Critical literacy, self-protection and delinquency: The challenges of participatory media for youths at-risk
Abstract
While pedagogy is predominantly viewed from the perspective of classroom instruction, educators worldwide invariably play a critical pastoral role of shaping the personal development of their students and nurturing in them life skills. With the avid use of participatory media by young people in peer interaction, educators need to be aware of the attendant risks and opportunities so that they may offer counsel and render appropriate advice. To this end, through interviews with 36 Singaporean male juvenile delinquents and youths-at-risk, this study explores how these youths utilise participatory media in their peer interaction. The findings indicate that for this vulnerable youth population, participatory media such as social networking sites can become a platform through which they are unwittingly drawn into criminal behaviour and post-rehabilitation, participatory media may offer an insidious route to recidivism. Participatory media complicates peer interaction by presenting risk factors such as network transparency, negative peer modelling, network seepage and network persistence, all of which have implications for these youths sliding further into delinquency and criminal activity. This article concludes with recommendations on the strategies which youths-at-risk can employ to avoid the risks of participatory media.
... Literature covering research on media community-based projects and delinquency -or even media use from an audience perspective -is rare but required if we aim to comprehend better the institutionalised youths' needs (Carvalho & Serrão, 2014;Lim, Basnyat, Vadrevu, & Chan, 2013a;Lim, Chan, Vadrevu, & Basnyat, 2013b;Lim et al., 2012). Some point to positive digital impacts on institutionalised youth's well-being. ...
... "New forms of pedagogy" refers to the need for a radical, critical, and non-formal educational approach (Lim et al., 2013a;Ravenscroft et al., 2020) instead of formal education approaches, which are insufficient to involve and motivate these at-risk groups. The use of participatory media by youth in their peer interactions can bring opportunities, but risks also need to be considered (Lim et al., 2013a). ...
... "New forms of pedagogy" refers to the need for a radical, critical, and non-formal educational approach (Lim et al., 2013a;Ravenscroft et al., 2020) instead of formal education approaches, which are insufficient to involve and motivate these at-risk groups. The use of participatory media by youth in their peer interactions can bring opportunities, but risks also need to be considered (Lim et al., 2013a). The connection between media arts and media production are innovative forms of intervention (Miner-Romanoff, 2016;Morris, 2019;Smith, 2015), which are related to a youths' community needs, and that stand out when compared to more traditional activities like cooking, hairdressing, and parenting (Smith, 2015). ...
Institutionalised youths who are digitally disconnected while long-standing in detention centres (in Portugal, these are called educational centres) face constraints to their digital rights. Given that most youths already come from deprived contexts, their present and future lives are deeply challenged. This article explores data collected in the participatory project DiCi-Educa, based on institutionalised youths’ digital media production and critical thinking, regarding issues such as digital citizenship, participation, and otherness. Using a participatory action research (PAR) methodology, they were stimulated to widen their views of the world and reflect on their digital rights and acts of participation using digital media. Institutionalised youths’ understandings before the project were centred on the use of social media, video games, illegal downloads, and hacking. Thus, during the project, they were challenged to debate participatory acts using the internet and digital media as tools for social change. The results point to these tools as relevant opportunities to the disconnected settings of the ECs. We recommend the need to tackle critical methods for thinking the digital realm as a path to building critical skills with these youths. Widening their views of the world can stimulate their well-being and contribute to avoiding risky behaviours.
... Sin embargo, son dos los estudios que no señalan el método cualitativo utilizado. El primero, es el estudio de Sun et al. (2013) quienes se preguntaron ¿Cómo jóvenes delincuentes y en riesgo utilizan los medios participativos (redes sociales) para gestionar y mantener sus relaciones sociales con los compañeros? y, ¿A qué riesgos y oportunidades se enfrentan en el uso de esas redes? ...
