Prevention Of Antisocial Behavior Of Students

Abstract

In the context of the article, the author considers the advantages of prevention as a special type of pedagogical activity associated with the teacher's manifestation of anticipatory abilities that provide him with predicting relationships with the student by predicting or anticipating adverse events that require the implementation of preventive measures of psychological influence. The most important condition for increasing the effectiveness of a preventive program is to determine the level of psychological readiness of teachers to prevent asocial behavior of students. The psychological readiness of the teacher to prevent the antisocial behavior of students is an integral professional personality trait that ensures the formation of anticipatory abilities, which is the basis for the creation of psychological opportunities for the effectiveness of measures taken to prevent asocial behavior of students. Psychodiagnostic study of the predisposition of antisocial behavior of students in a general educational institution in accordance with the types, levels and characteristics, without determining the personality characteristics of the student, becomes uninformative in preventive activities and does not provide the subjects of educational activity with valuable prognostic results. A generalized and one-sided assessment of the manifestation of antisocial behavior without knowledge of the causal relationships of its occurrence can become dangerous and not objective. Comprehensive diagnostics, based on the study of the characterological characteristics of the student, leads to the identification of the socio-psychological typology of children.

Keywords: Prevention, anticipation, antisocial behavior, structural model

Introduction

The problem of antisocial behavior of students is one of the most pressing problems of pedagogical and psychological science, the solution of which is associated with the definition of conceptual positions in the prophylactic and preventive activities of the teacher (Rean, 2018).

In Russia, young people commit about 60 % of all crimes. In 2017, 697.2 thousand people were convicted of crimes in the Russian Federation, including 20.6 thousand juvenile convicts (Portal of the Federal State Statistics Service, 2018).

According to the statistical data of the portal of legal statistics of the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation, the dynamics of juvenile delinquency in Russia for the periods from 2010 to 2016 at different time intervals is ambiguous. In recent years, there have been periods of decline, increase, relative stability of the criminal activity of minors. Experts draw attention to the fact that some stabilization of the number of crimes committed with the participation of adolescents, which has emerged in recent years, indicates an increase in the latency of such crimes, rather than its actual decrease. To a certain extent, the decline in crime registration rates is largely due to the reduction in the total number of adolescents of the age of criminal responsibility, living in Russia (as of January 1, thousand people): 2015 – 6829, 2016 – 6731, 2017 – 6690 (Portal of the Federal State Statistics Service, 2018). It is noted that juvenile delinquency is growing 7 times faster than the change in the total population of this age category.

Despite the general positive trends observed in the dynamics of juvenile crime in the country, in recent years there has been an increase in the number of violent crimes (murders, rapes, cases of causing grievous bodily harm, medium bodily harm, hooliganism, assaults and robberies), as well as such complex in terms of their mechanism crimes like economic crimes and fraud; the growth of registration rates for such dangerous crimes as deliberate destruction of property, theft of vehicles, illegal carrying and possession of weapons is also quite noticeable.

The increasing frequency of crimes committed by adolescents in educational institutions requires special attention (Dozortseva et al., 2020). At the same time, offenses are becoming more and more cruel and aggressive. This is evidenced by the cases of the use of edged weapons and firearms that have occurred in schools in Russia and abroad over the past few years (US Statistics on the Use of Weapons in Schools, 2011; Shooting in a School in Moscow Region, 2017).

Thus, the prevention of antisocial behavior in educational institutions should be carried out as early as possible (Dryfoos, 1990; Patterson et al., 1989): from primary school age, in order to prevent antisocial behavior of students. The current situation testifies to the persistence of a high degree of social danger of juvenile delinquency, which requires an immediate response in the field of prevention of antisocial behavior, namely, the need to develop logically structured conceptual guidelines in the context of theoretical and methodological elaborations and create on their basis a model for the prevention of antisocial behavior of students of general education institutions.

Problem Statement

The need to fill this gap in scientific knowledge determined the problem of our research. In theoretical terms, this is a problem of theoretical and methodological substantiation and development of a structural model for the prevention of antisocial behavior of students. In practical terms, it is the problem of determining the areas of activity of the psychologist of an educational institution, within the framework of which, with the help of methods, forms and techniques adequate to such areas, the content of the process of forming the teacher's anticipatory abilities to prevent antisocial behavior of students is realized. Object of research: antisocial behavior of students in lower secondary school. Subject of research: prevention as an anticipatory way of preventing the development of antisocial behavior of students.

