Examination of the relationship between alcohol use and delinquency among adolescence

Juvenile delinquency is a critical and worldwide problem that can affect families, societies, and nations. It is a vital issue in Turkey also all around the world because of social and economic impact as well as prominent and devastating consequences on juveniles. Although the relationship between alcohol use and criminal behaviour should be examined separately in adults and minors, it also requires a distinction to be made in terms of the types and characteristics of the criminal behaviour examined. Therefore, the subject of the study is examination of the relationship between alcohol use and particular types of delinquency among adolescents. The purpose of the study is examination of the impact of alcohol use on delinquent behaviour with controlling risk factors determined from previous research. The data used in the study are from a survey research which was conducted within the scope of the International Delinquency Self-Report Study in Turkey in 2017, and secondary data analysis has been performed. The sample of the study consists of students in the seventh, eighth and ninth grades randomly selected from schools in Istanbul. The first specific object of the thesis is the analysis of the relationship between alcohol use and delinquency among adolescents, which is usually significant and positively correlated, with a sample from Turkey. Secondly, analysis of whether the strength of the relationship between alcohol use and delinquency among adolescents varies types of crimes has been made. Lastly, strength and significancy of the relationship between alcohol use and particular types of delinquency among adolescents has been analysed after covariates are controlled by statistical methods. Three different statistic model were conducted through the purposes of the study. First of these models is logistic regression model in which correlation between alcohol use and six different categories of delinquency is examined separately. Second model is also a logistic regression analysis. However, the relationship was controlled by including the covariates in the analysis. The last model is the one in which the participants are matched according to their alcohol consumption status with using their propensity scores, and the effect of the treatment is measured. As a result of the first model, a positive correlation was found between alcohol use in adolescents and all six crime categories. The results of the second and third models also show that there is a significant relationship between alcohol use and delinquent behaviour for all categories except for the Other Serious Offenses category. The category with the strongest relation between alcohol use and delinquency is the Minor Violence Offenses category. The category with the highest impact of the treatment is also the Minor Violence Offenses. In essence, while the relationship between alcohol consumption and delinquency among adolescence is significant pursuant to first model, the second and the third model is present mixed support to the relationship.