Victims not Criminals: Psychosocial Dynamics of Juvenile Delinquency in

the Philippines

A Research Proposal submitted to

Department of Psychology

School of Arts and Sciences

Philippine Women’s University

In Partial Fulfillment of the requirement for the course

Research Methods

By

Adrales, Ma. Queenie A.

October 2018
I. The Problem and its Background

Introduction

Criminal activities is often associated with appalling adults however,

at present there is a growing number of youth engaging in unlawful

activities and it is becoming alarming to the society.

According to the Juvenile Justice Welfare Council, the Philippines

lacks comprehensive statistics regarding Children-In-Conflict with the-

Law. The council proposes a database for demographic profile of these

children as well as for the different cases they are involved in (as cited

in Passion, 2017). More so, rehabilitation centers for juvenile

delinquents in the Philippines are found to be not conducive for their

needs and seems to lack in providing the proper intervention of the

above mentioned.

In 2016, lawmakers seek to amend the Republic Act no. 9344

commonly known as the Juvenile Delinquency Act of 2006 with regards

to the minimum age of criminal responsibility. RA no. 9344 stated that

“A child nine (9) years of age and above but below eighteen (18) years

of age shall likewise be exempt from criminal liability and subjected to

an intervention program unless he/she is determined to have acted with

discernment, in which case he/she shall be subjected to appropriate

proceedings in accordance with this act.” RA 10630 in 2013 amends

Juvenile Delinquency Act of 2006 which stated that a child will take

1
criminal responsibility if he/she committed a heinous crime such as rape,

murder and homicide. However, recently lawmakers would like to lower

the minimum age of criminal liability to nine (9) years old. Additionally,

lawmakers insisted that the government is pampering these children

committing crimes because of the fact that they can get away with it.

They also stated that adults are using these children to commit crimes.

However, some lawmakers including the one who wrote the Juvenile

Justice Act is opposing to the proposed amendment. The author of the

act, Senator Kiko Pangilinan stated that the gravity of the crime should

be considered not the age of the child. “Children who steal to have

something to eat should not be treated the same way as children who

committed heinous crimes” he specified. He also opposed to the above

stated argument that the justice system is pampering the young

offenders as most of these children came from dysfunctional family

(Elemia, 2016). If an adult exploit a child in unlawful activity, the adult

must be the one to have criminal charges. Further, another lawmaker

opposed to this as he considered this “anti-poor” as the young offenders

are often in a poor family (Cepeda, 2016).

Children in conflict with the law are the victims of the failure of the

government and the general public in raising them to be responsible.

This calls for assistance of the whole society to provide guidance for the

misled children who made wrong choices. On the other hand, Messy

Bessy, a private enterprise who markets organic household cleaning

2
products provide opportunities for children at risk to improve the quality

of their life and make a living not only for themselves but also for their

family (Sun.star, 2015). Given the right amount of chance and

opportunities, these children can be a responsible citizen and avoids

unlawful activity as poverty has driven them to commit crimes.

A recent survey conducted by the Pulse Asia about the minimum age

of criminal liability, they asked the Filipino Citizen their perspective

regarding the issue. Respondents were asked to choose from nine (9)

years old, twelve (12) years old and fifteen (15) years old. Results of the

survey stated that only nine (9) percent of the respondents answered

that children as young as nine (9) years old should be held accountable

for criminal cases, while twenty (20) percent stated that it should be

lower to twelve (12) years old. Moreover, fifty-five (55) percent of the

respondents stated that the minimum age of fifteen (15) should remain

(Rappler, 2016).

A lot has been written about the psychosocial factors influencing

juvenile delinquency yet studies conducted in the Philippines are still

lacking. Thus, this paper intends to determine the psychosocial factors

that led fifteen (15) children in conflict with the youth in Bahay Pagasa,

Parañaque City to commit crimes.

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Background of the Study

Republic Act No. 9344 or the “Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act”

defines the Juvenile Justice and Welfare System as a system dealing

with children at risk and children in conflict with the law, which provides

child-appropriate proceedings, including programs and services for

prevention, diversion, rehabilitation, re-integration and aftercare to

ensure their normal growth and development. Instead of using the word

“juvenile”, Philippine laws made use of the word “child”. As defined in

R.A. No. 9344, “Child” is a person under the age of eighteen (18) years.

While “Child at Risk” refers to a child who is vulnerable to and at the risk

of committing criminal offences because of personal, family and social

circumstances. Some of the examples mentioned in the law are: being

abandoned or neglected, and living in a community with a high level of

criminality or drug abuse. “Child in Conflict with the Law” or CICL on the

other hand refers to a child who is alleged as, accused of, or adjudged

as, having committed an offence under Philippine laws. A child can

commit an act or omission whether punishable under special laws or the

amended Revised Penal Code which is referred to as an “Offence”.

Under Republic Act 10630, offences which only apply to a child and not

to adults are called “Status Offences”. These shall not be considered as

offences and shall not be punished if committed by a child. Examples of

status offences include curfew violations, truancy, parental

disobedience and the like. Before R.A. No. 9344 was enacted, children

4
at risk and CICL were treated much like adult offenders as when former

President Ferdinand Marcos, Sr. signed into law the Judiciary

Reorganization Act 1980 which abolished the juvenile and domestic

relations courts. As such child offenders were subjected to the same

adversarial proceedings as their adult counterparts. As an offshoot of

the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), the

R.A. No. 9344 intends to deal with these children without resorting to

judicial proceedings. Instead of punishing juvenile offenders and treating

them as criminals, these child offenders will be provided by the State

and the community with assistance to prevent them from committing

future offences.

