Examining the relationship between psychometric properties of delinquency juvenile and peer bullying, self-esteem and psychological resilience and comparison with healthy controls

Juvenile delinquency is a global problem that is increasing all over the world. The reasons that lead a child to crime can be classified as individual, family and environmental factors. In addition to these basic factors, involvement in peer bullying as a bully or victim, self-esteem and psychological resilience levels can also be important factors in the process of being dragged into crime. Although many studies have been conducted on children who are pushed into crime, which is a special group, no study has been found in the literature that evaluates the level of peer bullying, self-esteem and psychological resilience in this group and compares it with children who have not been pushed into crime. In our study, it was aimed to determine the features associated with psychopathology of children who were dragged into crime, to evaluate their participation in peer bullying as a bully or victim, their self-esteem and psychological resilience, to compare them with children who were not dragged into crime, to examine the correlation of these variables with each other in children who were dragged into crime, and to determine the risk factors that affect being dragged into crime. The research sample consists of delinquent juvenile referred to Pamukkale University Faculty of Medicine Child and Adolescent Mental Health and Diseases Forensic Polyclinic by judicial authorities and children who have not been involved in crime before and who do not have additional medical or psychiatric diseases. 101 delinquent juvenile and 100 nondelinquent juvenile (ages 12-18 years old) were included in the research. Conners Wells Adolescent Self-Report Scale-Long (CWASS-L), Peer Bullying Bully Identification Scale (PBBIS), Peer Bullying Victim Identification Scale (PBVIS), Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES) and Child and Youth Psychological Resilience Scale-12 (CYPRS-12) forms were administered to the delinquent juveniles and children in the control group, and the information form covering sociodemographic characteristics was administered to the parents by the researcher via face-to-face interview method. As a result of our study, 80.2% (n=81) of the delinquent juvenile group were male, 25.7% (n=26) of the children did not go to school, their academic achievement was low, and they were diagnosed with CD, ODD and SLD, especially ADHD. Delinquent juvenile group has been found that their families have a large or fragmented family structure, they live in low-income families, and their parental and domestic harmony levels are poor. At the same time, it was observed that the most frequently committed crime type in the delinquent juvenile group was intentional injury and the second was theft. Compared to the control group, children in the delinquent juvenile group had lower levels of self-esteem and psychological resilience, were more involved in peer bullying than the control group, and were also more likely to have higher levels of CWASS-L subscales (family, emotional, behavior, cognitive and inattention, anger management and hyperactivity) they were found to have problems. In our study, RSES scores and PBBIS, PBVIS and CWASS-L scores were inversely related; RSES scores and CGPSS scores are related in the same direction; CWASS-L scores and PBBIS and PBVIS scores were related in the same direction; It was determined that PBBIS scores and PBVIS scores were related in the same direction, and there was an inverse relationship between CWASS-L, PBBIS and PBVIS scores and CYPRS-12 score. As a result of the logistic regression analysis conducted in our study, it was found that the education of the mother and father was low, monthly income was low, academic success, domestic harmony and relationship with parents were poor, psychological resilience was low, parents were separated or one of the parents was absent, and the number of children in the family increased. , being the middle or later born child in the family, low-medium level self-esteem, increased scores in the family, emotional, behavioral, cognitive and inattention, anger management and hyperactivity problems sub-dimensions of the CWASS-L scale, open attack, ridicule and intimidation/intimidation. Being a bully/victim in the sub-dimensions and being a victim of peer bullying in the relational attack and personal property attack sub-dimensions were found to be significantly increasing risk factors for being dragged into crime. As a result, our study is important in terms of evaluating peer bullying and victimization, psychological resilience and self-esteem levels in delinquent juvenile and comparing it with the control group. Our study may have contributed to the literature in terms of determining the risk factors in terms of being dragged into crime, emphasizing the importance of participating in peer bullying as a bully or victim, self-esteem and psychological resilience, and providing guidance for intervention programs that can be done in this field in the field. Key Words: Juvenile delinquency, peer bullying, self-esteem, psychological resilience