THE SENSE OF RISK AND JUVENILE DEVIANCY

Marilena Pasqua
Psychologist, Turin, Italy

Introduction

In the last decades the study on adolescence and above all on young people's high-risk behaviours has highly increased. The increase of socially-worrying phenomena involving young people aged 14-20 has increased more and more the interest of psychologists.

For risky behaviour we mean above all those activities that may result in lethal or negative effects on the individuals' health (drinking, smoking, free sex, dangerous driving, bad food habits) or socially destructive behaviours (vandalism, crime and deviant acts in general).

Young people's attraction for daring behaviours was explained as a display of a personality feature characterized by the wish of living new, strong and exciting sensations, the so-called sensation seeking. Zuckerman (1979) found out that the points obtained by the SSS, Sensation Seeking Scale, were as a matter of facts, higher at the age of 16 and lower according to the passing of the years.

Other authors deal with the risky behaviour of adolescents with reference to cognitive phenomena such as egocentrism and unjustified optimism. The optimistic attitude, i.e. the belief of being immune from dangers in comparison to the people of the same age living the same situation was verified in some studies, for example the one concerning drunk-driving (Arnett, 1992).

Jessor and Jessor (1977) with the theory of difficult behaviours, underline that adolescents have more dangerous habits in comparison to those of other age bands, caused by the need of being "adults". This fact makes us think about the existence of a syndrome, that is a variety of behaviours which jointly interact such as the use of drugs and delinquency.

Other studies pointed out that the adolescent period meant as a period in which every individual is highly influenced by the group of equals (peers) is to be considered central (Clasen, Brown, 1985). This phenomenon is really evident in outrageous behaviours.

The studies concerning risk representation pointed out a double ascertainment: when people evaluate risks, they do not only rely on the frequency with whom a negative event occurs but also have a subjective perception based on the various risk characteristics, such as its unverifiability, its knowledge and its striking effects (Slovic, 1987).

When individuals have to decide something, they generally use the heuristic rules that is they act without following a formal way (such as, for example, the reckoning costs/benefits or of the expected utility), but they only base on good sense and personal experience. The heuristics adopted are those of representativeness (that is the use of information that we already know to suppose if a subject is part of a category or of another) and that of availability (people draw on the experiences that they better remember) (Gulotta, 1995).

Salvadori and Rumiati (1996) examined the perception of risk in Italian adolescents: besides confirming Benthin and partners' results have established that the moral dimension is strongly correlated to the risk evaluation, that is, an act considered immoral is in the meantime considered very risky. The cultural factors, moreover, have an active role in the risk perception as an evident difference between males and females has been found with reference to the risks of specific behaviours some of which are more typical of the male sphere while others are more typical of the female one.

The prospect of risk assumption (Bell, Bell, 1993) contains much more than the choice of incurring in inappropriate behaviours for somebody's health and for social rules, including the willingness of undertaking extreme acts, edgework, such as fast driving or mountain climbing. With reference to that concept we can point out that the normal adolescent development is characterized by an increase of risk assumption.

Aim of this research is that of knowing better people's attitude, and in particular young people's, relatively to the situations with a high risk assumption. Specifically, we want to investigate the sense of generic risk to evaluate if the subjects who have that inclination are more disposed to commit crimes.

The objectives of this research want to verify two hypotheses:

• determine if minors make damaging acts as they assume more risks than adults;
• point out if minors have a different risk perception and, therefore consider certain behaviours less risky.

With the verification of such hypotheses we could explain the reason why minors get into more risky conditions and, therefore, why they commit criminal acts.

A questionnaire was compiled to make questions on behaviours in which a certain amount of risk assumption is intrinsic and, therefore, to evaluate the tolerance of the subjects examined with reference to it. By following such method of investigation we can study the way in which a certain perception of risk may cause a criminal deviance.

The questionnaire was proposed anonymously to all the subject-samples surveyed. It has got forty-one questions subdivided into three parts.

