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Ghandi S, Ghorban Jahromi R, Asgharnejad Farid A A. (2024). Comparison of brain-behavioral systems, family social capital and emotional control of delinquent and non-delinquent adolescent boys. refahj. 24(94), : 7 doi:10.32598/refahj.24.94.4357.1
URL: http://refahj.uswr.ac.ir/article-1-4211-en.html
URL: http://refahj.uswr.ac.ir/article-1-4211-en.html
Keywords: adolescent, brain-behavioral systems, delinquent, emotional control, family social capital
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Introduction
Adolescents are the spiritual assets of the society and their mental and physical health guarantees the health of the society in the future. Therefore, their issues are among the issues that should be given special attention. Investigating the root issues of teenagers and their delinquency is necessary to reach an ideal conditional society.
Method
The method of the current research was a descriptive and comparative causal type. The statistical population of delinquent juveniles included all adolescent boys between the ages of 15 and 18 years of the correctional center of Tehran in the first quarter of 1401 and the statistical population of non-delinquent juveniles included all adolescent boys of Tehran city, based on the age and region of residence of delinquent juveniles. In each delinquent and non-delinquent group, 63 people and a total of 126 people were selected by targeted sampling method for delinquent teenagers and available and voluntary sampling method for non-delinquent teenagers. To collect data, the revised scale of sensitivity to reinforcement (Jackson, 2009), family social capital questionnaire (Dori Bejestani, 2013) and emotional control questionnaire (Roger and Najarian, 1989) were used.
Findings:
The results of multivariate analysis of variance showed that there is a significant difference between behavioral brain systems, social cognitive capital outside the family and emotional inhibition of delinquent and non-delinquent boys (P<0.01).
Discussion:
The results of this research showed that there is a significant difference between the behavioral activation system of delinquent and non-delinquent boys, and the amount of this component is higher in delinquent boys than in non-delinquent boys. In the general explanation of this finding, it can be said that both in the original theory and in the revised theory of reinforcement sensitivity, the behavioral activation system is responsible for responding to pleasant and rewarding stimuli. To put it more simply, the high levels of the components of entertainment search and response to reward in teenagers are related to characteristics such as impulsivity, risk-taking, hedonism and variety-seeking; The characteristics that can make them susceptible to occurrence and experiencing a variety of risky behaviors.
Another finding of the research was that there is a significant difference between the behavioral inhibition system of delinquent and non-delinquent boys, and delinquent boys have a stronger inhibition system than non-delinquent boys. In explaining this result, it can be said that people who have high scores in the behavioral inhibition system may experience high anxiety and thus, to cope with anxiety, they may self-medicate with high-risk behaviors such as delinquency. It can also be said that an active behavioral inhibition system is associated with the experience of negative emotions and the occurrence of impulsive acts, and people with antisocial behaviors engage in impulsive acts such as drug use and delinquent behaviors in order to enjoy activities like normal people.
Another finding of the present study showed that there is a significant difference between the fight, flight and freezing system of delinquent and non-delinquent boys, and the scores of all three components are higher in delinquent boys than in non-delinquent boys. For the inconsistency of the results of the past research with the current research, we can point to the difference in the tools used (Jackson’s questionnaire vs. Gray-Wilson’s questionnaire and Carver and White’s BIS/BAS questionnaire). In explaining this result, it can be said that the component of fight is a characteristic of defensive aggressive behaviors. Criminals, when dealing with natural threatening situations such as life threats in a street fight due to the high activity of the fight system, rather than resolving this incident peacefully, resort to aggressive and violent defensive actions such as assault or murder.
In the conducted research, the amount of flight component in delinquent teenagers is more than that of non-delinquent teenagers, which was the opposite of the researcher’s expectation, but the reason can be argued that the delinquent teenagers answered the questions related to the flight component based on their current attitude and according to the taking the results of their past actions and correcting them; As a result, the amount of flight component (running away from the source of threat), has increased in juvenile delinquent boys.
Finally, the comparison of two groups in the freezing system showed that delinquent teenagers are more sensitive than non-delinquent teenagers. Freezing reflects a tendency to stop mentally or physically when a person is in a threatening and unavoidable situation. According to the revised theory of reinforcement sensitivity, avoiding the aversive stimulus itself rewards the behavioral activation system. Therefore, when delinquent teenagers are in this situation, due to having a high behavioral inhibition system, they try to avoid the annoying stimulus and reward their behavioral activation system with avoidance behavior.
