The Impact of Marital Relationship, Conjugal Dynamics and Family Violence on Juvenile Delinquency

Min, Byung Kun; Kim, Hun Soo

Abstract

OBJECT: The family Is one of the major socialization agencies far children. Parents are one of the most important models from whom the child and adolescent acquire a wide variety of behavior patterns, attitudes, values, and norms. The aim of this study was to determine the important factors related to family conflicts on juvenile delinquency and to examine relationship between marital relationship, conjugal dynamics, family violence, character of adolescent and delinquent behavior.
METHODS
Data collection was done through questionnaire survey. The subjects for this study consisted of 1,943 adolescents including 707 juvenile delinquents and 1,236 adolescents students in Korea, chosen from Korean student population and adolescent delinquent population confined in juvenile corrective institutions, using proportional stratified random sampling method. sample of 1,863 adolescents aged between 12 and 18 agreed to participate f3r this study, 80 refused to participate. The actual number of cases put into the analysis was 1,863 adolescents including 657 juvenile delinquents and 1,206 adolescents students. Data were analysed by IBM PC using SAS program. In this study, independent variables were marital relationship, conjugal dynamics, sex distinction of adolescent and intermediating variables were family violence and character of adolescent including need satisfaction/frustration, antisocial personality tendency, complaints of psychosomatic symptoms, and dependent variable was delinquent behavior. Statistical methods employed were x2 test, t-test, simple correlation and path analysis.
RESULTS
The results of this study were as follows In this study, the two group(delinquent adolescents and student adolescents) of adolescents were seen as quite different with regard to the variables affecting the genesis and consolidation of juvenile delinquent behavior The delinquent adolescents group were reared in the family environment that the significantly higher family violence and the more dysfunctional marital relationship and conjugal dynamic than student adolescents group. And the delinquent adolescent has the high or need frustration and antisocial Personality tendency and the more complaints of psychosomatic symptoms than student adolescents. were antisocial personality tendency(direct effect=0.262, indirect effect=0.103, total effect=0.365) and sex distinction(direct effect=0.336, indirect effect=-0.014, total effect=0.322). Family violence, character of adolescent including the extent of need illustration, complaints of psychosomatic symptoms were assumed a positive influence as direct and/or indirect paths on juvenile delinquent behavior. Marital relationship and conjugal dynamics have indirect influence on delinquent behavior among adolescents and have direct influence on family violence.
CONCLUSIONS
The home environment including marital relationship and conjugal dynamics is the basis far genesis and aggravation of delinquent behavior. Maladaptive interactions within the family members and domestic violence will thus have negative consequences on a global scale including character of adolescent and delinquent behavior such as smoking, drinking, substance abuse, physical assaults etc. We suggested the cause-and-effect relationship between familial factors and juvenile delinquency. However, we should mention that this Interaction can occur in di-directions. This implies that therapeutic intervention should deal with the various links in the chain(sociofamilial, personality traits, gender difference etc.) involved in the genesis and consolidation of juvenile delinquent behavior.