Juvenile Delinquency as defined by Villanueva (2006) stated that it

“refers to an anti-social act or a child/minor/youth’s behavior which

deviates from the normal pattern of rules and regulations, custom and

culture which the society does not accept” (as cited in Bocar, 2012).

There is an increasing number of youths engaging in criminal activity.

Intersect in 2016 reported that there are 1,297 children in conflict with

the law for the first quarter of 2016 alone consists of 1,119 males and

178 females. 57.7% of CICL came from poor or without stable income,

28.6% are with separated parents and 23.8% experience domestic

abuse. Moreover, males ages between 14 and 17 years old are the

common involved with unlawful activities. Usage of drugs and alcohol,

has low educational attainment and has stopped schooling and belongs

5
to a family of six are the factors common among these youths. Property-

related crimes such as theft are the most frequent offense they commit.

At present, there is a wide variety of explanations of delinquency.

According to the Juvenile Justice Welfare Council (2016) crimes such

as theft and drug abuse are the common offense made by the youth.

However, a larger scope of problem should be considered. Poverty,

being the root of most of the crimes in the Philippines should be

eradicated. Though it is not an easy thing to do but the government and

the general public should focus more in addressing the issue of poverty

as well as family planning to avoid or lessen issues of delinquency. The

number of delinquency will not go lower if the minimum age of criminal

liability will be lower. The problem is not the children, there is a bigger

plate.

Studies regarding the gender, social class and biological factor are

the locus of most research conducted in the Philippines. This research

study, would like to focus its question to the psychosocial factor of

juvenile delinquency. Psychosocial factor refers to the combination of

individual thoughts and the influence of environment. It is how the

society affects a person’s decision making. Children in conflict with the

law being the subject of the study, they are adolescents who are still in

the process of personal growth and development. Psychological

Association of the Philippines in their “Position Paper on HB 002 or the

Minimum age of criminal responsibility act” stated that children’s

6
psychosocial and decision-making capacity is not comparable to the

adults. They also elaborated that criminalizing children will result to low

chances to have a brighter future.

Juvenile delinquency has undesirable consequences for the society

as well as to the youth involved. The researcher aims to determine the

psychosocial factor affecting criminal activity to provide knowledge for

the general public what are the possible solution and intervention for the

youth.

Research Locale

The researcher intends to conduct the study in a juvenile

rehabilitation center named Bahay Pagasa (House of Hope) at

Parañaque City. The center as defined in RA 10630 is a “24-hour child-

caring institution established, funded and managed by local government

units (LGUs) and licensed and or nongovernment organizations (NGOs)

providing short-term residential care for children in conflict with the law

who are above fifteen (15) but below eighteen (18) years of age who are

awaiting court disposition of their cases or transfer to other agencies or

jurisdiction. A multi-disciplinary team composed of a social worker, a

psychologist/mental health professional, a medical doctor, an

educational guidance counselor and a Barangay Council for the

Protection of Children (BCPC) member shall operate the 'Bahay Pag-

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asa'. The team will work on the individualized intervention plan with the

child and the child's family."

Statement of the Problem

According to the PNP Manual in Handling Cases of Children at Risk

and Children in Conflict with the Law (2016) circumstances such as

personal, familial and social may be one risk factor for these children.

Having that said, the state must give further assistance to these children

and their family in improving their quality of life to avoid resorting to

committing crimes. Another major concern is that the Philippine

government recently made a proposal for amendment of the Juvenile

Act of 2006 indicating that a children as young as thirteen (13) years old

who committed crime will be detained. According to Erik Erikson’s theory

of Psychosocial Development, adolescent years (13-18 years old) is the

stage where individuals shape their identity. It is filled with anxiety as it

is in the middle of being a child and becoming an adult. Some person

may experience identity crisis that may lead to withdrawal from the

normal life stages (as cited in Schultz & Schultz, 2005). More so,

numerous researches presented various psychosocial factors that lead

to juvenile delinquency yet, local studies are still limited. Thus, this study

will investigate the (1) personal factor that lead to committing crimes (2)

perceived factor from the environment influencing delinquency and (3)

common juvenile offense committed.

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Hypothesis

As attested by the results gathered from related studies, the

researcher hypothesized that personal factor that lead to committing

crimes include (1) resorting to criminal offenses due to poverty (2)

providing help for the family and (3) being out of school. Environment

influence may possibly consist of (1) peers (2) parents or family

members and (3) lack of recreational facilities. Assumed common

juvenile offense committed are (1) thief and (2) drug use.

Scope and Limitations

The researcher limited the study to the perception of the respondent

on the psychosocial factors influencing the commitment of crime. The

target number of respondent of the study is fifteen (15) children in

conflict with law who committed crime for the first time to preclude those

who are suspected to have conduct traits. Information about the

demographics, family history and crime involvement will be obtained

solely from the child that might cause to recall bias. Knowing they are

juvenile delinquents, the interviewer might have measurement bias as

neutrality and objectivity may be affected. The researcher is not after the

equal number of respondents in terms of gender and age. Furthermore,

this study is limited only to young offenders in Bahay Pagasa at

Parañaque City.

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 Significance of the Study

Results of this study will be beneficial for the following (1) Parents.