... En esta misma línea, Sun et al. (2013) entrevistaron a 36 jóvenes varones delincuentes y en riesgo, para explorar cómo utilizan medios participativos en la interacción con sus compañeros. Las entrevistas semiestructuradas fueron realizadas por los cuatro autores del estudio con preguntas centradas en el uso del teléfono móvil e Internet. ...
... Trabajaron con conceptos claves de alfabetización crítica mediática y las alfabetizaciones del siglo XXI, lo que permitió un proceso reflexivo deductivo-inductivo para el desarrollo de códigos y temas. Y, con una menor especificación, Sun et al. (2013) emplearon el enfoque de síntesis de significado (meaning condensation) para analizar las transcripciones de las entrevistas a jóvenes en situaciones de riesgo. Grandes cantidades de texto de las entrevistas se sintetizaron en breves declaraciones que representaron los metatemas y subtemas que surgieron del proceso de codificación. ...
Los medios de comunicación (MM.CC.) han afrontado su proceso de transformación digital en medio de una crisis de confianza por parte de los usuarios. Ante este panorama, las empresas y los profesionales del periodismo tienen ante sí el reto de recuperar el crédito perdido y revertir ese sentimiento de desafección y alejamiento de los ciudadanos. En este contexto algunos MM.CC. están empezando a utilizar blockchain para, entre otros objetivos, potenciar el periodismo de calidad, elemento básico para recuperar la confianza de los usuarios e invertir la actual dinámica.
Los expertos afirman que los beneficios que esta nueva tecnología puede aportar al periodismo son múltiples, en la medida en que blockchain promete democratizar los mercados aún más que internet y avanzar hacia entornos más colaborativos y descentralizados. Ante un contexto informativo cada vez más marcado por la proliferación de fake news, blockchain puede contribuir a garantizar una mayor veracidad y transparencia de las informaciones ya que una de las características básicas es su trazabilidad al poder conocerse el origen de todas las informaciones, incluso las falsas.
... There is no denying that phone use does pose a risk to girls. Girls in digital forums face an increase in harrassment (Hutchings and Chua 2016), and increased access to negative peer influence online has also been identified as a threat to young people's rehabilitation (Lim et al. 2013a(Lim et al. , 2013b. However, phones also provide an opportunity for personal empowerment. ...
... Rosa explained: "You need to know who is coming for you." Being unaware of an impending attack because you are out of the digital loop is not only physically dangerous but, as observed in similar research, a lack of a digital response can also be identified as an act of disrespect, warranting additional attackers from associated gangs (Lim et al. 2013a). Rosa was so afraid of gang-based retaliation that she broke her conditions of house arrest, which included digital lockdown, to go to a library where she accessed computers to check her social media accounts: "It's not just me, is it? ...
... Phones store girls' histories and tether them to their friends, families, and broader communities. Like young people in and outside the JJS, being disconnected from their digital ecology risks weakening the important support system that phones facilitate (Barn and Tan 2012;Boase and Kobayashi 2008;Lim et al. 2013aLim et al. , 2013b. This study demonstrates that text-based communication is incredibly meaningful between supportive friends and helps build self-esteem through enhanced self-expression and positive relationships (Boase and Kobayashi 2008;Gonzales 2014;Wilson 2016;Zilka 2020). ...
Girls in the juvenile justice system routinely have their cell phones and internet access removed as a part of court orders. Building on feminist criminology and ecological systems theory, this paper will demonstrate that phone removal causes a rupture of girls’ digital ecology. This rupture exacerbates strains conducive to crime and victimization. Findings are generated from an ethnographic study that took place in a Northeastern United States city. Forty-two girls took part in focus groups and a series of interviews, and 22 practitioners took part in semi-structured interviews. This research shows that phones act as a positive and protective force supporting girls through feelings of safety, helping them cope with challenging events at home and on the street. Understanding the phone as a part of a broader ecology contextualizes why girls would subsequently commit crimes to restore their digital ecology.
