Juvenile delinquency is one of major social issues that get increasingly serious, and there are largely three different sorts of factors to affect it: family environments, school environments and social environments. It cannot be said that only one of...
Juvenile delinquency is one of major social issues that get increasingly serious, and there are largely three different sorts of factors to affect it: family environments, school environments and social environments. It cannot be said that only one of the three factors has a crucial impact on juvenile delinquency, but family environments can be viewed as primary factors to exert a decisive influence on the values of adolescents, their character building and social adaptability in that a family is the most basic social group and a community of living that is built on mutual affection, respect and trust.
The purpose of this study was to make a comparative analysis of juvenile probationers and general youth in terms of awareness of family environment factors in an effort to determine the impact of family environment factors on juvenile delinquency. The subjects in this study were 150 juvenile probationers and 150 high school students in the region of Daejeon. The former was under probation in the Daejeon Probation & Parole Office. A survey was conducted by using questionnaires, and the following research questions were posed:
1. Is there any relationship between juvenile delinquency and the absence of parents?
2. Is there any relationship between juvenile delinquency and subjective awareness of family living standard?
3. Is there any relationship between juvenile delinquency and the supervisory and disciplinary attitude of parents?
4. Is Juvenile delinquency linked to family atmosphere and intimacy?
5. Is there any relationship between juvenile delinquency and family immorality?
6. Is there any relationship between juvenile delinquency and the academic credential of parents?
The findings of the study were as follows:
First, in terms of the absence of parents, the juvenile probationers whose families were broken outnumbered the general adolescents whose families were in the same situation. Second, it's found that the academic credential of parents could possibly have an impact on juvenile delinquency. Third, there were significant gaps between the general teens and the juvenile probationers in subjective awareness of family living standard, and it's consequently found that family economy might impact on juvenile delinquency. Fourth, in terms of family immorality, more family crimes took place in the families of the juvenile probationers, which gave a clue about the relationship of deviant family disposition to juvenile delinquency. Fifth, in regard to the supervisory and disciplinary attitude of the parents, there were no gaps between the two groups in compliment and interference, but statistically significant intergroup gaps were found in trust. It implies that considering oneself to be distrusted by parents is likely to lead to juvenile delinquency since being loved by parents is important in adolescence. Sixth, in terms of family atmosphere and intimacy, there were statistically significant intergroup gaps, which indicated the importance of family interaction, intimacy, strong bond and emotional support.