TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2015//
TI  - Sociodemographic characteristics and aggression quotient among children in conflict with the law in India: a case-control study
JO  - National medical journal of India, The
A1  - Gupta, Archit
A1  - Biddala, Ooha Susmita
A1  - Dwivedi, Mandavi
A1  - Variar, Prathyaksha
A1  - Singh, Aparna
A1  - Sen, Soham
A1  - Bhat, P. Shivaram
A1  - Kunte, Renuka
A1  - Nair, Velu
A1  - Shankar, Subramanian
SP  - 172
EP  - 175
VL  - 28
IS  - 4
N2  - 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. <br><br>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. <br><br>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. <br><br>CONCLUSION: A collection of sociodemographic attributes such as broken homes, addictions and abuse seem to have an important association with juvenile delinquency. Children in conflict with the law are also more likely to be associated with a higher aggression quotient as compared to children who were not.<br><br>Copyright 2015, NMJI.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0970-258X
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/
ID  - ref1
ER  -