Examination of the personalities and anxiety levels of children in prison: a sample of crime in Mugla, Turkey

Abstract

Child crime and their feelings of guilt have special importance because of their impact on children's development and future life. In the last few years, the number of young and child criminals has increased in Turkey. The sample for this study is from Dugerek prison in Mug. la, one of the cities of the Aegean region of Turkey, from 18 February 2007 to 22 February 2007. The sampling group was randomly chosen and consisted of 41 boys aged 15-18 from the child section of the prison. There were no girls in that section. After a one-to-one oral interview with the children, a questionnaire containing the Cornell Index, Inertial Anxiety Inventory and demographic questions was administered. There was a highly positive, meaningful relationship (r:0.771, P < 0.05) between state anxiety and trait anxiety levels. Our recommendation is that juvenile delinquents need more psychological support than their peers with normal lives, so in order to rehabilitate them, the number of the psychologists should be increased in this prison.