In the present study, the following research hypothesis is subjected to empirical verification: the prevention of antisocial behavior of students based on a structural model will be successful if:

• the structural model of the prevention of antisocial behavior of students developed in the context of methodology levels is based on the idea of forming the anticipatory abilities of teachers;
• the implementation of the approaches to the formation of the teacher's psychological readiness that lie in the foundations of the developed model is carried out with the help of principles adequate to them;
• the implementation of the integration of active interaction between the teacher and the parents to prevent antisocial behavior in order to make uniform pedagogical decisions provides a preventive psychological impact on the child;
• the formation of teachers' psychological culture of relationship and interaction with students through the correction of relationships in the "teacher-student" system will be based on taking into account the socio-psychological and individual characteristics of students;
• conducting a comprehensive diagnosis is determined based on the possibility of obtaining complete information about the socio-psychological characteristics of students, the style of family education cultivated by parents, the social system of personality relations, which makes it possible to establish causal relationships of predisposition to antisocial behavior, providing timely corrective actions of teachers and parents on the basis of individually developed correctional programs.

Research Questions

In-depth knowledge by subjects of educational activity of the socio-psychological typology of children, possible expectations in the manifestation of socio-psychological characteristics in various life situations, requiring them to commit moral acts, becomes a nuclear formation for the prevention of antisocial behavior.

Awareness of the value of advanced information about cause-and-effect relationships regarding the prospective development of student behavior ensures the formation of anticipatory abilities in adult subjects of educational activity (Davletbaeva, 2013).

Psychological support in a general education school for prevention of antisocial behavior of students is possible due to the teacher's deep theoretical knowledge of the individual-typological and socio-psychological characteristics of his/her students (character, temperament, abilities, level of education, good breeding, needs, interests, motives, life plans), their past, present and future, which serve as the basis for forecasting and act as the foundation for designing and making decisions about the pedagogical influence on the student in order to prevent antisocial behavior.

Thus, the decisive factor in the predisposition to antisocial behavior is the individual psychological characteristics of the personality, in particular, the character of the student, whose behavior is only the result. The possibility of taking optimal measures of pedagogical influence, taking into account the individual-typological characteristics of the student's personality, is one of the priority directions of the conceptual foundations of the model for the prevention of antisocial behavior of the student.

At the basis of the structural model developed by us for the prevention of antisocial behavior of students are preventive, personality-oriented, event-driven and activity-based approaches, the implementation of which is carried out using principles adequate to them. The preventive approach in its implementation includes the ability to form the anticipatory abilities of subjects of educational activity in order to predict the direction of behavior of students with antisocial behavior. The implementation of the personality-oriented approach allows us to determine the predisposition to asocial behavior of students due to the identified socio-typological characteristics of students. The essence of the event-based approach is that it orients the teacher towards the inclusion of students in certain events and situations that contribute to the acquisition of experience of moral behavior. The activity approach orients the teacher towards creating conditions for transforming the activity of students into socially acceptable forms of behavior.

In the context of our research, we have developed a structural model for the prevention of asocial behavior of students in an educational institution (The model includes: 1) goal: the formation of psychological and pedagogical conditions for the prevention of antisocial behavior of students; 2) tasks: a) the formation of teachers' anticipatory abilities, as a specific "state" of the system of internal resources of the individual, ensuring the success of predictive activity in the prevention of asocial behavior of students; b) the formation among teachers of a psychological culture of relationship and interaction with students (through the correction of relationships in the "teacher-student" system); c) the formation of the teacher's ability to make decisions on optimal measures of pedagogical influence, taking into account the individual and socio-typological characteristics of students; d) providing by a psychologist a joint work in the system "psychologist – parents – teachers" to develop an individual approach to each student; e) provision by a psychologist optimization of the transition of students from primary school to the secondary level (through the creation of pedagogical teams); f) the formation by a psychologist of a psychological culture of relationships among parents in the "parent-child" system); 3) approaches (preventive, personality-oriented, event-driven, activity-based) and the principles of their implementation; 4) a structural model for the prevention of antisocial behavior of students (psychological and pedagogical conditions; stages of implementation; forms, methods and means of forming a teacher's psychological readiness; programs, results); 5) directions of preventive activities; 6) predicted result: reduction of antisocial behavior of students); the model is implemented in a number of stages: Stage 1 – educational activities; Stage 2 – diagnostic activity; Stage 3 – the proper correctional activity.

