| Popis: |
Juvenile deviance is a topic of great discussion in Japanese society. The topic is associated with increasing social inequality, economic recession, and the erosion of social norms among the young, and there are a great number of studies that analyze these relationships. These concepts, however, have never before been qualitatively analyzed from the perspective of the youth themselves.The chapter addresses the question of how deviant youth construe and interpret their own behavior. Based on interviews with delinquent girls and boys, it considers, among other things, how they themselves define deviance, how they justify their behavior, and what contexts they construct for it. It is shown that although these youths do see positive connotations in their behavior, their overall interpretation is a negative one. Deviance is thus seen, even by deviant youth themselves, as something that is reprehensible and in need of correction. In this way, the chapter offers a look into the self-perception of deviant girls and boys, one that allows a view of the topic from a perspective that has long been neglected. |