Recognizing factors of what leads juvenile offenses will provide

awareness about the necessary guidance and affection they should

bestow to the children. (2) Local Government. This study may serve as

a guide in formulating intervention and prevention programs for Children

in Conflict with the Law. More so, seminars for parents and guardians

may also be provided to impart knowledge with regards proper

supervision for these children. (3) Social Workers. Through this study,

they may gain insights that will aid them to provide counselling that will

redirect these children’s thoughts and behaviors. Lastly, this study will

be helpful for (4) Other Researchers as it will provide information they

will need in their research that has a similarity in the current paper. It

would also give encouragement in studying greater issues regarding

juvenile delinquency.

Definition of Terms

1. Juvenile Delinquency refers to a person under the age of eighteen

(18) engaging in activities against the law which would be considered

as a crime.

2. Children in Conflict with the Law as defined in Republic Act of No.

9344 or the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006 it “refers to a

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 child who is alleged as, accused of, or adjudged as, having

committed an offense under Philippine laws.”

3. Psychosocial Factor refers to how a person thinks and behave based

on individual processes and social influences.

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II. Review of Related Literature and Studies

Related Literatures

As eloquently stated by Villanueva, 2006 the youth are considered

one of the most important assets of every nation and the foundation of

a nation begins with education. The family, being the one who molds the

child’s characteristic should exert effort to provide the child’s necessity

not only the physiological needs but also the intrapersonal needs. The

home must be wholesome and a harmonious place as it will greatly

influence one’s development (as cited in Bocar, 2012).

Howell (2009) in his book stated that there are myths about juvenile

delinquency. Common myths are (1) delinquency was much more a

problem in the past than it is today. (2) delinquency in the past was about

the same as it is today. (3) delinquency was a less serious problem than

it is today. These are belief that are strongly held by the general public

in the past that are based on little information. These myths are not

necessarily false however, people do not know whether they are true or

not. They hold to this belief because of its convenience.

Young offenders are labeled as the “superpredator” in the early

times. This refers to the new breeds of offenders. These are youth who

has no respect for the human life and has no sense of the future. They

described them as radically impulsive, brutally remorseless youngsters

and a lot more (Dilulio, 1995 as cited in Howell, 2009).

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 Public health considers juvenile delinquency as an epidemic health

concern in the 90’s. Although evidence does not necessarily support the

claim yet the increasing number of homicides might be considering to

have reached to the epidemic level.

Prevention and reduction of juvenile delinquency has been studied

starting the early times. The literature specified the importance of the

school to prevent and reduce these delinquency to the children at risk.

The most effective implementation conducts a three-level continuum

from low to high intensity, described as (level 1) Build as school wide

foundation that targets all students. Focusing on learning and behavior

and behavior can prevent at least 80% of problematic student. (level 2)

Provide each intervention strategies that focus on students at risk for

violence. 10-15% students still experience behavioral problems even the

school-wide intervention are implemented. Students who seen to be

socially withdrawn, have excessive feelings of isolation and rejection,

victim of violence, has low school interest, poor academic performance

and a lot of factors are targeted by the second phase of the continuum.

(level 3) provide intensive intervention that targets students who have

already engaged in violent behavior. It is the 5-10% of students who

experience significant emotional and behavioral problems. This includes

youth who has serious physical fight with peers or family members,

severe destruction of property, severe rage for minor issues, possession

or use of firearms and other harmful weapons and self-injurious behavior

13
or threats of suicide. Students who are seen to have or had involved in

this activities should receive help and control measures immediately.

Specific interventions are given to these youth depending on the nature

of the problematic behavior, gravity of the crime, age, and the frequency.

Intervention provider such as counselor, therapist, parents and even

school teachers should understand violence and aggression in their

context, avoid stereotypes, view warnings in a developmental context

and understand that children typically exhibit multiple warning signs

(Dwyer & Usher, 2002 as cited in Howell, 2009).

Related Studies

Juvenile delinquency is an intricate social issue that drastically

affects the general public and its processes. Delinquency refers to a

hard and fast of behaviors that are not in line with the norm and ethics

of a social group. Deviance behavior does not incorporate the unlawful

activity alone, it also includes bullying, running away from home,

skipping school and much more. Related research into this complex

issue produce a wide range of hypothesis, predictors of delinquency and

numerous strategies to prevent and avoid criminality among youth.

Research about the above mentioned remain to be a dynamic,

multidimensional problem with a number of theoretically underlying

factors (Taskiran, Mutluer, Tufan & Semerci, 2018; Garg & Prusty, 2017;

Ndaita, 2017; Delos Santos, Padawil & Vedaña, 2016; Sabia, 2016;

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Underwood & Washington, 2016; Abella, 2016; Siddique, 2016; Staden,

2015; Rahman, 2014; Sahmey, 2013; Ttale, 2013; Kostic, 2013; Bocar,

2012; Ardoin & Bartling, 2010; Dogar, Akhwanzada, Bajwa, Haider, &

Asmet, 2010; Schwalbe & Maschi, 2008; Gutierrez & Shoemaker, 2007;

Alampay, 2006).

Kostic, 2013 and Ardoin & Bartling, 2010 in their study tackled a

multifaceted dynamic influencing juvenile delinquency. Theories on

biological, psychological and sociological are the locus of their

investigation wherein they stated that absentee parents whether mother,

father or both can cause delinquency as well as domestic abuse, drug

use or abuse in the family, parent or sibling who have been incarcerated,

child’s mental health history and poverty. Significant relationship

between parental or sibling criminal history and the number of crime

committed by the child is specified in the study conducted by Ardoin &

Bartling in 2012. Furthermore, the child’s psychological and physical

characteristic shown a significant impact on deviant behavior.

