A study on Quality of Life of Juvenile Delinquents
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Date
2023
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MPUAT, Udaipur
Abstract
Juvenile delinquency is a major social problem as well as a major determinant of social order. In recent years, delinquency among children is increasing day by day. Children are the most innocent of all creations. They develop deviancy when various social and environmental factors that impinge on their innocence which propel and push them to be deviants. The involvement of both boys and girl delinquents in various crimes such as theft, burglary, riot, murder and rape, as well as carrying illegal arms and drugs and engaging in gambling activities, has increased dramatically. Keeping in view this perspective, the present study was conducted with the purpose to explore the reasons for factors affecting quality of life among juvenile delinquents (14-18 years) residing in the municipal limit of Udaipur district. A sample of 30 juvenile delinquents (15 boys and 15 girls) was drawn purposively through a preliminary survey in selected observation homes. The tool on “quality of life” was constructed and standardized to assess and compare the quality of life of juvenile delinquents. For assessing the level of overall quality of life of juvenile offenders and based on gender, ‘Frequency’ and ‘Percentage’ were calculated for various selected dimensions. To find out the association of physical health, psychological health, Social relationships and environment, chi-square test was used. For comparing physical health, psychological health, social relationships and environment in delinquents based on gender, t-test for difference between two means was computed.
Results of study indicate that maximum of the juvenile delinquents belonged to 16-18 years of age. Majority of scheduled tribal children were indulged in crimes as compared to others. Most of the boys were educated up to primary level and girls were secondary level educated who belonged to rural family background. Majority of parents of boys and girls were illiterate. Most of the fathers of respondents were mainly involved in agriculture and daily wages activities whereas mothers of juvenile recidivists were involved in household activities. Majority of felon boys and girls were belonging to lower income groups. Most of the offences committed by delinquent boys were murder and rape whereas greater number of girls were having charges of theft, assault, kidnapping and abduction Maximum number of the boys’ offenders committed crime under the influence of peer whereas girls committed crime for economic benefits. Overall, a greater number of respondents obtained a poor range of scores in the percentage distribution of the level of overall quality of life.On the basis of gender, most of the felon boys scored an equal number of poor and average range in the frequency and percentage distribution of the level of quality of life whereas most of the girl offenders were having poor level of quality of life. With reference to dimension wise quality of life of felonies, most of the respondents scored average range of physical health and social relationships while psychological health and environment was found to be poor among the respondents. Likewise, in case of physical health, psychological health, social relationships and environment, there was no significant difference found in gender wise dimensions of quality of life. Gender wise, there was a significant difference observed in the mean values of sleep, activities in daily life and work capacity. No significant difference observed in pain & discomfort, energy and fatigue, mobility and medication in terms of physical health. There were significant differences found in the mean values in positive feelings, spirituality/ religion/ personal beliefs and thinking/ learning/ memory/ concentration in psychological health of boys and girls whereas there was no significant difference observed in body image and appearance, negative feelings and self- esteem among felonies. In terms of social relationships, there was significant difference obtained in social support and sexual activity while there was no significant difference observed in personal relationships. In gender wise comparison of environment, there was no significant difference observed in financial resources, physical safety and security, home environment, recreation/ leisure activities and facilities available. As per the results of present study, no association was found between overall and dimension wise quality of life among boys and girls. Case studies of all the 30 respondents were conducted to find out the factors affecting the level of quality of life in juvenile delinquents. A guidebook was developed for the betterment of individual, parents, family, school/ teachers and community on the basis of case study and findings of the study.
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Devi S. and Tiwari G.