THE PECULIARITIES OF PREVENTING DEVIANT BEHAVIOR AMONG STUDENTS

Abstract

The problem of deviant behavior among higher education students remains relevant, as educational institutions have distanced themselves from performing a significant social control function with regard to young people. Most higher education institutions emphasize professional training, organizing the educational process and fostering scientific and innovative activities in their statutory and programmatic documents; in other words, there is no focus on preventing deviant behavior.

The purpose of the article. This article aims to identify the conceptual approaches, goals, objectives, methods, forms and characteristics of preventing deviant behavior among students in higher education institutions. It also explores the role of psychocorrectional work, carried out primarily by the educational institution's psychological service, in preventive work within the student community.

The research methodology is based on the following theories and areas of study: the theory of personality socialisation (T. Aleksieienko, I. Zvierieva, V. Moskalenko, V. Radul etc.); social and pedagogical patterns of preventive work (A. Kapska, L. Mishchyk, H. Laktionova, S. Kharchenko etc.); the foundations of preventive pedagogy (V. Orzhekhovska, I. Parfanovych, O. Pylypenko, O. Udalova etc.); the psychology of deviant behaviour (V. Bytenskyi, V. Khersonskyi, N. Maksymova, S. Tolstoukhova etc.) The causes and diagnosis of deviant behaviour among adolescents and young people are examined in the works of V. Bazhenov, I. Kozubovska, L. Kondrashova, O. Kochetov, V. Orzhekhovska, H. Ponomarenko and others. The studies of V. Barannik, T. Vavryk, V. Kovalov, N. Pyhtina, I. Ponomarenko, H. Tovkanets, M. Levin, T. Nadvynytska, M. Pozniakova and I. Strelchuk explore the specifics of correcting behavioral deviations and the psychological characteristics of deviant behavior in minors and youth.

The scientific novelty is in studying and identifying the characteristics of social-preventive work in a higher education institution's student environment. The main task of this work is to overcome deviant behavior among students and organize special preventive measures to minimize or neutralize the possibility of social deviations in behavior. This involves fostering a healthy educational environment, promoting prosocial values, developing self-regulation skills, and offering social and psychological support to students.

Conclusions. Preventing deviant behavior among students involves influencing social interactions to prevent distortions in their legal and moral development and minimize negative impulses and tendencies in their behavior. This influence is achieved through a system of diverse measures aimed at: identifying, eliminating or reducing the causes and conditions that lead to the emergence and development of deviant behavior in a young person's environment; fostering lawful behavior among students; correcting and adjusting behaviour.

The main tasks involved in preventing deviant behavior among students include: studying the individual personality traits that trigger the formation of such behaviour; assessing, analyzing and forecasting the causes and conditions that contribute to the development of social deviations within the youth environment; limiting or completely eliminating negative social factors that contribute to the moral and psychological deformation of the personality; and identifying young men and women whose behavior is characterized by moral anomalies.

Thus, preventing deviant behaviour among students requires a holistic approach to individuals, the creation of a healthy educational environment, the formation of prosocial values, the development of self-regulation skills and the provision of social and psychological support.