Last modified: 2018-08-09
Abstract
The current research focused on the mischievous behaviors which lead to the occurrence of juvenile delinquency among youth. The focus of the study was on the youngsters in Kuala Lumpur with their own perception of the typical characters of conduct disorders, substance abuse, thought and attention problems which are found to be common among juvenile delinquents. This qualitative research aimed at investigating the psychological and psychosocial determinants on the occurrence of mischievous behaviours. A semi-structured interview was conducted to two adolescents through purposive sampling procedure, and their narrative reality of lived experience was explored by using in-depth analysis. The study found that 1) aggressive behavior, 2) poor psychosocial growth, 3) societal ignorance grandiose thinking, 4) dysfunctional thoughts, 5) lack of intra-familial relation, 6) peer violence encouragement and 7) individual violent expression are the major psychological and psychosocial factors that lead to the youth’s mischievous behaviors.
Keywords: Mischievous Behavior, Psychological Determinant, Psychosocial Determinant, Youths