Journal of General Practice

Factors Affecting Juvenile Delinquency in Bahrain

Abstract

Faisal Abdullatif Alnasir and Abdulrahman Ali Al-Falaij

Kingdome of Bahrain is island situated in the middle of the Gulf. The discovery of oil has led to the rapid modernization of the country and its prosperity. Such factors and other affected on the lifestyle of the population and the traditional societal role with the transformation from the large extended families to a nuclear one. One of many consequences of these changes was the increase prevalence of juvenile delinquency. In this study, there was a trial to study this phenomenon and find out the most risk factors that may help in its occurrence. The Parental Acceptance/Rejection Questionnaire, which has been translated into Arabic and was used previously with other Arab populations, was administered to a group of 30 jailed juvenile offenders and compared to a similar cohort and number of high school students with no record of delinquency. The variables, including areas related to the family conditions, were studied comparing the two groups (the delinquent vs. non-delinquent). The results indicate that there are relationships between juvenile delinquency and the parental demographic characteristics. More delinquent subjects had illiterate fathers (47%) (p<0.05) and mothers (67%), (p<0 .001) than the non-delinquent. Fifty percent (n=15) of the non-delinquents reported that their fathers were professional versus 21% of the delinquents (p<0.05). The familial relationships, conflicts, and practices were also related to the presence of delinquency. There was a less favorable interpersonal relationship between delinquents and their parents. With regards to family practices, the delinquents scored higher (1.932) than non-delinquents (1.69), indicating that the parents of delinquents were less involved in the lives of their children. Concerning emotional conflict, it was found that the delinquents scored higher (M=2.18) than non-delinquents (M=1.68); indicating more conflict was happening between their parents. In conclusion, the risks of developing delinquency in juveniles were found to be very much related to the parental interpersonal relationships, their demographic characteristics and the socioeconomic status of the family.