ARTICLES
Bojan Dekleva
Adolescent Peer Groups and Social Work (in the Context of Criminal Justice) - Pg. 2The article describes the emergence of youth peer groups and their importance for individual adolescents and for society at large. The influence of organized social activities on the formation of peer groups is indicated, which also become relatively increasingly important for the socialization of adolescents due to these influences. Peer groups are also formed within the framework of the social stratification of society, so we can observe characteristic differences between peer groups and cultures. Among delinquent juvenile societies (returnees), we observed several societies composed of socially severely deprived individuals who, through participation in their society, reflected and tried to solve perceived problems in their life situation. The article tries to at least suggest some connections between peer socializing, the existence of relatively constant cultural (behavioral, interpersonal, traditional) response patterns, social stratification and delinquency. In conclusion, there is a reflection on the significance of these suggested connections and phenomena for social work by listing four theoretical ideas and suggestions that can be obtained on the basis of these ideas for the development of practice.