... Given the importance of peers to young people's personal development, and the dominance of media and technology in their peer interactions (Lim, 2013a;2013b), it behoves us to delve deeper into how youths on the margins engage with and through media. ...
... On the individual level, we must also consider how youths on the margins engage in self-presentation, impression management and peer interactions online, especially via social media platforms. Through her research on juvenile delinquents and youth offenders' use of social media platforms (see Lim et al, 2012;2013a;2013b), Lim concluded that educators and youth workers who guide this vulnerable group must strive to imbue them with critical literacy skills for navigating the online world. Lim and her colleagues recommend that educators and youth workers nurture in their young clients negotiation skills that enable them to manage and control peer interactions that are conducted via online media. ...
... Such network persistence poses distinct difficulties and challenges for the counselling and rehabilitation of delinquent and at-risk youths. In particular, during the critical post-rehabilitation where youths are seeking a fresh start in life, social media may offer an insidious route to recidivism and they need therefore to be equipped with the skills and resilience to avoid that undesirable outcome (Lim et al, 2012;2013a;2013b). It is imperative to first help these youths realize that the negative network continues to flourish regardless of their involvement or lack thereof, so that they can confidently re-enter society without feeling the guilt of disloyalty towards their former affiliates, and assured that they do not personally need the security of the group to flourish. ...
... Given the importance of peers to young people's personal development, and the dominance of media and technology in their peer interactions (Lim, 2013a;2013b), it behoves us to delve deeper into how youths on the margins engage with and through media. ...
... On the individual level, we must also consider how youths on the margins engage in self-presentation, impression management and peer interactions online, especially via social media platforms. Through her research on juvenile delinquents and youth offenders' use of social media platforms (see Lim et al, 2012;2013a;2013b), Lim concluded that educators and youth workers who guide this vulnerable group must strive to imbue them with critical literacy skills for navigating the online world. Lim and her colleagues recommend that educators and youth workers nurture in their young clients negotiation skills that enable them to manage and control peer interactions that are conducted via online media. ...
... Such network persistence poses distinct difficulties and challenges for the counselling and rehabilitation of delinquent and at-risk youths. In particular, during the critical post-rehabilitation where youths are seeking a fresh start in life, social media may offer an insidious route to recidivism and they need therefore to be equipped with the skills and resilience to avoid that undesirable outcome (Lim et al, 2012;2013a;2013b). It is imperative to first help these youths realize that the negative network continues to flourish regardless of their involvement or lack thereof, so that they can confidently re-enter society without feeling the guilt of disloyalty towards their former affiliates, and assured that they do not personally need the security of the group to flourish. ...
... Research in different countries highlights digital disadvantage as a central component of social inequalities (Reisdorf & Rhinesmith, 2020) and demonstrates a strong link between children and youth's offline vulnerability and risky digital experiences (El Asam & Katz, 2018;Helsper & Reisdorf, 2017;Lim et al., 2012;Reisdorf & DeCook, 2022;Stevens et al., 2017). Thus, intervention should be applied to prevent the use of the internet and social media as a way to return to risky and criminal behaviours (Bulger & Burton, 2020;Lim et al., 2013). Critical media literacy and participatory media projects can help these youths succeed in an increasingly digital society. ...
... Critical media literacy and participatory media projects can help these youths succeed in an increasingly digital society. The main point is that these educational approaches must take a critical model in which youth have access to inclusive educational content that presents forms to widen their views of the world and, at the same time, raise awareness about the risks and opportunities that may come with it (Lim et al., 2013). ...