Theoretical analysis of the literature made it possible to define the concept of “antisocial behavior of younger schoolchildren”. The antisocial behavior of younger schoolchildren is the result of the manifestation of an aggressive personality trait due to the unsatisfied needs: deprivation of the need for recognition, self-affirmation, dominance, high social status – which causes non-adaptive defense mechanisms.

Purpose of the Study

Purpose of the study: theoretical and methodological substantiation and development of a structural model of the prevention of antisocial behavior of students.

Research Methods

Empirical methods: experimental methods (ascertaining and forming variants of the experiment); a set of interrelated techniques: "Test to determine the socio-psychological type of personality" (VM Miniiarov); "Map of the conversation with the parents"; "Test of social orientation"; "Methodology for determining the psychological readiness of teachers to prevent antisocial behavior of students" (ZK Davletbaeva); Observation card "Determination of the predisposition of students to antisocial behavior" (ZK Davletbaeva); Methodology-test "The ability to predict" (L.A. Regush); mathematical and statistical methods (Criterion φ * – Fisher angular transformation); calculation of Spearman's rank correlation coefficient rs.

Findings

The study was conducted on the basis of educational institutions, where one of the fundamental directions was the study of the psychological readiness of the teacher to prevent antisocial behavior, taking into account the personal characteristics of students, as well as the development and implementation of an innovative model for the prevention of antisocial behavior of students.

To achieve this goal, the study involved the following groups of testees – subjects of educational activity:

• students in grades 1–4 (726 students, 356 girls, 370 boys, aged 7 to 10 years);
• parents of students (703 parents, of which 618 are women and 85 are men, aged from 27 to 56);
• primary school teachers (39 teachers; women aged 25 to 65).

At the ascertaining stage of the experiment, we used the "Methodology for determining the psychological readiness of teachers to prevent the antisocial behavior of students."

The experimental group (EG) included 19 primary school teachers. The control group (CG) consisted of 20 teachers. There were 39 teachers in total.

Based on the diagnostic results, the following results were obtained: the majority of respondents showed low and medium levels of development of the cognitive component of the psychological readiness of teachers for prevention. So, a low level was revealed in 52.63 %, an average level in 36.84 % of teachers. Whereas a high level of the cognitive component of psychological readiness was found in 10.53 % of teachers.

The greatest difficulty in the cognitive aspect for teachers was understanding the content of the concept of "prevention". Only 11.1 % of the respondents answered in the affirmative, the rest of the teachers admitted that they were not familiar with the substantive meaning of this concept.

As it turned out, 88.8 % of teachers are not familiar with preventive measures to avoid antisocial behavior of students, and only 11.1 % of respondents answered that they were "partially" familiar with them.

To the questions about whether you know the reasons for the emergence of antisocial behavior of students 11.1 % of the respondents answered in the affirmative, 66.6 % admitted that they were “not familiar” and 22.2 % of the respondents answered that they were “partially familiar”.

Thus, the knowledge component of psychological readiness for the prevention of asocial behavior of students has caused significant difficulties for teachers. Lack and absense of psychological knowledge serves as a serious barrier for teachers in solving important strategic tasks in the direction of taking preventive measures to avoid antisocial behavior of students.

However, the motivational component in teachers, in comparison with other components of psychological readiness to prevent antisocial behavior of students, is represented by a rather high level. The majority of teachers (68.42 %) agreed with the statements about the need to understand the personality traits of students and master the techniques, forms and methods of preventive activity.

The revealed fact confirms the orientation of teachers to the need to understand the psychological patterns of the emergence of antisocial behavior of students and the formation of anticipatory abilities. Along with the cognitive component, the least pronounced psychological readiness to prevent asocial behavior was found in the activity component.

The largest number of teachers showed medium (52.63 %) and low levels of the activity component (47.36 %) of psychological readiness for prevention. There was no high level of the activity component of readiness revealed.

Identical results were found in the control group.

The results of the average indicators of the psychological readiness of teachers to prevent antisocial behavior of students in the control (CG) and experimental (EG) groups are presented in Table 01.

The results of the comparative analysis of the psychological readiness of teachers to prevent antisocial behavior of students in the control (CG) and experimental (EG) groups revealed that the differences in the average indicators in the control and experimental groups are not statistically significant (Table 01).

Also, to identify the anticipatory abilities of teachers, we used “the Ability to predict” test method, in which respondents from both the experimental and control groups took part.