The first part refers to the personal data, useful to define the general viewpoint of every sample.

The second part is subdivided into three areas of inquiry in which are defined activities or behaviours, which need a more or less elevated risk assumption; every area has eight questions. The areas are:

• extreme sports activities;
• risky behaviours in car driving;
• generic risky behaviours.

The eight questions that repeat for each area are the following:

1. how often every sport has been practised or certain behaviours have been followed in the last twelve months
2. if they have been influenced by someone when trying certain activities or followed certain behaviours, specifying for which activity/behaviour and by who;
3. classify in order of preference the sports he/she would like to try or in order of probability the behaviours he/she thinks will follow in the future;
4. which importance is given to the fact that the people of the same age have practised the sports or followed certain risky behaviours in the last twelve months;
5. which admiration is aroused in the people for those that practise the sports or follow certain risky behaviours;
6. if the people perceive more the pleasant (advantageous/amusing) aspect or the risky one of every activity;
7. in what measure people think that the risk or the dangers associated to sports and to behaviours are known to those who practise them;
8. if people are scared by those risks.

The third part aims at understanding better the sense of risk in the subjects interviewed and at checking the meaningful differences among the four samples in the personal evaluation of risky situations. The questions connected with the esteem of strong emotions and with the attraction for risky situations and the question "what happens when friends want to make something unusual" have demonstrated useful for a better knowledge of individual tolerance in comparison with risk assumption.

To analyse the relationship between the sense of risk and the performance of criminal acts four different samples, each of twenty males, were used: one sample of minors and one of adults that had committed crimes, and one sample of minors and one of adults that had not committed crimes. The adult subjects that committed crimes were found thanks to the governor of Le Vallette prison in Turin while the minors thanks to the "Centre of Juvenile Justice" in Turin, while the subjects that did not commit any crimes were got in touch personally.

The comparison of the results of the different groups will point out if the minors that have committed deviant acts have a sense of risk different from or similar to the groups of control and will measure the risk tolerance threshold of each group.

We, therefore, want to thank:

• Mr. Viggiani, manager of the Central Office for Juvenile Justice of the Ministry of Justice in Rome;
• Mr. Fallace, director of the Centre of Juvenile Justice in Turin;
• Mr. Rizzo, superintendent of the District Penitentiary Administration Piedmont and Aosta Valley-Adults
• Mr. Castoria, governor of Le Vallette in Turin

The description of the results was obtained mainly through the comparison of the answer frequencies, supplied by the different modalities of each question.

The test used for the evaluation of a statistically-meaningful difference among the answer frequencies is the Chi-square test, that understands possible associations among the variables of each category. The test was used for the questions concerning the perception of the pleasant or of the risky aspects of sports activities and of the generic or driving risky behaviours.

The reading of the data obtained offers the opportunity of reflecting on the meaning of generic risk in the four samples.

If we analyse the answers of the first part of the questionnaire we can observe that the minors that have committed crimes are mainly "unemployed" (while those that have not committed crimes are mainly "students"), they mainly use a "moped/scooter", do not practise sports or recreational activities but spend their times in public places (amusement arcades) or watch "television". Both groups dedicate most of their time to their friends rather than to their families.

Adults have a different qualification as those who committed crimes got a middle school leaving certificate or technical/commercial A-levels. In their free time, they mainly practise "sports" rather than "hobbies" and "voluntary services" typical of those who did not commit crimes.

We may point out that those who committed crimes and those who have not differ as far as daily problems, choices, lifestyle and everyday habits are concerned.

The adults of the two samples generally practise low risk sports such as "mountain biking", while minors practise "extreme ski/snowboard". The subjects that have committed crimes differ from the others as they practised high risk sports such as "bungee jumping". (Table 1).