Aggression and violence of a child may be considered an outcome of

modelling and later become identification of the rough parental behavior

towards the child. It has been proven that victims of violence may also

exhibit violence towards others. Parent’s punishment may also be a

result of violent reaction of children later in life. Tendencies are these

violent behaviors are stemmed from the pain and frustration

experienced by the child. Children who grew up with an aggressive

15
father usually takes after them as these behaviors sends a negative

message to the child wherein frustration arises because of the role

model a child has (Kostic, 2013).

Inherited and environmental factors are often intertwined in

discussing different psychological issues and one of them is the

explanation of juvenile delinquency. A recent study conducted in 2018

reported in their study that there is no significant relationship between

crime severity and gender or age yet, younger males were engaged with

a more serious unlawful activity. Criminal history in the family shows a

positive impact in severity of crime committed by a juvenile. Eloquently

stated in the study is that substance use in the family appeared to have

strong effect toward severity of crimes however juvenile delinquents

denies substance use for the fear of additional charges (Taskiran,

Mutluer, Tufan & Semerci, 2018). This study relates to Garg & Prusty in

2017 indicating numerous significant predictors of juvenile offenders.

Dysfunctional family, large family size, low socio economic status, harsh

punishments, drugs use and abuse in the family, low attention and

affection by the parents, incarceration of anyone in the immediate family,

lack of necessities in the environment, peer and academic influence are

listed to be significant predictors that influence delinquency among

youth. On the other hand, violent video games, watching too much

television, culture, race and moral education that is undertaken more by

others than the parents appeared to be insignificant predictors for

16
juvenile delinquency. Another critical risk assumes that provoke youth

bad behaviors are low experiences and low school accomplishment, low

pay and poor cabin, an abnormal state of hurriedness and hyperactivity,

living in disintegrated inside city ranges, unforgiving and sporadic

control, parental conflict and broken families.

Family, being the building block of the society plays an important role

for the development of every individual. A study focusing on the

probation officer’s perspective reported that the qualities of parent-child

relationships, as well as the emotional insecurity amongst family

members were strongly emphasized by probation officers as

contributing risk factors in juvenile delinquency. Probation officers linked

the lack of emotional security to the inability of parents to maintain

discipline in their respective families. According to the experience of

probation officers, parents are too strict, too accommodating, or

inconsistent in disciplining their children. Most parents also indicated a

general lack of close family relationships, emotional insecurity, lack of

parental involvement, the lack of communication and in some cases

even child abuse as contributing factors to juvenile delinquency in their

contexts. Parents acknowledge that they have an inability to control their

children. They indicated that the lack of parental involvement has a

negative impact on the effectiveness of diversion programs. Reasons

from parents why they are not involved include for example the

availability of time due to other responsibilities (Staden, 2015). Another

17
study coincides with this revealed that family bonding is considered to

be an important factor for controlling adolescent behavior and reducing

their risk of maladaptive outcomes. Despite the fact that theorists and

researchers suggest an association between delinquency and family

variables, family bonding was neither correlated with nor predictive of

delinquency for the adolescent sample in this study with one exception.

These findings confirm the results of researchers who demonstrated

family bonds, particularly attachment to parents were significant and

robust predictors of delinquent behavior among youth. In addition, the

results of this study are reflective of Patterson’s coercion theory in which

there is a bidirectional influence of parent-child interactions on the social

learning process that can promote the development and reinforcement

of antisocial or prosocial behaviors among youth (Sabia, 2016). As

familial relationship has a contributing role in the juvenile delinquency,

dysfunctional family has also been as a major reason for a child to be

involve in delinquency. As studied by Tlale (2013) children of divorced

partners has been seen developed antisocial behavior, aggression,

anxiety and school problems, more so than the children in two parent

families. The lack of a male presence seems not to be less critical than

the lack of male income in the family. Some of these problems may be

attributed to a decrease in available resources and adult supervision.

The highest percentage of drunk drivers was found among males who

were born to a single mother, independently of the later marriage status

18
of the mother. Also, among females with single-parent family

background a tendency towards increased criminality was seen. In

addition, family background increased the risk of criminality. The single-

parent family and lack of a father during childhood constituted the family

type as the most likely cause of criminality. When a mother raises a child

alone, there is a possibility of a failure in the childhood environment to

provide sufficient facilities for its psychological and social development.

Parental control is often reduced in single-parent households, which

may afford children greater opportunity to experiment with alcohol and

other substances, both then and later in life. Another possible

explanation for these findings is not that the lack of the father per se

affects the child but rather its being a marker of genetic vulnerability.

Poverty is likewise listed among the major causal factor of juvenile

delinquency. Rahman (2014) mentioned in his study that children

especially those who are slum dwellers are being deprived of education

facilities as there is no educational institute. He also stresses that basic

necessities such as water use for both drinking and toilet use are hardly

given for these people. More so, they often get sick because of the

unhealthy and dirty environment in the slum but they do not get better

treatment from the doctors in the hospital or good clinic due to their

unawareness and financial constraints.