As the results of revealing the anticipatory abilities of teachers show, the largest number of teachers had a low level – 55.5 % in the experimental group, and 50 %. in the control group, A high level of formation of the ability to predict was revealed in 10.5 % of respondents in the experimental group and 15 % in the control group.

The results of the comparative analysis of the average indicators of the ability to predict among primary school teachers revealed that the differences in indicators in the control (CG) and experimental (EG) groups are not statistically significant (Table 02).

Thus, based on the data obtained, an insufficiently high level of teachers' anticipatory abilities was revealed.

To determine the antisocial behavior of students, 230 students from the experimental group and 496 students from the control group from grades 1 to 4 were tested. As a result of processing the data of the experimental group to identify the dependence of manifestations of antisocial behavior on the socio-psychological type of personality, we obtained the following data. A qualitative analysis of the results made it possible to reveal that the most pronounced indicators of manifestations of antisocial behavior are characteristic of students of the anxious socio-psychological personality type. Thus, 41.6 % (EG) and 33.3 % (CG) of all primary school students of the anxious socio-psychological type of personality showed a stable manifestation of antisocial behavior, expressed in manifestations of violations of legal norms.

Indicators of manifestations of antisocial behavior were also revealed in students with the infantile socio-psychological personality type. They are characterized by the manifestation of antisocial behavior at all levels: from situational manifestations to sustainably developed ones, both at the level of manifestation of legal and moral norms of behavior.

The analysis of the dynamics of manifestations at the level of violations of legal norms of behavior of students of the infantile personality type showed that they are manifested to a greater extent at the level of situatedness and decrease to the third and fourth grade. But in the senior grades, the increase in the level of systematic violations of legal norms of behavior is noticeably progressing. The highest indicator in 4 grades among students of the infantile personality type found expression in persistent manifestations of violations of legal norms of behavior – in 75 % of students.

The comparative analysis of the dynamics of the manifestation of a predisposition to antisocial behavior of the anxious and infantile personality types showed that if antisocial forms of behavior of students of the anxious personality type are manifested upon entering school, then among students of the infantile personality type it is most expressed in the older grades of the primary school, namely in the fourth grade.

This is due to the fact that in primary school children of the infantile personality type are indifferent to the collective, therefore, behavior is motivated only by satisfying their own needs. By the fourth grade, approaching adolescence, students are looking for companions; very easily, therefore, they fall under the influence of informal, and sometimes antisocial groups, since children of the infantile type do not have their own moral principles and are subject to acceptance of any morality on trust, so that they would be permitted to remain in a social group.

Thus, the predisposition to antisocial behavior of students of the infantile personality type increases sharply by the end of primary school. In turn, admission to secondary school aggravates the social situation of the student's development by the fact that several teachers are now present with different requirements, different characters, with a different style of relationships.

Students of the dominant personality type in primary school also often have pronounced, numerous behavior problems. The results of the methodology for identifying antisocial behavior showed that systematic disorders begin to manifest themselves intensively from the first grade. So, for example, 60 % of first grade students violate legal norms in behavior, which are manifested at the level of systematic manifestations. In the third grade at this level, it is observed in 50 % of students with a dominant socio-psychological type (Figure 01).

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Also, as in the experimental group, in the control group there is a rather pronounced predominance of violation of moral norms among students with the conformal socio-psychological personality type. Situational manifestations are demonstrated by 48.1 % of students, on the systematic level – 28.8 % of students have manifestations of violation of moral norms of behavior.

Thus, the results of studying antisocial forms of behavior among primary school students showed that students with the conformal, anxious, infantile and dominant socio-psychological personality types, both in the experimental and control groups, showed a tendency for behavioral disorders: from situational manifestations of antisocial behavior to its stable forms, both at the level of violations of moral and legal norms of behavior.

In the course of analyzing the results of testing teachers, no manifestations of antisocial behavior were found in students of the harmonious, sensitive and introverted socio-psychological personality types.

After the formative stage of the experiment, there were changes in indicators in the control and experimental groups. The results are shown in the table 3. Thus, the level of the cognitive component among teachers in the experimental groups increased from 6.526 to 11.894 (U_emp = 92.000 at p≤0.01). The indicators for the activity (U_emp = 99.000 at p≤0.01) and motivational (U_emp = 130.000 at p≤0.05) components increased.

In control groups, the indicators of the cognitive, motivational, and activity components changed insignificantly.

