A Quantitative Analysis of Gender Differences among Psychosocial Correlates of Juvenile Delinquency

Abstract

The present study aims to find out the gender differences among psychosocial correlates of delinquency. Through a cross-sectional survey research design, data on 200 juvenile delinquents and runaway adolescents was taken from institutes working for the well-being of abused and neglected children in Rawalpindi, Lahore, Gujranwala, and Multan. Urdu translated versions of The Big Five Inventory (John et al., 1991), the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (Patton et al., 1995), the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (Kessler & Morczek, 1992), the Reactive-Proactive Aggression Questionnaire (Raine et al., 2006), the Psychological Well-Being Scale (Ryff, 1989), the Subtype of Antisocial Behavior Questionnaire (Burt & Donnellan, 2009), the Self-Reported Delinquency Scale (Naqvi & Kamal, 2008), and the How I Think Questionnaire ’(Barriga et al., 2001) were used to collect data. T-test results reported significant mean differences along gender on delinquency, antisocial behavior, impulsivity, aggression, and psychological distress, where male adolescents reported a higher mean value compared to female participants. On personality traits and psychological well-being, female adolescents reported a high mean. On cognitive distortions, females reported higher mean values on self-centeredness, while males reported higher means on blaming others. The study recommends the counseling programs for parents to master the effective parenting techniques and counterstrategies to deal with problematic behaviors on delinquent’s behalf in the form of intervention plans.