Neighborhood disorganization may increase youths’ risk of

delinquency due to environmental characteristics such as ineffective

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social controls, increased crime rates, exposure to community disorder

and violence, and associations with delinquent peers. Findings of

another related study indicated that the presence of increased criminal,

delinquent, and gang activities in disorganized neighborhoods, which

exposes youth to criminal behaviors. In turn, there is an increased

potential for youth to learn antisocial behaviors from adults and peers in

their neighborhood environment and become involved with delinquent

peers and delinquency. The influence of peers on adolescent behavior

has been well-established theoretically and empirically. High levels of

association with delinquent peers was correlated with higher levels of

delinquency among the adolescent sample. It also strengthens

differential association which persistent interactions and relationships

with deviant peers can influence youths’ positive attitudes towards and

development of delinquent behavior. Furthermore, it confirms the

findings of researchers that demonstrated adolescents have a

heightened susceptibility to peer influences (Sabia, 2016). Additionally,

probation officers indicated that peer influences and dependence

supersedes the guidance of parents. Both parents and probation officers

indicated that the issues of peer pressure are a strong predictor for

juvenile delinquency. Some parents mentioned that their children’s

association with deviant peers have led to their children’s

underperformance at school and in some cases the children was even

expelled from school (Staden, 2015).

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 The role of education was seen as an influential means to prevent

and also reduce criminal involvement by juvenile delinquents. Early

intervention in schools might provide a reliable measure to prevent many

children from joining gangs and becoming involved in unlawful activities.

School environment is a complex construct that is reflective of an

adolescent’s overall quality of school life, which includes youths’

perceptions of interpersonal relationships with school staff, teachers,

and peers, and other factors such as quality of instruction, environmental

conditions, and school functioning. Result of the aforementioned study

demonstrated a relationship between positive school climates and

decreases in the risk of problem behavior and delinquent outcomes

among adolescents (Sabia, 2016 & Tlale, 2013).

Individual attribute of a child also takes part in engaging in unlawful

activities. Probation officers indicated several individual characteristics

of juvenile delinquents, as well as some unattended behavioral issues

in their past, which may have contributed to the delinquent behavior.

Juvenile delinquents were mostly described as children who cannot

express themselves easily, who are easily affected by peer pressure and

who acts very impulsively (Staden, 2015). Another study reported that

lower levels of self-control were related to a higher frequency of

delinquency among adolescents. Findings of the related study supports

social control theories in that individuals’ level of self-control is a

prominent factor in their choice to engage in prosocial or antisocial

21
behaviors. In this case, self-control may have a buffering effect against

other risk factors associated with family, peers, school, and

neighborhood environment for youth. Although self-control is empirically

established as a vigorous predictor of delinquency, it was not predictive

of delinquency for the sample in the study. Findings of the study have

indicated youth’ self-control can be significantly influenced by social

contexts and peer influences. Therefore, social contexts may have a

more noticeable role in youths’ delinquent behavior due to

environmental factors and increased relations with peers. Environmental

factors, such as neighborhood disorganization, school environment, and

delinquent peer associations may reduce or negate the impact of self-

control on behavioral outcomes. Therefore, the aforementioned study

conclude that environmental factors end up having a more crucial role

in adolescents’ development than self-control, as demonstrated in this

study (Sabia, 2016).

Low self-esteem has been found to be associated juvenile

delinquency. Individuals who have hardships in establishing their self-

worth have tendencies to commit unlawful acts in order to sustain their

self-worth. Thus, this may be explained by the fact that delinquent

behaviors violates the internal values and evokes negative response. A

prolonged state of self-rejection is likewise associated with delinquent

behaviors. Low self-esteem reduces the connections of the individual to

the society, weak relations to the society decreased conformity to social

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norms and increase engagement in delinquency. Feeling of revenge as

a reason of crime reported to be more frequent in delinquent behaviors.

Individuals protect themselves against feeling of inferiority and shame

by externalizing their blame for failures that lead to anger and hostility.

Conflicts in love affair at the same time as having low self-esteem has a

significant relationship in engaging to delinquency. Frequency of

committed crime seems to be constant in those who reported lacking

social support (Dogar, Akhwanzada, Bajwa, Haider, Asmat, 2010).

Probation officers effect on youth characteristics has also spark

researches in identify factors that contribute to delinquent acts of the

youth. In terms of officer characteristics, findings about officers’ attitudes

toward punishment and toward the effectiveness of probation are within

the expected directions. One would expect, for instance, that officers

who strongly endorse punishment would emphasize accountability in

their interventions and might make fewer contacts with youths on their

behalf. Alternatively, one would expect that officer who strongly endorse

treatment would more strongly focus on the rehabilitative aspects of

supervision and would devote more time to each case. Younger youths

receive more confrontation and threatened sanctions and more frequent

contacts than older youths. Officers devote more resources to younger

youths may indicate a greater hope, or urgency, for prevention with

these youths compared to their older peers, thereby justifying more

intensive probation involvement. On the other hand, officer expect

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independence from older youths, allowing them the freedom to make

choices and to face the consequences of their action in the court.

Nevertheless, result of the study obtained that youth offending

characteristics, such as offense severity and chronicity, were not

significant predictors of probation approaches (Schwalbe & Maschi,

2008).

In the Philippine context, several studies focus on the common

factors influencing juvenile delinquency. Findings of a related study

stated that delinquency prevalence varies for males and males and the

overall youth from the different socioeconomic origins. Prevalence is

based on the individual cases of each respondent of the study.