At this stage, the "Ability to predict" method was carried out, in which the teachers of the experimental and control groups took part. The results of the method made it possible to assess changes in the indicators of psychological readiness of teachers in the experimental group in connection with the introduction of the preventive model; and also changes in the indicators of participants in the control group.

In the control group, anticipatory abilities practically remained at the same level. A low level was found in 45 % of the respondents; an average level in 40 % of them. Many teachers continue to experience difficulties in establishing cause-and-effect relationships (60 %), “that it is difficult in perceiving people to to get rid of patterns” (70 %), etc.

The survey of the level of formation of anticipatory abilities among the teachers of the experimental group made it possible to conclude that there were significant changes in the indicators. Thus, a high level of forecasting was found in 89.5 % of teachers. 88.8 % of respondents noted that they can easily give a complete, comprehensive analysis of the causes and consequences of any situation.

As a result of the formative experiment in the experimental group, the average indicators of readiness for forecasting (L. Regush's method) among teachers increased from 8.05 to 11.6842 points (U_emp = 96.500 at р0.01). Consequently, the predictive abilities of teachers from the EG improved. In control groups, the indicators of the ability to predict changed insignificantly (table 04).

In connection with the solution of the assigned tasks in the course of the prevention of antisocial behavior, among which the central tasks were the formation of anticipatory abilities in adult subjects, the establishment of constructive forms of interpersonal relations of the subjects of educational activity, as well as the previous analytical work of the psychologist in the process of preventive activities, a qualitative decrease in the indicators of predisposition to antisocial behavior of students is revealed.

When analyzing the quantitative indicators of the methodology for revealing the antisocial behavior of students, a significant decrease in the manifestations of antisocial behavior in the register of "sustainably developed" and "systematic" degrees of antisocial behavior among students with various types of socio-psychological personality types (EG) was revealed.

E.g., if before the formative stage of the experiment, 66.6 % of the students of the conformal socio-psychological personality type had levels of systematic and sustainably developed degree of antisocial behavior, then after the introduction and implementation of the structural model of preventive activity at the sustainably developed level, their complete absence was revealed, and at the systematic level they decreased to 16.6 %.

The dynamics of a decrease in antisocial behavior, both at the level of violation of moral and legal norms of behavior, was also revealed in students with dominant, conformal and anxious socio-psychological personality types.

Comparison of two samples based on the predisposition of students to immoral behavior at the stage of ascertaining and after the resulting experiments using nonparametric criterion of Fisher angular transformation φ * made it possible to prove that significant changes occurred. The obtained empirical value φ * is in the zone of significance: p≤ 0.05 – 1.64; p≤ 0.01 – 2.31; φ*emp = 5.595.

Conclusion

Thus, the study proved that the structural model for the prevention of antisocial behavior and the proposed forms, methods and techniques of work are effective, which contributes to a significant decrease in the level of manifestations of antisocial behavior of students. It was found that there were changes in relation to the levels of antisocial behavior of students: during the formative experiment, a decrease in the manifestation of antisocial behavior of younger students was recorded.

The effectiveness of the model for the prevention of antisocial behavior assumes assessment according to the following criteria:

• the formation of the teacher's anticipatory abilities;
• constructive interaction of teachers with students;
• an individual teacher's approach to each child;

Thus, despite the positive results, further research is required on such parameters as:

• work with parents;
• work with students of younger school age.

References

• Davletbaeva, Z. K. (2013). Psychological prevention and prophylactic: conceptual aspect. Bull. of St. Petersburg Univer. Psychol. Sociol. Pedag., 1, 3–10.

• Dozortseva, E. G., Oshevsky, D. S., & Syrokvashina, K. V. (2020). Psychological, social and informational aspects of attacks by minors on educational institutions. Psychol. and Law, 10(2), 97–110.

• Dryfoos, J. G. (1990). Adolescents at risk: Prevalence and prevention. Oxford University Press.

• Patterson, G. R., DeBaryske, B., & Ramsey, E. (1989). A developmental perspective of antisocial behavior. Amer. Psychologist, 44, 329–335.

• Portal of the Federal State Statistics Service (2018). http://www.gks.ru/

• Rean, A. A. (2018). Prevention of aggression and antisociality of minors. National Psychol. J., 2(30), 3–12.

• Shooting in a School in Moscow Region. (2017). http: // www.schol-shooting.org/attacks

• US Statistics on the Use of Weapons in Schools (2011). http://www.schoolshooting.org/attacks