In this article, we aim to discuss digital rights and media literacy in the context of socio-digital inequalities experienced by institutionalised youths. In the case of these digitally disconnected youths in detention centres, there is evidence of multiple life-course disadvantages that will resonate throughout their future lives. They see their present and future lives deeply challenged by the fast pace of technological innovation and its social impacts while living in environments that we see as digital deserts. The data we bring to the discussion results from the Portuguese participatory project DiCi-Educa. We worked for three years with institutionalised youth on digital media production and critical thinking regarding digital citizenship, participation, and otherness issues. This article is organised around two research questions: What were youths’ practices regarding media and digital environments before institutionalisation? How did they discuss these digital environments and their digital rights during the project? Early findings point to (a) the importance of implementing critical methods to help them to think about technologies in diverse daily life contexts, (b) the need to provide venues for institutionalised youth to build critical thinking and communication skills, and (c) the necessity to widen their worldviews and promote positive behaviours.
... Given the importance of peers to young people's personal development, and the dominance of media and technology in their peer interactions (Lim, 2013a;2013b), it behoves us to delve deeper into how youths on the margins engage with and through media. within many households today, providing families with a variety of ways to re-tion (Lim & Wang, 2017). ...
... For youths who are trying to rehabilitate themselves, the enduring nature of delinquent peer networks can of delinquent and at-risk youths. In particular, during the critical post-rehabiliinsidious route to recidivism and they need therefore to be equipped with the skills and resilience to avoid that undesirable outcome (Lim et al, 2012;2013a;-Youth workers must also recognise how technology can be a double-edged to helpful resources and labels that can aid in their identity formation while -McInroy, 2014; Higa et al., 2014). ...
The term ‘growing pains’ perhaps best captures the difficulties and trials young people go through when they transition from toddlers to tweens and develop from teens into emerging adults. Every lifestage presents exciting possibilities but is also beset with uncertainty. Young people must learn to develop their own identities while making sense of the world and their place within it. As they go to school and become increasingly independent, they socialise with peers and are exposed to myriad ideas and perspectives, some of which may run counter to their own. They need help negotiating these novel situations and family support is necessarily vital. Many will also turn to the internet to seek answers to the questions that may be confounding and troubling. In this regard, youths on the margins of society may find the anonymity of the online world to be a safe space in which to find like-minded peers, seek affirmation and explore solutions to seemingly awkward problems that no one else seems to understand. In this chapter, we review the wealth of academic scholarship to highlight various ways in which digital media can provide solace to youths on the margins of society, but present them with distinct issues to navigate, even as they struggle with developmental challenges.
Describing young people who offend or who are more likely to offend as vulnerable or having vulnerability seems commonplace in the literature as of late. Although the use of vulnerability in the research literature on youth crime appears widespread, its meaning, nonetheless, is unclear: if not assumed or implicit, it fluctuates across studies. Because of this ambiguity, we systematically review the empirical literature on youth crime between 1990 and 2020 to gauge how vulnerability is understood now and over time. A total of 19 studies out of 631 original records met the inclusion criteria. The included studies neatly fit into pre-existing classifications of vulnerability from the research literature. The vast majority of the included studies appeared in the decade 2010 to 2019, and meanings of vulnerability as social disadvantage and risk first appeared during this time. Overall and underlying meanings of vulnerability as well as their research and real-world implications are discussed.
Empirical work on criminological theories in Asia has been increasing. However, few comprehensive and systematic reviews on the application of criminological theories in Asia have been conducted. Using a systematic quantitative literature review method on peer-reviewed English-language journal articles, we aim to provide an overview of the use of five major criminological theories in Asia: (1) strain; (2) social learning; (3) control; (4) routine activity; and (5) developmental and life-course. In particular, we address the following four questions: (1) how often are these theories tested in which region of Asia?; (2) what methodology is used to test these theories?; (3) to what extent are these theories supported in the Asian context?; and (4) what cultural uniqueness in the Asian context is taken into account in testing these theories, and what role and effect do they play in analysis and outcome? Findings indicate that the relationship between these theories and the Asian regions is skewed; many studies do not employ rigorous methodologies; these theories are either fully or partially supported in the Asian context; and only a few studies have analyzed the cultural uniqueness of the Asian context, and no effect of cultural uniqueness of the Asian context was found. Research implications for developing criminology in Asia are discussed.
