Crime of 'contagious' behavior in minors

Impulsive boys who lack care, poor families and spoiled friends often have delinquent actions that cause them to be brought to the juvenile court, according to a new study published in the journal Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. The most surprising finding from a 20-year study led by researchers at Université de Montréal and University of Genoa is the support provided by the juvenile legal system that tends to increase the risk of legal violation. early children in adulthood.

'For boys who have experienced juvenile legal systems, compared to boys with similar stories but without the involvement of the legal system, the crime rate in adulthood has nearly increased. 7 times, ' co-author Richard E. Tremblay, professor of psychology and psychiatry at Université de Montréal and researcher at the Sainte-Justine University Hospital Research Center.

The research team looked for boys from delinquent crèches and boys enrolled at 53 schools in the poorest area of ​​Montreal. 779 participants were interviewed every year between the ages of 10 and 17. Until the age of 20, about 17.6% of participants were on the list of criminals as adults, with crimes including murder. people (17.9%); breakthrough (31.2%); prostitution (25.5%); drug possession (16.4%) and wrong driving (8.8%).

The most surprising finding from a 20-year study is that support provided by the juvenile legal system tends to increase the risk of delinquency of children in early adulthood. (Photo: iStockphoto / Jani Bryson)

Dr Tremblay emphasized : 'The younger the legal system helps, the greater the negative impact. Our findings are more important because the juvenile legal system in Quebec province is arguably one of the best. Most countries use considerable funding to support programs and institutions that focus spoiled minors together to help them reform. The problem is that illegal behavior is easy to spread, especially at a young age. Gathering spoiled children together creates an 'offender' environment or culture, which increases the tendency to continue to commit crimes later. '

Dr. Tremblay added: 'Two solutions exist for this problem. The first is to set up pre-adolescent prevention programs when children are more easily educated. The second is to minimize the concentration of spoiled minors together in programs to improve minors, thereby reducing the risk of crime when they mature. '

This study was conducted by the Canadian Institute of Medical Research, Fonds de la recherche en du québec, Fonds de recherche sur la société et la culture, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.

Refer:
Gatti et al.Latrogenic effect of juvenile justice.Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 2009;DOI: 10.1111 / j.1469-7610.2008.02057.x