Profile of adolescents in conflict with criminal law in the Dominican Republic

Abstract

In 2014, the USAID Alerta Joven project , led by Entrena, a Dominican non-governmental organization, conducted a series of micro-studies to understand better the needs of youth in conflict with the law. A “snapshot” study of juveniles in secure detention was conducted by researchers from RTI International, the Universidad Iberoamericana – UNIBE, the Instituto Tecnológico de Santo Domingo – INTEC, and the Public Ministry. This study includes a sample of 274 adjudicated juvenile participants from nine care facilities in the Dominican Republic. The data collected on these participants include socio-demographic variables, the motivation for offending, and personality and self-concept factors. A battery of psychometric tests was applied to determine the levels of depression, anxiety, socialization factors, and verbal and non-verbal skills. The study also includes survey data collected from family members of juveniles in detention to learn more about vulnerability conditions, family functioning, and community conditions. The results speak of a history of adolescents in conflict with the law, marked by the initiation of risky behavior at an early age. These youths come from blended families or single-parent homes, and a few of them live on the streets with little or no supervision. They exhibit low integration into the formal labor market and place little importance on educational goals. Family relationships are reportedly close-knit, and disciplinary methods range widely between dialog and physical aggression. These youth primarily recognize their mothers as the primary disciplinarian. The types of criminal activities for the youth included in this study are mainly robberies and homicides. The findings show that the apparent motivations accounting for these behaviors were linked to an overall lack of self-control or impulsiveness, emotional detachment, and a perceived lack of consequences for behavior. Moreover, the study participants report that their desired standard of living was effectively out of their reach and that thefts offered a quick solution. While some youth were under the effects of drugs and/or alcohol, only about half were working in the informal sector or attending school at the time of their offense. The results indicate that cognitive brain functioning of this sample is below the median range of youth in the general population; however, the tests do not allow us to determine the reasons for this low performance (i.e., malnutrition, the absence of breastfeeding, exposure to trauma, physical abuse). The cognitive ratings are well below the expected means. Youth with more extensive criminal histories demonstrate a tendency to participate in high-risk activities at an earlier age. Weak correlations were identified between the types of delinquent behaviors committed, drug and alcohol use, motivations, and the psychological tests conducted in the study.