Empirical work on criminological theories in Asia has been increasing. However, few comprehensive and systematic reviews on the application of criminological theories in Asia have been conducted. Using a systematic quantitative literature review method on peer-reviewed English-language journal articles, we aim to provide an overview of the use of five major criminological theories in Asia: (1) strain; (2) social learning; (3) control; (4) routine activity; and (5) developmental and life-course. In particular, we address the following four questions: (1) how often are these theories tested in which region of Asia?; (2) what methodology is used to test these theories?; (3) to what extent are these theories supported in the Asian context?; and (4) what cultural uniqueness in the Asian context is taken into account in testing these theories, and what role and effect do they play in analysis and outcome? Findings indicate that the relationship between these theories and the Asian regions is skewed; many studies do not employ rigorous methodologies; these theories are either fully or partially supported in the Asian context; and only a few studies have analyzed the cultural uniqueness of the Asian context, and no effect of cultural uniqueness of the Asian context was found. Research implications for developing criminology in Asia are discussed.
Analyzing autobiographical essays written by 72 young adult college students, this study investigates how coming of age concurrently with the internet and related technologies has influenced these young people’s lives. An understanding of how the technology is influencing the various domains of their lives provides a window on what internet use may be like for future generations. Essays revealed insights into four primary domains: self, family, real communities, and virtual communities. Within each of these domains, participants’ responses tended to focus on key dualities. Additionally, these young people report a growing dependency on the internet for activities ranging from managing their daily lives to building and maintaining virtual communities.
While extensive research has been conducted on young people’s peer interaction via online communication, the focus has been on mainstream youths, with marginalized youth communities being understudied. To help address this inadequacy, the current study conducted interviews with Singaporean male juvenile delinquents (n = 36) to understand the role of online communication in their peer interactions and the salient characteristics of such interactions. Our findings show that Facebook was the principal tool of online peer interaction. However, given the particular circumstances of juvenile delinquents, online social networking presents issues that may compromise efforts to rehabilitate them. These include extending the time and opportunities for unstructured and unsupervised peer socialization, peer endorsement of delinquent acts and the pressure of having to display group loyalty in the online space. Even after rehabilitation, youths who attempt to distance themselves from their delinquent peers are challenged by the persistence of their online social networks.
Although acknowledging the importance of adolescent friendships in the etiology of delinquency, prior studies have yet to provide a detailed examination of the role of actual friendship networks in delinquency. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (1995–1996), this study's incorporation of friendship networks allows for a more rigorous conceptualization and measurement of peer delinquency based on carefully defined networks of adolescent friendships. Findings illustrate that friendship networks are very heterogenous in terms of members' participation in delinquent behavior with the majority of adolescents belonging to networks containing both delinquent and non-delinquent friends. In support of differential association's premise that delinquent behavior is influenced by the ratio of definitions favorable to those unfavorable to law violation (Sutherland, 1947), the proportion of delinquent friends in a respondent's network is most strongly associated with respondents' subsequent delinquency. This relative measure of peer delinquency is preferable to a measure of the absolute level of delinquency occurring by friends, the average delinquency committed by friends, or the absolute number of delinquent friends. Enmeshment in a friendship network where consensus about the appropriateness of delinquency is maximized (i.e., all friends are delinquent or non-delinquent) most effectively constrains the behaviors of network members to resemble the groups' behavior.
Singapore has one of the highest Internet and mobile phone penetration rates in the world. With increasing government investment
in IT, media and technology are assuming an ever growing role in the lives of Singaporeans. Singaporeans use media intensively,
consuming media in all forms as they acquire information essential to their education, work, social and recreational lives.
Singapore is a highly mediatised country which has embraced infocomm technology in virtually every aspect of life, especially
in government, business and education. Traditional broadcast and print media have converged with newer digital, online and
mobile content to produce a media landscape that provides Singaporeans with greater choice, but which also presents them with
more challenges. As Singaporeans navigate through this rich and vast media landscape, they are finding their media literacy
being increasingly tested as they need to access different media platforms and evaluate media content of diversifying genres
and varying quality.
