Özet:

Purpose: In this study, it was aimed to examine the socio-demographic characteristics of the juvenile delinquents, who were sent to a university hospital by judicial authorities in order to prepare an expert report in accordance with Clause 31/2 of the Turkish Penal Code (TPC), and their families as well as nature of the offence, co morbid psychiatric diagnosis, and the prepared report results.  Materials and Methods: This study was conducted by reviewing retrospectively the file records of children and adolescents who were required to be reported in accordance with Clause 31/2 of TPC in Outpatient Clinic of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry of a university hospital by judicial authorities between 01.04.2013 and 01.04.2015. From the judicial file records, socio-demographic characteristics of the cases and their families, WISC-R (Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised) results, clinical evaluation results and information related to the judicial event were obtained.  Results: It was found that 11.1% of the cases (n=7) were female and 88.9% (n=56) were male. Theft (40.5%) was on the first rank among the crime types committed by the cases who were claimed to get involved in crime. As a result of the clinical evaluation it was determined that 49.2% of the cases (n=31) had normal intelligence level, 38.1% (n=24) had borderline intelligence level, and 12.7% (n=8) had mental retardation.  Conclusions: The intellectual limitations in juvenile delinquents, socio-economic difficulties, and frequency of the low education levels in both children and families are remarkable. In order to reduce juvenile delinquency, it is considered as necessary to determine the needs of children at risk and take appropriate protective and supportive measures.

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