Causes and Correlates of Delinquency in Adolescent Girls

Abstract

Adolescence is considered to be highly crucial stage in human life which may engender deviancy in behavioral patterns. Neighborhood disorder, ineffective parenting, poor school achievement and youths’ involvement with deviant peers are considered to be major risk factors associated with deviant behavior during adolescence. Both girls and boys experience similar risk factors during adolescent phase. The influence of certain risk factors like abuse in the family, prior victimization, lack of parental trust and interaction, deviant peers etc. have a significant role in developing deviance in girls. Bad neighborhood and improper schooling to some extend leads to development of behavioral problems in girls.The primary purpose of this paper is to find out the major risk factor/s that leads an adolescent girl into deviancy. The study further focuses on explaining correlation between various social as well as psychological risk factors causing behavioral problems in adolescent girls. 16 female juvenile delinquents present in Government run Observation and Special Homes for Women in the State of Odisha, India are taken up for the study. Descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation, percentage) and case study methods are used to show the relevance and correlation between various risk variables on juvenile offenders. The study has found the following results: first, 85% of the juvenile delinquents belong to poor rural neighborhood whereas 15% of the juvenile delinquents belong to urban poor neighborhood (slum/ platforms/ roadside). Second, 90% of the juvenile delinquents have not received proper guidance and supervision from their parents. Third, 60% of the juvenile delinquents have committed crime under peer influence. Four, 75 % juvenile delinquents have been victims of some kind of abuse and have committed crime for self protection. Finally, in majority of the cases abuse faced by the girls in the hands of family and others seems to be a major cause of violent crimes by girls. Influence of peers and lack of parental interest and trust on the girl child also act as contributors of female juvenile offending. It is therefore, important to identify protective factors for improving community, family, and peer group functioning as well as to create awareness regarding abuse and harassment faced by girls to reduce juvenile female crime rate, which is on rise.