In addition, the results showed that only in the component of social cognitive capital outside the family the difference between these two groups is significant and its level is lower in delinquent male teenagers than non-delinquent teenagers. The component of social cognitive capital outside the family measures the level of trust in people outside the family, the level of intimacy with community members, social support and altruism. In explaining the results, it can be said that based on Hirschi’s social control theory, if a person believes that engaging in a certain type of behavior is not right, he avoids participating in it. On the other hand, those who have weak belief and loyalty towards moral and social norms tend to ignore them and the desire to deviate is stronger in them. According to the results obtained, delinquent people are more inclined to break the law due to their lack of attachment and trust in society and non-adherence to social norms and customs, and also due to their low sense of altruism, committing delinquent acts is normal for them and even a form of taking rights.
Also, the results showed that there is no significant difference between the three components of emotional control (aggression control, mental rumination and benign control) of delinquent and non-delinquent boys, but there is a significant difference in the emotional inhibition component and the amount of this component is higher in delinquent teenagers. The reason why emotional inhibition is more in delinquent teenagers is that emotional inhibition is ignoring feelings and not showing emotions. This suppression of emotion increases aggression. When teenagers are not able to talk about their feelings with others at the right time, they suppress this emotion inside themselves, and as a result, our internal conflict between the desire to express emotion and suppress it arises, and the internal war between these two feelings hinders. They adapt to traumatic events. This lack of excitement causes double pressure on teenagers and instead of teenagers being able to vent their emotions in the right place and at the right time, they have an outburst of excitement in an inappropriate situation and may engage in dangerous behaviors.
In a general summary of the research findings, it can be concluded that the high sensitivity of the behavioral activation system and behavioral inhibition in delinquent teenagers confirms the higher levels of extroversion and impulsivity and the tendency to reward and avoid punishment. Also, the findings of the research showed that teenagers of both groups have weak family social capital. In case of Coleman has stated that relationships and interactions within the family, especially the presence of parents at home and their close and intimate relationship with their children, can play an effective role in reducing delinquency. In addition, it can be concluded that emotions and how they are expressed by teenagers can be an important factor in delinquency. The more easily teenagers express their emotions and have less control, they can act more effectively when facing difficult situations, improve their social ability and improve their adaptability significantly.
Among the limitations of this research, we can mention the studied sample, which included only the group of boys. Finally, it is suggested that they should be further investigated considering that the behavioral activation system and the behavioral inhibition system in different tools have separate subcomponents.
Ethical Considerations
All participants provided informed consent and had the option to withdraw from the study at any time without any penalties. Their participation was entirely voluntary.
Authors› Contributions: All authors made significant contributions to the writing and development of this manuscript.
Funding: This research did not receive any financial support.
Conflict of Interest: According to the authors, there is no conflict of interest in this paper.
Adherence to Ethical Principles in Research: All information was collected while maintaining confidentiality. Additionally, all ethical principles regarding plagiarism and data falsification were adhered to in this paper.
Adolescents are the spiritual assets of the society and their mental and physical health guarantees the health of the society in the future. Therefore, their issues are among the issues that should be given special attention. Investigating the root issues of teenagers and their delinquency is necessary to reach an ideal conditional society.
Method
The method of the current research was a descriptive and comparative causal type. The statistical population of delinquent juveniles included all adolescent boys between the ages of 15 and 18 years of the correctional center of Tehran in the first quarter of 1401 and the statistical population of non-delinquent juveniles included all adolescent boys of Tehran city, based on the age and region of residence of delinquent juveniles. In each delinquent and non-delinquent group, 63 people and a total of 126 people were selected by targeted sampling method for delinquent teenagers and available and voluntary sampling method for non-delinquent teenagers. To collect data, the revised scale of sensitivity to reinforcement (Jackson, 2009), family social capital questionnaire (Dori Bejestani, 2013) and emotional control questionnaire (Roger and Najarian, 1989) were used.
Findings:
The results of multivariate analysis of variance showed that there is a significant difference between behavioral brain systems, social cognitive capital outside the family and emotional inhibition of delinquent and non-delinquent boys (P<0.01).
Discussion:
The results of this research showed that there is a significant difference between the behavioral activation system of delinquent and non-delinquent boys, and the amount of this component is higher in delinquent boys than in non-delinquent boys. In the general explanation of this finding, it can be said that both in the original theory and in the revised theory of reinforcement sensitivity, the behavioral activation system is responsible for responding to pleasant and rewarding stimuli. To put it more simply, the high levels of the components of entertainment search and response to reward in teenagers are related to characteristics such as impulsivity, risk-taking, hedonism and variety-seeking; The characteristics that can make them susceptible to occurrence and experiencing a variety of risky behaviors.
Another finding of the research was that there is a significant difference between the behavioral inhibition system of delinquent and non-delinquent boys, and delinquent boys have a stronger inhibition system than non-delinquent boys. In explaining this result, it can be said that people who have high scores in the behavioral inhibition system may experience high anxiety and thus, to cope with anxiety, they may self-medicate with high-risk behaviors such as delinquency. It can also be said that an active behavioral inhibition system is associated with the experience of negative emotions and the occurrence of impulsive acts, and people with antisocial behaviors engage in impulsive acts such as drug use and delinquent behaviors in order to enjoy activities like normal people.
