Youth and Deviance: An Analysis of Disordered and Delinquent Groups
November 3rd, 2025
The volume Giovani e devianza. Analisi dei gruppi disordinati e delinquenti [Youth and Deviance: An Analysis of Disordered and Delinquent Groups] by Stefania Crocitti, recently published by PM Edizioni, addresses the issue of the relationship between youth and deviance — a topic currently at the center of public and political debate in Italy.
In response to oversimplified or stigmatizing portrayals of youth sociality, Crocitti offers a critical and nuanced reading of the phenomenon, distinguishing between transgression, group dynamics, and delinquency. Through an interdisciplinary approach and empirical research conducted in Emilia-Romagna on about 1,600 adolescents, the author examines how social change, urban contexts, and new spaces of socialization shape young people’s practices, relationships, and behaviors. The result is a complex picture that challenges the adequacy of traditional categories of deviance in describing these dynamics.
Overall, the volume calls for moving beyond labels such as “baby gangs” or “youth gangs,” suggesting instead that the many forms of youth aggregation should be understood as expressions of identity, belonging, and the search for spaces of recognition within contemporary society.
The PDF version of the book is freely accessible by clicking here.