Table 1. Sports activities in the last twelve months

* with other cars in city streets

Table 2. Risky behaviours while driving in the last twelve months

Table 3. Generic risky behaviours in the last twelve months

The risky behaviour while driving common to all the subjects is the lack of use of "security belts"; but the minors that committed crimes, in the last twelve months, have had a much more risky behaviour while driving than the other samples as they often answer to the question with the expression "regularly" (Table 2). The same consideration is also worth for more generic behaviours (Table 3). This might demonstrate the high frequency of behaving in such a way and, as a consequence, their high disposition to risky behaviours.

The minors that committed crimes are those which have been more influenced by other people to try some of the sports listed ("bungee jumping") or to have a risky behaviour ("gambling"). When they drive, they admit they are "more inattentive and reckless" if they are not alone. Adults, on the contrary, have a more cautious driving. This might confirm what has been underlined by the studies concerning adolescence, which show the greater influence of equals (peers) or adults that are important for the subjects being examined.

The inclination to undertake an activity in which a certain risk assumption is implicit might be observed, above all, when we analyse the answers concerning the sports people would like to try and the probability of behaving in certain ways. The effective practice of some sports or of specific behaviours might, as a matter of fact, depend on factors that do not really correspond to the subjective threshold of tolerance for a determined risk assumption (e.g., the cost or the lack of time to dedicate to such a sport).

We can point out that the minors that committed crimes have suggested "bungee jumping" (Table 4) and "asking for a lift to car drivers under the influence of spirits/drugs" (Table 5), which differs from the other samples.

Table 4. Preferences for future sports activities

Table 5. Future opportunities of having generic risky behaviours and while driving

The answers of minors that committed crimes differ from the other three groups for what concerns the practice of sports as the answer "regularly" has a higher percentage. It follows that these subjects think that these sports are more common among the sample of the same age and, therefore, they seem inclined to practise the same activities. The same thing is worth for the other risky behaviours, such as car racing in city streets.

These same subjects, moreover, think that those who practise sports or have risky behaviours are "really" admired " by society". We might therefore suppose that the subjects themselves admire these people and that those who practise or would like to try these sports or behave or think they might behave in certain ways, consider themselves admired by others.

The data analysis , by the Chi-square test has pointed out a meaningful difference in perceiving more the pleasant or risky aspect of sports in the group of minors that committed crimes and the group of adults that did not commit crimes (p=0.02). There a meaningful difference between the adults that did not commit crimes and the minors that did not commit crimes (p=0.005) and between the minors that did not commit crimes and those that committed crimes (p=0.001), as far as the risky behaviours while driving are concerned.

The minors committed crimes underline more the pleasant aspect of certain sports ("bungee jumping", Table 6) and of certain risky behaviours ("car races in city streets"). The inclination to perceive such an aspect, rather than the risky one, might contribute to a disposition to commit crimes.

* with other cars in city streets

There is not a meaningful relationship between the identification of the risky aspect and the level of knowledge of people's risks/dangers, according to the analysis of the answers given. As we observed that according to the minors that committed crimes people know less the risks connected, we might consider that the subjects themselves do not know them enough.

As far as the risky behaviours while driving are concerned, we can imagine that adults think that the adults of their same age know the intrinsic risks/dangers as we might think that the experience in driving helps to increase such knowledge.

If we point out the fact that the minors that committed crimes are highly disposed to assume high-risk activities or behaviours, we can expect that they are, at the same time, inclined to evaluate in a lesser measure how much the risks associated to certain activities may scare individuals. The types of answers given may infer such an aspect. We could therefore assume that the subjects themselves are not particularly scared by these risks.

Some questions of the third part of the questionnaire allowed us to know deeply about the high tolerance in regard to the assumption of risks for minors, above all for those who committed crimes.

The percentages of the answers to the questions concerning the "importance of physical health" on "the importance of our own life" and on the "trust in our own abilities/strength" do not highly differ in the four samples. The percentage of the answer "very" is however lower for the minors that committed crimes. This might explain why they are more inclined to activities that have an implicit high risk for their own lives and their physical welfare, including therefore deviant acts and crime.