Another finding of the present study showed that there is a significant difference between the fight, flight and freezing system of delinquent and non-delinquent boys, and the scores of all three components are higher in delinquent boys than in non-delinquent boys. For the inconsistency of the results of the past research with the current research, we can point to the difference in the tools used (Jackson’s questionnaire vs. Gray-Wilson’s questionnaire and Carver and White’s BIS/BAS questionnaire). In explaining this result, it can be said that the component of fight is a characteristic of defensive aggressive behaviors. Criminals, when dealing with natural threatening situations such as life threats in a street fight due to the high activity of the fight system, rather than resolving this incident peacefully, resort to aggressive and violent defensive actions such as assault or murder.
In the conducted research, the amount of flight component in delinquent teenagers is more than that of non-delinquent teenagers, which was the opposite of the researcher’s expectation, but the reason can be argued that the delinquent teenagers answered the questions related to the flight component based on their current attitude and according to the taking the results of their past actions and correcting them; As a result, the amount of flight component (running away from the source of threat), has increased in juvenile delinquent boys.
Finally, the comparison of two groups in the freezing system showed that delinquent teenagers are more sensitive than non-delinquent teenagers. Freezing reflects a tendency to stop mentally or physically when a person is in a threatening and unavoidable situation. According to the revised theory of reinforcement sensitivity, avoiding the aversive stimulus itself rewards the behavioral activation system. Therefore, when delinquent teenagers are in this situation, due to having a high behavioral inhibition system, they try to avoid the annoying stimulus and reward their behavioral activation system with avoidance behavior.
In addition, the results showed that only in the component of social cognitive capital outside the family the difference between these two groups is significant and its level is lower in delinquent male teenagers than non-delinquent teenagers. The component of social cognitive capital outside the family measures the level of trust in people outside the family, the level of intimacy with community members, social support and altruism. In explaining the results, it can be said that based on Hirschi’s social control theory, if a person believes that engaging in a certain type of behavior is not right, he avoids participating in it. On the other hand, those who have weak belief and loyalty towards moral and social norms tend to ignore them and the desire to deviate is stronger in them. According to the results obtained, delinquent people are more inclined to break the law due to their lack of attachment and trust in society and non-adherence to social norms and customs, and also due to their low sense of altruism, committing delinquent acts is normal for them and even a form of taking rights.
Also, the results showed that there is no significant difference between the three components of emotional control (aggression control, mental rumination and benign control) of delinquent and non-delinquent boys, but there is a significant difference in the emotional inhibition component and the amount of this component is higher in delinquent teenagers. The reason why emotional inhibition is more in delinquent teenagers is that emotional inhibition is ignoring feelings and not showing emotions. This suppression of emotion increases aggression. When teenagers are not able to talk about their feelings with others at the right time, they suppress this emotion inside themselves, and as a result, our internal conflict between the desire to express emotion and suppress it arises, and the internal war between these two feelings hinders. They adapt to traumatic events. This lack of excitement causes double pressure on teenagers and instead of teenagers being able to vent their emotions in the right place and at the right time, they have an outburst of excitement in an inappropriate situation and may engage in dangerous behaviors.
In a general summary of the research findings, it can be concluded that the high sensitivity of the behavioral activation system and behavioral inhibition in delinquent teenagers confirms the higher levels of extroversion and impulsivity and the tendency to reward and avoid punishment. Also, the findings of the research showed that teenagers of both groups have weak family social capital. In case of Coleman has stated that relationships and interactions within the family, especially the presence of parents at home and their close and intimate relationship with their children, can play an effective role in reducing delinquency. In addition, it can be concluded that emotions and how they are expressed by teenagers can be an important factor in delinquency. The more easily teenagers express their emotions and have less control, they can act more effectively when facing difficult situations, improve their social ability and improve their adaptability significantly.
Among the limitations of this research, we can mention the studied sample, which included only the group of boys. Finally, it is suggested that they should be further investigated considering that the behavioral activation system and the behavioral inhibition system in different tools have separate subcomponents.
Ethical Considerations
All participants provided informed consent and had the option to withdraw from the study at any time without any penalties. Their participation was entirely voluntary.
Authors› Contributions: All authors made significant contributions to the writing and development of this manuscript.
Funding: This research did not receive any financial support.
Conflict of Interest: According to the authors, there is no conflict of interest in this paper.
Adherence to Ethical Principles in Research: All information was collected while maintaining confidentiality. Additionally, all ethical principles regarding plagiarism and data falsification were adhered to in this paper.
Type of Study: orginal |
Received: 2023/05/23 | Accepted: 2024/05/6 | Published: 2024/10/5
Received: 2023/05/23 | Accepted: 2024/05/6 | Published: 2024/10/5
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