Juvenile delinquency, mental health issues and a history of victimization: Brazilian contribution to the International Self-Report Delinquency 4 Study (ISRD4)

Abstract

This PhD project will be carried out within the scope of Brazilian participation in the International Self-Report Delinquency (ISRD) study, an international and collaborative initiative among researchers from different countries, on delinquency and victimization in the adolescent population. The current edition, ISRD4, provides mandatory and optional questions - proposed by each country. In Brazil, the optional questions will address indicators of mental health problems. Adolescents who are involved in the offenses seem to have specific demands regarding mental health and the Brazilian socio-educational system has difficulties in responding to this. Thus, the general aim of this study will be to identify the different patterns of relationship between offenses (delinquency), indicators of mental health problems and a history of victimization. The methodological procedures follow the guidelines described in the ISRD4 Research Protocol. The primary sampling unit will be the classrooms of schools in two cities in the State of São Paulo. Adolescents aged between 13 and 17 years old, of both sexes, will answer the ISRD4 standard questionnaire, with the module of indicators of mental health problems. The topics of interest (delinquency, mental health and victimization) will be operationalized in variables of frequency (number of occurrences) and diversity (number of different categories reported) and in variables that differentiate situations involving violence, those that occurred in the virtual environment or in the family environment (for delinquency and victimization). The sample will be characterized (in its entirety and by sociodemographic groups) and, subsequently, subgroups will be identified in the sample (through cluster analysis), which will be compared among themselves in the variables of interest. Finally, analysis of structural equations will test the mediating and moderating role of mental health problems in the relationship between victimization history and offenses. (AU)