Table 7. Importance of physical health, value of our own life and trust in our own abilities/strength. To fill this table I used the percentages of the answers very.

65% of the minors that committed crimes says that strong emotions are above all "essential"; this datum might express the negation of possible aspects of dangerousness of the same emotions, and the search of a life characterized by exciting circumstances taken to their excess (Graph 1)

Graph 1. Evaluation of strong emotions

The search of excess might also be confirmed by the level of attraction of risky situations as 50% of the minors that committed crimes are "very interested" ( Graph 2).

Graph 2. Risk attraction/interest

The high level of attraction/interest for risky situations might be proved also by the last question concerning "what happens if some friends want to do something unusual". 60% of the minors that committed crimes "proposes something dangerous" and 15% "supports reckless proposals" and a further 15% "adapts to somebody else's decisions". These aspects might show the acceptability and the attitude to a high risk assumption from these subjects (Graph 3).

Graph 3. What happens if some friends want to do something unusual

A further observation concerns the sample of adults that committed crimes: some of them chose "other" to mean that "they gave up risking", 20% considers strong emotions as dangerous, 60% declares little inclined to risky situations, 40% suggests less risky alternative and 40% disagrees with doing something unusual. We may assume that they have become rather reluctant to the conditions in which a risk assumption is implicit and therefore a possible charge of crime punishable by law: this points out the fact that the punishment inflicted on them is a deterrent to avoid unpleasant consequences such as imprisonment. The minors that committed crimes do not show the same reluctance. This might be a further evidence of the fact that minors have a strong tendency to assume risky activities.

The main objective of this research was that of analysing the sense of generic risk to evaluate if the subjects that have such an inclination are also disposed to commit crimes.

According to the results obtained we can outline different considerations concerning the attitude of minors that committed crimes relatively to those activities in which a risk assumption is implicit. These subjects differ from the other samples as they practise more sports activities and lead risky behaviours.

The inclination to undertake such activities might be observed from the answers concerning their favourite sports and the probability of having risky behaviours in the future.

They believe this kind of behaviour is very common among the people of the same age and that the people that behave like that are really admired by the society that surrounds them: we might infer that these same subjects admire these people and that those who practise or would like to try these sports and that behave or imagine they will behave in certain ways consider themselves as models for the others.

We might also infer that minors do not know well enough the risks connected to these activities as they think other people not very acquainted with the risks themselves.

If we take into account the fact that the percentages of the answers concerning the practice or the preferences and probabilities of behaving in risky ways are very high, we can foresee that the same sample misunderstands the fear caused by the risks associated to such behaviours; in fact this datum can be found in the answers given. As a consequence we may suppose that the subjects themselves are not scared by such risks. The minors that committed crimes are unequivocally "very interested" in risk and consider strong emotion "essential" and "important". These data might express the negation of the possible dangerousness of emotions and the search of the excess in living exciting situations.

The percentages of the answers "very" are very low, in comparison to the other sample, as far as the value of health and life is concerned; perhaps this is the reason why they might be more inclined to high risk activities such as deviant acts and crime.

The high frequency with which these subjects assume this type of behaviours might point out the high disposition to risky behaviours. The acceptability and the attitude to a high risk assumption might moreover be confirmed by the datum that a lot of subjects propose a "dangerous activity". This is why the hypothesis concerning the fact that minors commit crimes as they are led to assume more risks than adults is to be considered as confirmed.

The inclination of minors that committed crimes to perceive the most pleasant aspect of risky behaviours might be a contribution to a major disposition to commit crimes. Therefore even the second hypothesis concerning the fact that the minors who committed crimes perceive the risk in a way, which differs from adults, and, as a consequence, consider certain behaviours as less risky is to be considered as confirmed as well.

References