This paper studied uneven Internet access amongst young people in Singapore. The study finds that young Singaporeans access the Internet mainly through home, school, borrowed, public, and mobile sources, with different implications for each type of Internet access. For those with home or mobile access, Internet use was routinised and often intense, even burdensome and distracting on occasions. For those who relied on borrowed, school, or public access, intermittent use appeared adequate but hampered their ability to hone online skills to the levels of their peers. The study also finds that although systematic incorporation of IT into the national curriculum can encourage parity in basic exposure to online skills, developing greater Internet proficiency is more likely with home Internet access.
What is the social condition of youth in modern society? This is the question taken up by this passionate and substantive book. The author argues that youth are at a crisis state. The crisis has been brought about by the general state of social crisis; violence, questions of political legitimacy, educational decline; as well as the decline of compassion as a core principle of culture. The author draws on a variety of trends and scholarly research to examine the problems of growing up in a high risk society and offers pathways to spiritual renewal and cultural renewal, esential for salvaging the next generation. The study takes on the youth crisis as a compelling public issue, exploring various manifestations of the crisis; endangered youth, gang participation, youth addictions, unworkable schools, violence in the home and on the streets, homelessness, and the near genocidal conditions that plague African American and urban youth. Students, educators, and policy makers, as well as anyone interested in the plight of youth and the steps necessary to successfully overcome the crisis will find this book invaluable and memorable.
Drawing on relevant theory and research, it is argued that the impact of delinquent peers on delinquency is conditioned by (1) attachment to peers, (2) time spent with peers, and (3) the extent to which peers present delinquent patterns (i.e., present definitions favorable to delinquency, model delinquent behavior, and differentially rein force delinquency). Regression analyses with data from the National Youth Survey provide partial support for these arguments. When the above variables are at their mean or lower levels, a measure of association with peers who engage in serious delinquency has no impact or a negative impact on delinquency. When the above variables are at higher levels, delinquent peers (serious) has a strong, positive impact on delinquency. A measure of association with peers who engage in minor delinquency, however, is not conditioned by the above variables.
Nicholas Emler and Stephen Reicher present a new explanation of delinquency by asking about the social dynamics of behaviour and misbehaviour. The central thesis is that conduct is motivated by reputation: the problem is to explain why so many young people choose to pursue delinquent reputations.
The book begins with a critical look at psychology's traditional reaction to deviance, which has been to attribute it to flaws or deficits in the individual's psychological make-up. The authors go on to examine the major theoretical perspectives on delinquency in both psychology and sociology, relating them to their common roots in the 'mass society' thesis of the 19th century. The fit between these theories and the facts is then explored in some detail. None account successfully for the major features of delinquency—particularly its generalized character, and its greater prevalence among males in mid-adolescence.
In the final section, the authors develop their own account of delinquency which suggests that the pursuit or avoidance of delinquent behaviour is a choice of social identity and moral reputation. They develop the idea of 'reputation management,' and examine the kind of reputation and identity that is conveyed by delinquent action and the advantages this may have for the actor. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
This study assessed the hypothesis that popularity in adolescence takes on a twofold role, marking high levels of concurrent adaptation but predicting increases over time in both positive and negative behaviors sanctioned by peer norms. Multimethod, longitudinal data, on a diverse community sample of 185 adolescents (13 to 14 years), addressed these hypotheses. As hypothesized, popular adolescents displayed higher concurrent levels of ego development, secure attachment, and more adaptive interactions with mothers and best friends. Longitudinal analyses supported a popularity-socialization hypothesis, however, in which popular adolescents were more likely to increase behaviors that receive approval in the peer group (e.g., minor levels of drug use and delinquency) and decrease behaviors unlikely to be well received by peers (e.g., hostile behavior with peers).