CC BY
11International Annual Edition of Applied Psychology: Theory, Research, and Practice Volume 6, Issue 1, 2019.
SOCIAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF THE RISKS OF YOUTH INVOLVEMENT IN CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR
Natalia M. Romanova
Saratov State University
83, Astrakhanskaya Street, Saratov, Russia
Romanova_nm@inbox.ru
Konstantin A. Kiselev
Saratov State University
83, Astrakhanskaya Street, Saratov, Russia
Saratovian@gmail .com
Alina G. Romanova
Assistant Director of marketing Department of Avon 2, Usacheva street, building 1, Moscow, Russia paceville.121@bk.ru
Abstract
The article describes the analysis of psychological risk of youth involvement in criminal activity. The relevance of this research is related to the crudity of the subject in psychology and interdisciplinary sciences. The purpose of this research is the analysis of the sociological and psychological basis of risk of modern youth involvement in a crime. Research methods: interview, analysis of documentary sources, method of an expert assessment. On the basis of the conducted empirical research the main kinds of risks of involvement of young people in crimes of economic orientation, connected with social and psychological, individual and psychological and age characteristics of young people, are outlined. Novelty of the research: main social psychological factors, related to the risk of involvement of young people in criminal activity, are defined.
Key words: involvement in criminal activity, risks of involvement, youth age, crime, criminal group.
ISSN 2313-4097
The modern Russian society is defined by researchers as anomic [1]. Social tension dominates in it [2; 3]. Scientists allocate the following factors of criminalization of the youth environment in the anomic society: a) sociocultural crisis of processes of socialization, caused by a transitive condition of the society and public processes involved; b) disintegration of social communications and mechanisms of reproduction of interpublic relations, including legal and cultural ones
[4].
The factor of social tension bears in itself the risks of emergence of extreme and criminogenic situations [5] and the increase in number of committed crimes, including economic orientation.
Statistical data shows a high level of economic crime in our country at present. Thus, only during 2018 were committed 109463 crimes of economic orientation. However, in comparison with 2017 the number of crimes of economic orientation revealed by law enforcement agencies increased by 4.8%. [6]. The loss that crime brings to the state is enormous: according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation for 2013 in our country the damage from crimes amounted to 563,1 billion rubles, that is 37,8% more than a similar index of 2017 [7].
In the conditions of social tension in the anomic Russian society the elements of spiritual crisis, tolerance of criminal behavior grow [8, 9]. So, M. S. Zhilkina notes that some types of white-collar crime, for example insurance, is not perceived by society as something socially dangerous that indirectly promotes the growth of this type of criminal behavior [10].
In public consciousness of many Russians the idea of money is considered as a main value, and benefit and self-interest - as the most important incentives of human behavior.
In the modern conditions a young man interferes with indeterminacy in respect of prospects of realization of individual plans and career [11]. Now it is easy for youth to lose social orienting points, to be involved in the area of potential dominance
of illegal asocial practice. The increase of level of economic crime in the youth environment is a consequence of this situation.
Researchers consider economic crime in the youth environment not only as the influence of situational and impulsive forms of activity, but also as the character of existing social and economic conditions [12; 13].
One of the most criminalized and dynamically criminalizing categories of the population is the youth at the age of 18-29 [14]. Meanwhile it is a very important period in human life in respect of prospects of his further life.
Psychological characteristics of the youth age determine favorable conditions for young people, more often than people of average and late maturity, to build steady deviant formations focused on committing a lot of crimes. They perceive these offences as a style of behavior [15].
In the modern society the risk of involvement of a young man in criminal activity is possible not only and not so much in connection with his individual and psychological characteristics, but also with those social (asocial) practice in which a young man is involved. It is a question, including such area of social practice as professional activity of a person, his work.
The greatest concern is caused by the growth of such kind of crimes for profit as fraud. S. Albrecht, J. Vents and T. Williams on the basis of the analysis of external and internal factors of this type of a crime distinguish a so-called "fraud triangle". It includes the following parameters: 1) pressure of financial circumstances; 2) opportunity to make and hide a fraud action; 3) ability to justify this action [16].
