Patterns of Family Communication and their Relationship to Criminal ‎Behavior among Juvenile Delinquents in Amman

Abstract

This study aimed to discover the levels of family communication patterns and ‎criminal behavior and elucidate their relationship in Jordan. This study adopted the ‎descriptive correlational approach. The sample consisted of 189 juvenile delinquents in ‎reform and rehabilitation centers in Jordan. To achieve the objectives of the study, measures ‎of family communication patterns and criminal behavior were developed and applied after ‎confirming the validity and reliability of the tools. Means, standard deviations, and Pearson ‎‎correlation were used to analyze data. The results related to family communication patterns ‎showed that the reproach and dispersed patterns were highly prevalent. The appeasement and ‎verbal behavior patterns were moderately prevalent, and the nonverbal and ideal patterns ‎scored were least common. The results also indicated that the level of criminal behavior ‎among juvenile delinquents in Jordan was high. There was a direct relationship between ‎criminal behavior and two types of communication (dispersed and reproachful) and an ‎inverse relationship between criminal behavior and the other patterns (verbal, non-verbal, ‎appeasement and ideal communication). The study concluded with several ‎recommendations. The most important of these are conducting qualitative studies to identify ‎the causes of criminal behavior and implementing treatment programs to reduce these ‎behaviors.‎