Description
Preventing and tackling juvenile delinquency requires tailor-made solutions and a multidisciplinary approach. When combating it, the government's emphasis is on prevention: we want to prevent delinquent behavior from turning into a criminal career at a young age. Adolescents are often unable to make an assessment of what their missteps do to others. Moreover, their mental and moral developments are still developing. And very often, in addition to psychological problems, social and/ or family backgrounds are of great influence.
During the course Juvenile Delinquency we go deeper into aspects related to delinquent behavior in young people and we build a realistic prevention or intervention program via group-based learning. We use recent scientific insights from multiple scientific disciplines (e.g. criminology, law, psychology, biology, sociology, educational sciences, and psychology).
Course objectives
Through this course, we strive to achieve that students have:
gained insight into recent scientific studies in the broad field of socialization, youth, and (prevention of) delinquent behavior;
gained insight into the translation of knowledge about youth and society and delinquent behavior into effective prevention and intervention programs; and
knowledge of the areas of tension that can arise between what is desirable from the perspective of science and society versus what is feasible and realistic, based on politics and policy.
Course material
Scientific theoretical-based articles from different scientific perspectives, in combination with practical orientated research reports, to be announced on Brightspace.
Mode of instruction
In interactive lectures, scientific and experiential experts in the field of juvenile delinquency share their insights, and by doing so, assist you in designing a program.
This course is worth 4 ECTS, which means the total course load equals 112 hours:
Seminars: 7 seminars of 2 hours (=14 hours) (participation is mandatory)
Literature reading: 4 hours/ week (=28 hours)
Practical work: 4 hours/ week (=28 hours)
Assignments & final programme: 42 hours
Assessment methods
The assessment methods will look as follows:
2 individual take-home assignments (Dutch/ English)
1 group presentation during the course (English)
1 final group assignment (final prevention- or intervention programme, Dutch or English)
The assessment methods will be further explained in the first session of the class.
Language
During the plenary and subgroup sessions, the English language is used.
Skills
The skills predominantly covered in this course are shown in bold:
| Researching | Collaborating | Reflecting |
|---|---|---|
| Analysing | Oral communication | Independent learning |
| Generating solutions | Written communication | Resilience |
| Project-based working | Presenting | |
| Digital skills | Societal awareness |
Timetable
| Date | Time | Location | Tentative program |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13-12-2023 | 18:00-20:00 | The Hague, Wijnhaven | Causes of delinquent behaviour: nature or nurture? |
| 17-1-2024 | 18:00-20:00 | The Hague, Wijnhaven | Juvenile delinquency, Youth Justice and Chilren's Rights |
| 14-2-2024 | 18:00-20:00 | The Hague, Wijnhaven | From Marginalisation to Polarisation |
| 13-3-2024 | 18:00-20:00 | The Hague, Wijnhaven | Troubled Youth and Youth Gangs |
| 3-4-2024 | 18:00-20:00 | The Hague, Wijnhaven | Methods and Instruments to tacklke juvenile delinquency |
| 17-4-2024 | 18:00-20:00 | The Hague, Wijnhaven | Presentation of prevention- and intervention programmes |
Admission requirements
This is an Honours Module meant for second and if places available third year students of the Honours College Science, Society and Self track. You have to participate in at least one Honours Module in your second year.
Registration
You can register for the Honours Modules via MyStudyMap until five days before the start of the course.
Contact
If you have any questions, please contact the course coordinator Janita Ravesloot (Ravesloo@fsw.leidenuniv.nl).