Even more often a fraud is done within performance of professional activity by a worker in the organization (firm, company, office). Such crimes are called corporate.
Risks of involvement of a person in corporate crime are related to two types of factors: a) a corporation is involved in criminal activity; b) a worker on his initiative uses company resources for illegal enrichment.
In the first case the content of an organization activity provides conditions and opportunities for involvement of a person in a crime. In the second case a worker does harm to a company by secretly performing illegal operations.
Let's consider the risks of involvement in corporate crime when a person gets into a criminal organization (corporation). In the previous study (on the basis of selection of parameters: "legitimacy - lack of legitimacy", "existence of corrupted communications - lack of corrupted communications") we outlined social psychological types of the modern criminal groups [17].
One of the kinds of such groups is an openly operating criminal organization, legitimate, legal in a form (firm or organization) and criminal in its contents (purpose - criminal enrichment). Criminal authorities manage it. The group works "under cover", its interests, as a rule, are actively lobbied "from above". Thus, its activity is effective: corrupted officials and high-ranking security officers give it every possible help, support and protection. As a rule, groups are built for the purpose of imitation of commercial activity (pseudo-business).
Such criminal group relies on specific norms of a criminal asocial subculture. Meanwhile, elements of organizational culture are introduced in this subculture.
The result is a mixture of a criminal asocial subculture and organizational culture, the emphasis in which is placed on the external (imitation of external signs of legitimate official social group).
Gradually, but quickly enough (during weeks and months) there is an internal integration of group members: they know how to behave and interact with each other. A peculiar feeling of organizational identity is formed. Such groups differ in high adaptability in the social and cultural environment. The consequence of internal acceptance of their subculture and organizational culture is a change in a personality of employees included in this organization through gradual inner integration to identification with a criminal group.
We examined the risks of involvement of young people in corporate crime. Methods: interview method, analysis of documentary sources, method of an expert
54
assessment. On the basis of the conducted empirical research the main kinds of risks of involvement of young people in crimes of economic orientation, bound to social and psychological, individual and psychological and age characteristics of young people were defined.
Social and psychological risks of involvement of a young man in fraud within the functioning of a legitimate, legal in a form and criminal in its contents, criminal group are associated with noncritical acceptance of the asocial criminal norms, dominating in this group, a person's mindset on the raise of social and material status and financial wellbeing at any cost.
Individual and psychological risks of involvement of a young man in fraud are connected with such features of a person as trustfulness, need for self-affirmation and self-realization, self-interest.
Age characteristics are presented by a factor of a failure in social and life experience of a young man.
Let's consider risks of involvement in criminal activity in the situation when a worker on his initiative uses company resources for illegal enrichment [18]. This type of involvement is intimately related to a number of frustrators and motivations: a) pressure of a financial frustrator (difficult financial position) and motivation dominance "desire to help himself"; b) frustrating pressure of factors, related to working conditions and desire to help himself; c) pressure of social factors, and desire to help himself; d) pressure of circumstances of financial character and motivation to help his relatives; e) pressure of circumstances, bound to work (organizational production factor) and desire to help his close people; e) pressure of social factors (a family, relatives) and desire to help them; g) pressure from organizational production factors; h) pressure of factors of the social plan (pressure of relatives, friends) [18].
Thus, involvement of a young man in criminal activity within a corporation is determined by the speed of his inclusion into a criminal subculture by personal individual, psychological and age characteristics. Risks of commission a crime by a
young man in the commercial organization for the purpose of illegal enrichment depend on the specifics of a frustrator, affecting a person, and characteristics of motivations used by him.
References
[1] Kara-Murza, S.G. (2013). Anomie in Russia: causes and manifestations. Moscow, 2013. 264 p. (in Russian).
[2] Zablotckaya, A.G., Saakyan, A.A. (2011). Crime in extreme situations: state, causes, problems of counteraction: Monograph. Volgograd. 2011. 172 p. (in Russian).
