Sociodemographic characteristics and aggression quotient among children in conflict with the law in India: A case–control study.
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Date
2015-07
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Abstract
Background. The incidence of juvenile delinquency has
increased in the past decade in India and juvenile crimes are
increasingly being reported. This has been attributed to many
biopsychosocial factors. It is essential to understand these
issues in the context of India to determine the response of acts
of children in conflict with the law. We aimed to assess the
sociodemographic characteristics and the aggression quotient
of children in conflict with the law (juvenile delinquents) in
observation homes across India and compare them with those
who were not.
Methods. We did a case–control study in five juvenile
homes in the cities of Hyderabad, Lucknow and Pune. Ninety
inmates (74 boys, 16 girls) were included in the study.
Sociodemographic characteristics and aggression quotient of
children in conflict with the law were evaluated using two
separate questionnaires, i.e. a sociodemographic questionnaire
and the modified Buss and Perry aggression questionnaire.
These were compared with a control group of similar age, sex
and income status.
Results. All the children in conflict with the law surveyed
belonged to the lower socioeconomic strata, had a significantly
higher chance (p<0.05) of coming from broken homes, have
addictions, jailed family members and suffered physical and
sexual abuse than controls. They also scored higher on all
domains of the aggression questionnaire than controls.
Conclusion. A collection of sociodemographic attributes
such as broken homes, addictions and abuse seem to have an
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Gupta Archit, Biddala Ooha Susmita, Dwivedi Mandavi, Variar Prathyaksha, Singh Aparna, Sen Soham, Bhat P. Shivaram, Kunte Renuka, Nair Velu, Shankar Subramanian. Sociodemographic characteristics and aggression quotient among children in conflict with the law in India: A case–control study. National Medical Journal of India. 2015 Jul-Aug; 28(4):172-175.