delinquency

Abstract

This study explores the role that interaction between young people and school officials could have had in increasing the risk for the initiation and /or maintenance of delinquency amongst a sample of Maltese youth. Thus after a literature review of the adolescent life stage, this dissertation examines various theoretical approaches to delinquency which consider interaction within the school context as a factor in the emergence and maintenance of delinquency. The importance of schooling in the life of the adolescent is examined in the light of the local educational context. This extensive literature review then led to the emergence of a possible link between young people's school experiences and delinquency. This possibility is then examined in the research study which makes use of semi-structured interviews with fifteen young people who had been in contact with the court and with five school officials. The academic records of the young people interviewed are also analysed in order to quantitatively substantiate the data collected in interviews. Results indicate that the interaction that took place between students and their school officials, and the generally negative quality of the relationships that developed between them, were a factor that led the students to reject schooling and search for meaning in non conforming ways. Finally this dissertation presents various strategies that can enhance the local educational system in providing a more fulfilling school experience to all students through the improvement of interaction between all those involved.