Review of psychological studies of vandalism of children and adolescents as the basis for designing prevention programs in the educational environment

Abstract

Introduction. The article provides an overview of Russian and foreign studies of vandalism among children and adolescents, which is carried out in order to highlight the personal and environmental determinants of vandal activity of students, as well as to determine the possibilities of taking them into account when developing methods for preventing vandal behavior.Materials and Methods. Analysis, generalization and structuring of research results, theoretical material and practical recommendations on the problem of vandal behavior of young people.Results. The total list of publications was 1499 russian and foreign works. 44 articles were selected for analysis in accordance with the issued criteria. The content of these works allows us to characterize the essence of vandalism and its types, age, gender and personal predictors of vandalism, protective and provocative factors of vandalism in the educational and family environment, as well as directions for its prevention.Discussion and Conclusions. The analysis will provide an opportunity to consider vandalism as a form of aggressive behavior of children and adolescents and to outline the prospects for the development of a program to prevent vandalism among students. As a research perspective, the need for a more detailed empirical study of situational factors and socio-psychological determinants that act as a trigger for vandal behavior, as well as taking into account Russian sociocultural conditions, is highlighted.

Keywords

• vandalism
• aggressive behavior
• deviant behavior
• adolescents
• educational environment
• prevention program