Assessment of Psychological Safety of a Situation and Strategy for Coping Behavior in Juvenile Offenders

Abstract

The article presents the results of the research of subjective prognostic evaluation of the level of psychological safety of a situation and the strategies of coping behavior of adolescent offenders in comparison to adolescents with lawful behavior. Psychological safety of a situation is viewed as an environment resource ensuring the effectiveness of coping strategies used by adolescents in difficult situations. The research sample was comprised of 100 adolescents aged 14-15. It has been revealed that the situations with the lowest level of psychological safety are those associated with breach of confidentiality, betrayal, quarreling with friends and dependence on decisions of others. In their assessment of situations, juvenile offenders show higher levels of psychological safety than adolescents with lawful behavior. The latter have more varied ways of coping behavior than adolescent offenders do. While possessing the same levels of confidence in themselves, the world and other people, the adolescents who commit offences and those with lawful behavior differ both in their estimations of the psychological safety levels of situations and in their strategies for coping with troubles.