Misbehaviors associated to adolescents listed are cheating in school

exam with 63%, truancy with 42%, lying about age, 29% sneaking out

of the house without the parent’s knowledge, 23% drinking alcohol, 43%,

smoking 39% and 7% of the respondents ran away from home. Property

offenses such as vandalism, damaging motor vehicles, petty theft (less

than PHP50) moderate theft (less than PHP100) and grand theft (more

than PHP500), avoiding payment for fares and foods, stealing money

from family members, swindling for money, motor vehicle theft and

forcibly opening a car is listed. For violent offenses, rates are lowest

when aggression is directed at authority figures, for example, hitting or

threatening to hit parents, 4% or teachers, 5%. Acts involving serious

violence are likewise less prevalent, such as assaulting or attacking

24
someone with intent to seriously harm or kill at 2%. On the other hand,

prevalence rates are high when aggression is aimed at peers, for

example, hitting or threatening to hit other students, 39% and

participation in group fights 21%. The author also stresses in his study

a higher rate of involvement to gang fights in the study. More so, few

respondents admitted using “soft drugs” such as marijuana and solvent

glue or rugby with 6% and an even smaller number admitted to using

hard drugs such as methamphetamines (shabu), cocaine, tablets, and

so on with 2.5%. Gender factors are likewise investigated in the study

and findings reported that female delinquency is significantly lowered

than male delinquency. In addition, social class is also considered as a

factor for juvenile delinquency, the upper-class members have the

highest average prevalence of offense admissions, with a mean of 6.4.

It also indicates that middle-class respondents have the lowest average

prevalence admissions. The present findings that youth from the lower

class are, statistically speaking, no more delinquent than youth from the

middle and upper income groups and that upper-status youth have the

highest admitted prevalence rates seem to contradict the emphasis on

lower-class delinquency in classical criminological literature (Gutierrez

& Shoemaker, 2007). Another related study looked into the four factors

that contribute on juvenile delinquent acts namely family, environment,

school and other department or agencies of the government. They

investigated also which among the factors pushes at all times or never

25
pushes the youth to engage in law breaking activities. Findings of the

study reported that the teachers, students and parents manifested that

the family pushes the youth to commit delinquent acts occasionally

However, police officers manifested that family pushes them often to

become delinquent. More so, the environment was perceived by the

police officers and teachers as a factor that frequently pushes the young

ones to break the law. In addition, students and parents demonstrated

that environment would push the youth to commit wrong doings. The

school was found by the teachers, students and parents as a ground

that occasionally pushes the youth to engage in the commission of acts

against the law. However, police officers believed that school is often

the factor that pushes the youth to do erroneous acts. Lastly, other

departments or agencies of the government were judged by the police

officer as never or not at all predictors that push the youth to commit

crime. However, teachers, students and parents said that they

sometimes push them to commit such acts (Bocar, 2012).

External and internal factors affecting juvenile delinquency was

investigated by Abella in 2016. Findings of the study indicated that

majority of the children in conflict ages 15 to 17 and majority of these

youth were only through elementary level of schooling. The result also

showed that family size is a factor to which these children went out and

occupy the streets of Manila and other provinces where most of these

children were taken from. Their parents though employed still cannot

26
support their family’s need because of the family sized which is

comprised of 7 members and more. The findings also revealed that the

most prominent internal factor that affects a child delinquent act is due

to home environment followed by parental relationship and some are

due to sibling failed relationship. Indeed, the very absence of intact

families makes gang membership more appealing. Dysfunctional family

settings-characterized by conflict, inadequate parental control, weak

internal connections and integration, and impulsive independence are

closely associated with juvenile delinquency. Children in disadvantaged

families that have few opportunities for appropriate employment and

face a higher risk of social marginalization are overrepresented among

offenders. The predicament of ethnic minorities and migrants, including

displaced persons and refugees in certain parts of the world, is

significantly distressing. External factors that appears to be the most

influential is peer pressure. Comradeship in a delinquent gang can be a

part of a person who is becoming an adult. Through this peers, an

individual acquires a sense of safety and security, enhance social

interaction and can demonstrate such qualities as loyalty or leadership.

In adulthood, factors such as social status, private welfare, race and

even ethnicity are considered to be in great value yet adolescents can

acquire similar opportunities for advancement. Well-being of an

individual in these groups depends wholly on their personal qualities

such as strength, will and discipline. Usually, delinquent groups can

27
counterbalance or compensate for the imperfections of family and

school. Further, community procedures play a major role in influencing

the commission of delinquent activities among youths. Findings of the

study asserted that the bad influence of a repeat juvenile offender exerts

a strong force on kids nearby. It was believed that this force of influence

could be the reason certain areas become known for a particular type of

crime. A high-crime neighborhood can, in fact, be born from the activities

of one criminal resident. The related study concludes that there a strong

positive relationship between internal and external factors was found out

(Abella, 2016).

Another local study focuses their research on the implementation of

the juvenile justice and welfare law in an urban poor city in the

Philippines. Result of the study indicated that activities formulated for

children in conflict in the law are poorly implemented and undertaken. It

is categorized as a serious problem in the findings that parents have no

ability to guide and supervise the child, juvenile delinquents have no

interest in participating to community-based programs such as

community volunteer program, leadership training and other recreational

activities. Likewise, parents do not cooperate and support the prevention

program for the youths. Non-cooperation and support from educational

institutions and the punong barangay is classified as moderately serious

problem. Youth rehabilitation centers in the Philippines has no qualified

trained staff, there were no guardian, social worker or legal counsel

28
during investigation. Further, youth detention homes are still at scarce

in most of the urban city, there were no available community based

programs for rehabilitation and reintegration of these minors and after

care support services for juvenile delinquents are not provided. Slightly

serious problems listed are non-cooperation and support of the local

council for the protection of the child. Locking up children in detention

cell, violence force in apprehending, separation from opposite sex and

adult offenders. Officers engaging in acts of brutality and torture and

receiving bribes from parents of children in conflict with the law is also

considered to be a slightly serious problem. Findings of the study

concluded that social policy and community based programs should be

strictly implements for primary prevention. Schools, neighborhood

should support the government in providing prevention and intervention

for children in conflict with the law by improving their safety, fairness and

respect for individual differences thus the mutual obligations between

each developing child, their family and the community are reinforced.

