Abstract

MORAL-JIMENEZ, María de la Villa  and  PELAYO-PEREZ, Loreto Elvira. Socio-demographic and family factors in Spanish children that engage in criminal or civic-minded behavior. Rev.latinoam.cienc.soc.niñez juv [online]. 2016, vol.14, n.2, pp.1217-1233. ISSN 1692-715X.  https://doi.org/10.11600/1692715x.14223210715.

This study aims to analyze factors associated with family structure and functionality, as well as socio-demographic characteristics, related to criminal behavior in adolescents. The authors selected a random sample of students (n=118) from the Principality of Asturias (Spain) that were divided into two groups: civic-minded (n=87) and criminal behavior (n= 31) and a group of adolescents that are currently the subject of court ordered sanctions (n=22). Significant differences were found in terms of individual characteristics such as age, gender and educational level, with older male adolescents presenting the highest levels of criminal behavior. The educational level of mothers, whether parents have separated and absent fathers are influential in the development of criminal behavior that could result in court-ordered punishments. The implications of these results for the prevention of juvenile criminal behavior are discussed.

Keywords : Antisocial behavior; criminal behavior; youth; gender; education level; family structure; family socialization.

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