Social influences on juvenile delinquency in Kuwait

• Main Author: Alsaleh, Amer Ali
• Format: Dissertation
• Language: English
• Published: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses 01.01.2002
• Subjects: Criminology; Juvenile delinquency; Social psychology; Kuwait
• ISBN: 9780493820545; 049382054X

Juvenile delinquency is one of the most serious and challenging problems throughout the world. The purpose of this study is to investigate the social factors that have contributed to the rising rates of juvenile delinquency in Kuwaiti society. Specifically, this study examines the influence of family, peer, cultural, and social pyschological factors on juvenile delinquency among Kuwaiti youth. My analysis of juvenile delinquency in this Gulf nation is guided by three criminological theories, social control, social learning, and strain theory. This study analyzes survey data from a sample of 633 Kuwaiti teen boys who range in age from thirteen to eighteen years old. This sample is comprised of convicted delinquents living in a youth detention facility (the social care house) and a control group of non-delinquents from Kuwaiti public schools. Descriptive analyses reveal that incarcerated youths have been convicted of a wide range of property and interpersonal forms of delinquency. Regression analyses reveal that family structure, family attachment, child discipline, parental rejection, peer associations, anger, frustration, post-traumatic stress disorder, family income, age, and religious commitment are significant predictors of property and interpersonal delinquency among incarcerated youth. The control group of teenage boys in Kuwaiti public schools have also committed some delinquent acts, but have done so at a considerably lower rate. Among these youth, academic achievement, religious commitment, peer associations, anger, frustration, post-traumatic stress disorder, and age are significantly associated with juvenile delinquency. Implications of these findings are discussed in this study's conclusion.