Moral awareness: Contributing factors among adolescents in conflict with the law (a literature review)

Faculty of Psychology, University of Muhammadiyah Malang, Indonesia

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Abstract

Moral awareness is an important foundation in ethical decisionmaking, especially for adolescents who are in conflict with the law. This study aims to examine the factors that contribute to moral awareness in juvenile offenders through the Systematic Literature Review (SLR) approach. A total of 10 scientific articles from the 2015–2024 range were analyzed based on the PRISMA method. The results of the study identified three main groups of factors that affect adolescents’ moral awareness, namely: (1) individual factors such as moral cognitive development, emotional regulation, and personal values; (2) family factors, including parenting patterns, the quality of parent-child relationships, and the family’s emotional environment; and (3) social and environmental factors such as peer influence, school environment, and socioeconomic conditions. These findings suggest that the formation of moral awareness in adolescents is the result of the complex interaction of these various factors. The implications of this study emphasize the importance of a holistic approach in efforts to prevent juvenile delinquency and the development of interventions that support the formation of healthy moral character.