Family, school, peer and the community have important effects on the

deviance behavior children. More so, changes on a youth’s behavior are

unlikely to persist without complementary supporting changes within the

social structure (Delos Santos, Padawil & Vedaña, 2016).

Although there are numerous researchers focusing on children in

conflict with law, investigation about the underlying psychosocial factors

is still limited.

29
Synthesis

The related literature and studies gathered showed a great number

of related data to back up the current study. It has been discovered that

juvenile delinquency is not a result of a single factor. Considerably, it is

an outcome of multiple factors present in both the youth and the

environment that interact with each other. It has been discovered that

poverty has driven most of the minors to commit acts of delinquency.

Moreover, parents or guardians of minors must also take responsibility

for their children up to the time when they would be in the position that

they can stand on their own. This includes providing the children’s

necessities, morals and guidance as for in adulthood, values of a person

came from the family. Dysfunctional family such as single or divorced

parents, re-marriage, working parents, large family size and etc. has

been learned to be one of major contributor in delinquency. Education,

being the foundation of every nation has an impact on youth criminality.

Majority of the minors involved in unlawful acts has low educational

attainment. In addition, minors get into crime due to peer pressure and

rebellion against parental authority. Involvement in substance use due

to influence of friends has also been seen. Putting young offenders

behind bars will not resolve the kind of factors which caused their

committed crimes. In most cases, mere removal of these youth from

their neighborhood. Work and recreational activities should substitute as

the youth are forewarned to take responsibility for their actions.

30
Communities must also help the government to reduce number of

youthful offenders by providing extra-curricular activities that will leave

them with no time for strikes and other destructive activities.

Majority of the reviewed literatures and studies are foreign and there

are only several local literatures that tackles about the variables. The

researcher hopes to add up to the existing studies particularly, for the

studies locally.

Theoretical Framework

Numerous studies regarding the psychosocial factor affecting

juvenile delinquency proposed Social Learning theory to support their

study. This theory attempts to describe that all forms of behavior can be

learned through observing other people’s behavior and without directly

experiencing any reinforcement.

Albert Bandura’s social learning theory put emphasis on cognitive

variable in explaining behavior. Cognitive processes can influence

observational learning. Moreover, the theory emphasizes the concept of

modeling stating that observing the behavior of other people specifically

the one considered to be the role model. Individuals are more influenced

by someone who appears to be similar to the person than by someone

who has differences in obvious and significant ways. Children imitated

the behavior of a child model in the same room, a child in a film, and a

31
filmed cartoon character, the extent of the modeling decreased as the

similarity between the model and the subject decreased. The children

showed greater imitation of a live model than an animated character (as

cited in Schultz & Schultz, 2005). Minors violent behavior may be a result

of behavior modelling from one of the role models (Serbia, 2013). In the

Philippine context, children in conflict with the law take after their parent

or sibling who have been incarcerated or doing criminal activity in order

to make a living (Cullen, 2017). Child at risk to delinquency added by the

influence of peers were more likely to commit unlawful activity as it

strengthens the learned behavior by observing their peers, this concept

is stated in the social learning theory called as the vicarious

reinforcement (Taskiran, Mutluer, Tufan & Semerci, 2018; Garg &

Prusty, 2017; Ndaita, 2017; Delos Santos, Padawil & Vedaña, 2016;

Sabia, 2016; Underwood & Washington, 2016; Abella, 2016; Siddique,

2016; Staden, 2015; Rahman, 2014; Sahmey, 2013; Ttale, 2013; Kostic,

2013; Bocar, 2012; Ardoin & Bartling, 2010; Dogar, Akhwanzada,

Bajwa, Haider, & Asmet, 2010; Schwalbe & Maschi, 2008; Gutierrez &

Shoemaker, 2007; Alampay, 2006; Schultz & Schultz, 2005).

The attributes of the observers also determine the effectiveness of

observational learning. Bandura’s system, self-efficacy refers to feelings

of adequacy, efficiency, and competence in coping with life. Meeting and

maintaining our performance standards enhances self-efficacy; failure

to meet and maintain them reduces it. People who are low in self-

32
confidence and self-esteem are much more likely to imitate a model’s

behavior than are people high in self-confidence and self-esteem.

People low in self-efficacy feel helpless, unable to exercise control over

life events. They believe any effort they make is futile. When they

encounter obstacles, they quickly give up if their initial attempt to deal

with a problem is ineffective. People who are extremely low in self-

efficacy will not even attempt to cope because they are convinced that

nothing they do will make a difference (Schultz & Schultz, 2005). Low

self-esteem has been found to be associated juvenile delinquency.

Individuals who have hardships in establishing their self-worth have

tendencies to commit unlawful acts in order to sustain their self-worth

(Dogar, Akhwanzada, Bajwa, Haider, Asmat, 2010).

Social learning theory proposed a developmental stage of modeling.

In childhood, parents are responsible to the child’s activities and

attempts to communicate. Stimulations surrounding that give the child

the freedom to grow and explore should be provided. Positive parent

behaviors lead to high self-efficacy in children. However, the

significance of parents’ influence lessen as the child’s world expands.

