Entering the beginning of 2025, Universitas Prima Indonesia (UNPRI) is enthusiastically preparing to participate in the National Student Creativity Week (PKM), a prestigious competition that not only provides a platform for students to develop innovation and creativity in various fields, but also serves as an arena for achievement that requires participants to be able to create concrete solutions to various community problems.
As a form of seriousness and commitment in facing the challenges of this competition, our UNPRI student team consisting of Rusmita Sari from the Faculty of Law and colleagues Sabina Widyarani (Law), Dinda Ummairah (Law), M. Ibrahim Hasibuan (Law), and Felix (Psychology), under the guidance of Supervising Lecturer Dr. Windania Purba, S.Kom., M.Kom., have taken the initiative to conduct various field observations and analysis before the official announcement of the PKM competition.
Judging from data from the North Sumatra Regional Police, the rate of juvenile crime in Medan City has increased by 20% in the last five years (2019-2023), with 60% of them involved in drug abuse or trafficking. Our team specifically focused their research on the phenomenon of juvenile delinquency or juvenile delinquency, which has become an increasingly complex social issue that requires innovative approaches in its handling. Juvenile delinquency or what is known as juvenile delinquency. According to Romli Atmasasmita, every act or behavior of a child under the age of 18 and not yet married is a violation of prevailing legal norms and can endanger the personal development of the child concerned.
On this occasion, we chose partners from orphanages in Medan City, namely Zending Orphanage Medan City and Putri Aisyiyah Orphanage Medan City. The selection of these partners was not without reason, but was based on in-depth consideration of the various challenges faced by foster children in orphanages, especially in the psychosocial and self-development aspects. Based on our research, children in orphanages tend to be more vulnerable to various negative behaviors, such as juvenile delinquency, low self-confidence, and the emergence of feelings of envy or dissatisfaction due to social comparisons with other children outside the orphanage. In addition, psychologically, they also often experience limitations in aspects of personal growth (pengembangan diri) serta psychological well-being (kesejahteraan psikologis), which can have an impact on a child's resilience.
In an effort to understand the extent to which orphanage adolescents recognize current trends in juvenile delinquency, the team conducted observations by conducting interviews through a light discussion approach with the orphanage adolescents and caregivers. This approach aims to test their understanding of various forms of deviant behavior that are currently rife among adolescents, such as online slot gambling games and promiscuity. From the results of the interviews that have been conducted, it was found that some orphanage adolescents are quite aware of the delinquency, both from the surrounding environment and social media, but they are not directly involved in these activities.
In addition, the team also conducted interviews with the orphanage caregivers to gain a broader perspective on the behavior and daily lives of the fostered children in the orphanage environment. Based on monitoring carried out by the caregivers, orphanage adolescents tend to still be involved in mild forms of delinquency, such as lying, fighting, being lazy to study, and sometimes being lazy to carry out worship on time. Furthermore, the caregivers do not carry out in-depth supervision regarding the self-development of the fostered children, such as reviewing children's activities in playing cellphones. According to opinion the team, this is a space that, if not filled with positive activities, will have a negative impact.
What caught our team's attention in this research is the condition at the Zending Orphanage in Medan City, where the orphanage still faces various limitations, especially in the aspect of empowering fostered children, disparities in various aspects, both in terms of facilities, education, and opportunities possessed by orphanage children compared to children outside the orphanage, which is one of the challenges that needs to be considered. Also of no less importance, the orphanage's economic condition is not yet optimal, where the orphanage still faces limitations in funding to meet daily operational needs.
Therefore, for the results of this temporary observation, our team hopes to make a sustainable positive contribution to the orphanage, where the innovation can be expressed in the 2025 National PKM Competition.
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