Relation of juvenile criminal behavior to sociodemographic features and intelligence

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the sociodemographic features of the juvenile offenders and their families, the characteristics of the crime and the relationship between criminal behavior and intelligence in a group of teens that were referred to a university hospital for forensic evaluation regarding Turkish penal code article 31/2, by legal forces. Methods: This study was carried out by the retrospective assessment of medical records of children and adolescents that were referred to Pamukkale University Medical School Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Depart-ment for forensic evaluation regarding Turkish penal code article 31/2 by legal authorities between the dates 01.07.2009 and 30.06.2013. Sociodemographic features of the cases and their families, WISC-R (Wechsler Intelli-gence Scale for Children-revised) results, clinical assessment results and data regarding the legal process were derived from the legal file records of the cases. Results: Of the cases, 91.3% (n=116) were male while 8.7% (n=11) were female. A total of 127 children were convicted of 167 crimes in total and the most common committed crimes were offences against property while offences against physical integrity came in the second. Via clinical evaluation, it was determined that 65.4% of the cases (n=83) had normal intellectual capacity. Of the cases, 26.8% (n=34) had borderline intellectual functioning while 7.8% (n=10) had some type of mental retardation. Repeat offenders had statistically lower average verbal IQ scores compared to one-time offenders. Discussion: It is remarkable that delinquent children have frequently common problem areas such as limited intellectual capacity, socioeconomic difficulties and low educational backgrounds for both the cases and their families. It seems necessary to determine the requirements of children under risk and taking precautions and providing support in relation to this, to successfully decrease the rates of child delinquency. © 2016, Cukurova University, Faculty of Medicine. All rights reserved.