Abstract

Currently there is an alarming increase on youth involved in delinquency and criminal action in urban and sub urban areas of Malaysia. This paper aimed to measure the level of aggressive and delinquent behaviour, identify the most common delinquent behaviours, and examine the associations of aggressive and delinquent behaviour with demographic factors and individual characteristics among a sample of high risk Malaysian youth. The data used in this paper was obtained from a larger study designed to identify patterns of delinquent behaviour among teenagers and young people (15-40 years old). The results indicate that although the sample consisted of high risk youth, participants scored low in delinquent behaviour and moderate in aggressive behaviour. The findings also show significant associations between delinquent behaviour levels with both age and ethnicity; but no significant associations with gender or religion. Results indicate that common perceptions about at-risk youth may run contrary to reality; despite being at-risk, the respondents displayed lower-than-expected levels of delinquency, and moderate aggressive behaviour.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.