The correlation of the delinquent behaviors of institutionalized children in conflict with the law with parental discipline, peer delinquency and neighborhood disorganization / The Health Sciences Journal

ABSTRACT

Introduction @#The increasing prevalence of children in conflict with the law is a problem in Metro Manila. This study aimed to understand the factors, specifically parental discipline, peer delinquency, and neighborhood disorganization that predispose a child to engage in delinquent acts.@*Methods@#This was a correlational study in which children in conflict with the law who were institutionalized at the Manila Youth Reception Center were surveyed. The subjects were given three sets of questionnaires which measured parental discipline, peer delinquency, and neighborhood disorganization, respectively. Spearman's rho correlation coefficient was computed using SPSS.@*Results@#Delinquent behavior is very weakly and positively correlated with peer delinquency (r = 0.18) and neighborhood status (r = 0.10), and is very weakly and inversely correlated with parental discipline (r - -0.10. These correlations were not statistically significant. @*Conclusion @#The study showed that parental discipline, peer delinquency, and neighborhood disorganization may influence a child's delinquent behavior.