Juvenile Delinquency and the Importance of Family Resilience

Adolescence is a term used to refer to the period of human development that falls between childhood and adulthood. Erik Erikson (1994), says that adolescence is a period of “identity crisis”, this called conditions in search of their personal identity by being faced with various questions about who they are, what they want in life, and how they view themselves in society etc.. The American Academy of Pediatrics (2001) defines adolescence as individuals between the ages of 11 and 21. They consider adolescence as a special period in human development that requires special attention in various matters relating to the health, physical and mental development of children. Various adolescent problems that currently occur in our environment such as cases of bullying, violence against peers which can have a serious impact on the loss of a person’s life, vandalism, “klitih” (criminal activity that happen to random people usually using sharp object when doing this activity), drugs and various other juvenile delinquencies that violate the law certainly require special attention, especially families as the fastest environment for growth and development. Juvenile delinquency is often a sign of deeper problems, including family problems, mental health problems, family and social pressure, peer problems, or negative environmental influences that have an impact on behaviour change. This condition certainly requires various kinds of efforts both prevention and intervention needed to help adolescents overcome the negative behaviours that arise. One of the efforts that can be made is strengthening family resilience.

The role of Family

Family resilience is one of the current thematic issues of National development where the family has an important position for strengthening various aspects of life. Family resilience is seen as the smallest unit that is able to manage the problems faced by its family members. Furthermore, strengthening family resilience is also one of the important aspects for the creation of a prosperous family which is shown through various dimensions, among others: The foundation of legality and family integrity, physical resilience, economic resilience, social psychological resilience and socio-cultural resilience. The importance of the family’s position in various aspects of life is important to be able to create family resilience. Strong family resilience can play a role in preventing social problems such as juvenile delinquency. Some things that can be done to create family resilience strengthening include:

• There is a balance of roles for each family member. This balance of roles is important, not only for parents but also for other members of the family. The roles that are carried out will differ according to their position and capacity in the family, but the roles that are then realized must be based on the family’s ability to identify the potential of each family member.
• Communication. Building effective communication within the family is key to understanding the needs and feelings of each family member. The family’s ability to communicate will be able to make each family member convey the various things they feel. By communicating openly, the problems faced by family members will be better resolved
• Family empowerment. Family empowerment is an activity that encourages each family member to take initiative, develop skills, and participate in family decision-making. This activity can also increase the sense of belonging and responsibility within the family.
• Space for joint activities. Involving the family in joint activities will strengthen the role of each family member and improve the relationship between family members

The realization of family resilience can not only be done by the family itself but it is important for the government, social organizations, community groups to be able to work together in realizing strengthening family resilience as a step in preventing various social problems. Various programs can also be carried out such as strengthening education programs both formal and informal, economic support through empowerment, counselling support, and other resource support that helps families to overcome challenges, stability in realizing welfare. Strengthening family resilience can also strengthen community social groups so that they can overcome economic, social and other environmental challenges.