Hierarchia wartości nieletnich przestępców i jej możliwe związki z zachowaniami przestępczymi

Value theory defines values as an essential, normative factor determining an individual's behavior, and superior to beliefs and attitudes. Hierarchized in a specific system, values constitute an important factor of human mental health, shaping people's attitude to the past, their ability to formulate future goals and conditioning personality development. The greater the importance of a certain value in the hierarchy, the more it affects the decisions and actions of man. In the light of the known psychological models, it seems important to analyse the possible relationship between the hierarchy of values recognized by the juveniles and their criminal behavior. This study shows significant differences in the declared hierarchy of final and instrumental values among a group of juvenile offenders detained in Juvenile Shelter and a control group of non-offender juveniles, against the norms of a particular age group. The nature and magnitude of the reported differences allows to confirm, that preference of certain values could be related with criminal behavior among youth.