[3] Tretyakov, V.I. (2012). The social tension as determination basis for crime. Bulletin of Voronezh Institute of the Ministry of Interior. 2012. No 1. Available at: http://cyberleninka.ru/article/n7sotsialnaya-napryazhennost-faktor-determiniruyuschiy-prestupnost (Accessed 25, November 2019).
[4] Pshidatok, R.M. (2010). Social-legal determinants of criminalization of the youth in a transitive society. The Bulletin of Adyghe State University: Internet Scientific Journal. Series 1: Regional Studies: Philosophy, History, Sociology, Law, Political Science, Cultural Studies. 2010. No 2. Available at: http://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/sotsialno-pravovye-determinanty-protsessa-kriminalizatsii-molodezhnoy-sredy-v-tranzitivnom-obschestve (Accessed 24, November 2019).
[5] Ahiezer, A.S. (1998). Russia: criticism of historical experience (socio-cultural dynamics of Russia). Vol 1. Novosibirsk. 1998. 804 p. (in Russian).
[6] Crime indicators of Russia for 2018. Portal of legal statistics of the Prosecutor General's office of the Russian Federation. Available at: http://crimestat.ru/offenses_chart (Accessed 02, December 2019).
[7] The state of crime in Russia in January-December 2018. Official website of the Ministry of internal Affairs of the Russian Federation. Available at: https://media.mvd.ru/files/application/1518099 (Accessed 02, December 2019).
[8] Zhuravlev, A.L., Yurevich, A.V. (2012). Psyhological factors of corruption. Applied Legal Psychology Scientific Journal. 2012. No 1. P. 8-21. (in Russian).
[9] Zhuravlev, A.L., Yurevich, A.V. (2012). Psyhological factors of corruption. Psychology in Economics and Management. 2012. No 1. P. 57-66. (in Russian).
[10] Zhilkina, M.S. Psychology of Insurance Fraud. Available at: http://www.insuranceconsulting.ru/publik/psysm.html (Accessed 16, November 2019).
[11] Volkov, Yu.G. (2006). Identity and Humanistic Ideology: A Look into the Future. Moscow, 2006. 228 p. (in Russian).
[12] Aliphanova, D.Yu. (2011). Problems of Economic Crime Among Young People. Thesis Diss. Cand. Sci. (Law). Makhachkala, 2011. 228 p. (in Russian).
[13] Aliphanova, D.Yu. (2010). Opposition to the Youth Economic Criminality at the Regional Level. Gaps in Russian legislation. 2010. No 2. Available at: http://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/5-6-protivodeystvie-molodezhnoy-ekonomicheskoy-prestupnosti-na-regionalnom-urovne (Accessed 24, November 2019).
[14] Andruhov, V.A. (2008). Structural levels of control and counteraction of youth crime in modern Russia (conceptual analysis). Society: Politics, Economics, Law 2008. No 2. Available at: http://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/strukturnye-urovni-kontrolya-i-protivodeystviya-molodezhnoy-prestupnosti-v-sovremennoy-rossii-kontseptualnyy-analiz (Accessed 24, November 2014).
[15] Breslav, G.M. (1990). Emotional features of personality formation in childhood: Norm and deviations. Moscow, 1990. 144 p. (in Russian).
[16] Albrecht, W., Wernz, G. & Williams, T. (1994). Fraud. New York. 196 p.
[17] Romanova, N.M. (2013). Classification of Criminal Groups. CBU International Conference Proceedings, [S.l.]. P. 129-134, Jun. 2013. Available at: https://ojs.journals.cz/index.php/CBUIC/article/view/25 (Accessed 24, November 2019).
[18] Romanova, N.M., Sploshnova, E.A., Kiselev, K.A. (2014). The typology of modern fraudsters: frustrators and justifications. Modern Studies of Social Issues. 2014. No 9 (29). P. 1-25. Available at: http://journal-s.org/index.php/sisp/article/view/9201387/pdf_489 (Accessed 01, November 2019).
