Endut, Noraida and Selamat, Nor Hafizah and Abdul Kuthoos, Haja Mydin and Azmawati, Azman Azwan and Mohd Hashim, Intan Hashimah
(2016)
Experiences Of Crime Amongst Youth From A Gender Perspective: A Preliminary Analysis.
In:
4th International Conference on Liberal Arts and Social Sciences 2016 (ICOLASS’16).
Universiti Sains Malaysia, p. 45.
Abstract
Crime index in Malaysia has increased significantly over the years. There is an emerging trend today of
juvenile involvement in crime and other social ills. Juvenile crime involving children aged 12 to 17 years
experiences a 47% increment. There is also a notable increase of female juveniles in Malaysia. This
paper contributes to the understandings of factors motivating criminal behaviour amongst youths by
making a preliminary analysis of male and female juveniles’ experiences in Malaysia. Face to face indepth
interviews were applied in the study that becomes the basis of this paper. The participants were
residents of two rehabilitative facilities for juveniles in the Penang and Kedah, two northern states of
Malaysia. This study of 37 male and 19 female juvenile offenders find that there are noteworthy gender
differences in the whole experiences of serving incarceration at their respective schools. Preliminary
analysis indicated several gender differences of male and female in overall referral rates to juvenile
court, type of crime they committed, and level of violent offences. From the interviews, the study
preliminarily finds that common narratives demonstrate male and female similarities in terms of factors
leading them to the commission of crime. Female offenders, like male offenders tend to come from
background marked by disadvantaged economic conditions, poor schooling and lack of attention from
parents and/ or guardians. However, boys and girls may articulate their contexts of existing and desired
support in different manners. This preliminary analysis can be the basis for rethinking further data
gathering on juvenile delinquency issues and further strategies for intervention that may help rebuild
juveniles’ senses wellbeing.
Actions (login required)
 |
View Item |
![[img]](http://eprints.usm.my/style/images/fileicons/application_pdf.png)