Siblings, peers and other adults are added role model as the child is

growing up. Teacher influences also has an impact on the child’s

development as the teacher contributes to the improvement of cognitive

abilities and problem solving skills which are vital to efficient adult

functions. Adolescents is considered to be one of the most crucial stage

33
in development because this is where transitional experiences happen.

It involves coping with new demands and pressures, growing awareness

of the choice they can attain whether about their gender preference,

college degree and career.

Proponent of the social-cognitive theory aim to modify learned

behaviors that the general public considers unethical.

Conceptual Framework

Psychosocial Juvenile
Factor Delinquency

The study will explore the psychosocial factors that could influence

juvenile delinquency. The researcher will use a deductive approach as

hypothesis are indicated in the study which are gathered from other

related literatures and study. Previous studies reported various factors

that lead to juvenile delinquency depending on the locale, research

subjects and other factors such as socio-economic status, gender and

age. In the current paper, the research will focus solely on the

perspective of children in conflict who committed an unlawful act for the

34
first time and are currently under the supervision of Bahay Pagasa in

Parañaque City. A semi-structured interview will be conducted and

information will solely be on the respondent’s knowledge and

perspective. Data that will be gathered will be summarize and organize

to come up with variety of themes focusing on the psychosocial factor

that influence youth offenders to commit crimes that is based on their

views and opinions. Furthermore, data gathered will attest the

hypothesis of the study that is gathered from related literature which

majority came from foreign resources.

35
III. Methodology

This chapter presents the method the researcher will use toward a

systematic collection of data needed in knowing the psychodynamic

factors of the crime involvement of children in conflict with the law in

Bahay Pagasa at Parañaque City. It includes the discussion about the

research design that describes the methods of research used in the

study; the respondents who participated, the instruments used in

gathering data and the statistical tool used for analyzing the gathered

data.

Research Design

To perform this research, qualitative research design will be used to

identify the psychosocial factors affecting juvenile offenses. Ospina

(2004) stated that qualitative research is best used in understanding

social phenomena from the knowledge, perspective and experiences of

the persons involved. More so, it provides a more profound

understanding to a complex and narrow occurrences. It involves case

study, interview and observations. The researcher intends to determine

the psychosocial factors that influence crime commitment of children by

using semi-structured interviews.

36
Respondents of the Study

The participants of the study are fifteen (15) children in conflict with

the law who are currently staying at Bahay Pagasa, Parañaque City. The

researchers used purposive sampling as they set specific criteria in

selecting the sample population of the study. The criteria needed in

selecting the sample is (1) committed a juvenile offense for the first time.

On the other hand, respondents will not be qualified to participate if are

(1) engaged in juvenile act twice or more (2) not able to read, write

and/or comprehend any form of language, (3) not able to perform simple

task physically or mentally and/or (4) follow simple instructions from the

researchers.

Research Instrument

The researcher will use a semi-structured interview as an instrument

for the study to explore a large scale of information from the

respondents. Semi-structured interview is a type of interview wherein

the interviewer develops a guide that involve a series of open-ended

questions. It allows both the interviewer and interviewee the freedom to

discuss topics in details. The interviewer may also encourage the

interviewee to elaborate responses by asking follow up questions

(Cohen, 2006; Mathers, Fox, & Hunn, 2002).

37
 Data Gathering Procedure

Groundwork stage
• researcher generated the
research idea,
• literatures were
reviewed,
• research problem was
identified,
• hypothesis was
formulated,
• research begand

Organization Stage
• consent and author's
permission letters were
prepared
• participants and locale was
chosen,
• draft for chapters 1 to 3 will
be done

Data Gathering Stage

38
 The researcher of the study will orient and brief respondents

regarding the objective of the study, the process of data collection and

the right and benefit of all individuals who will be involve in the study.

The researchers will provide an informed consent stating that results of

the study will be given to the respondent to help identify psychosocial

factor influencing juvenile delinquent and possible ways to avoid it. It will

also be clear in the informed consent that participating in the study is

voluntarily and it will be right and just to decline the invitation of

participation. The researchers also indicate that any information that is

only willing to provide by the respondent will be highly appreciated

considering the protection of their privacy as well as that data and

personal information will be used for research purposes alone. Any

respondent who wish to discontinue their participation at any time will be

respected. Any further explanation regarding the study, its benefit, and

about the questionnaire needed by the respondent will be provide and

guided by the researcher during the data collecting process or through

the contact information provided by the researcher. The researcher

ensure the participant’s right are protected by seeking ethical review of

the possible risks of the research.

Treatment of Data

Thematic analysis will be use to describe, organize and summarize

the data gathered from the respondents of the study. It is a

39
comprehensive process wherein the researcher identifies themes

among the important or interesting information provided by the

respondents of the study. (Maguire & Delahunt, 2017; Alhojailan, 2012).

The current paper adopts the Braun & Clarke’s Thematic Analysis

Framework (2006) which includes six-phase guide in conducting a

thematic analysis. First step is to become familiar with the data, before

going any further in doing the analysis, the researcher must be very

familiar with the data by re-reading it. Next step is to generate initial

codes; this phase includes organization of data in the perspective of the

research question. Followed by the searching of the theme, in this stage,

organization of data to a general topic relating to the research question

should be executed. Fourth phase stated in the framework is all about

reviewing of themes, it is an important part of the process as it allows

the researcher to avoid overlapping or unnecessary themes. The data

gathered must also support the theme. Subsequent to this is the

definition of the themes or basically what the theme is all about, how

does the themes relate to each other and to the research questions.

Lastly, writing up. It is the end-point of the research that includes

reporting and interpreting the themes.

40
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