RELATIONSHIP AMONGST FAMILY STRUCTURE, PARENTAL ATTACHMENT AND JUVENILE DELINQUENCY AMONG STUDENTS

This study sought to identify the differences in family structure between students involved in juvenile delinquency and those not involved in juvenile delinquency. Further, it also attempted to identify the relationship between the type of family structure of the two groups and aspects of parental attachment. This study also to identify the interaction effect between type of family structure with students involved in juvenile delinquency and those not involved in juvenile delinquency to base on the aspect of parental attachment. This research involved two types of family structure, namely, traditional family and the non-traditional family. This study involved 149 students from two rehabilitation schools known as ‘Sekolah Tunas Bakti’ (STB) and 155 students from normal secondary schools (SMK). These students were required to answer items in the questionnaire related to the type of family structure, family background and level of parental attachment. To analyse the data, this research used the Cross tabulation, Independent Samples T-Test ANOVA statistical analysis. Among the findings of the study was that there is significant difference in type of family structure between students involved in juvenile delinquency and those not involved in juvenile delinquency. There is also a significant difference in the level of parental attachment aspects between students involved in juvenile delinquency and those not involved in juvenile delinquency. Furthermore a significant difference was found in all the aspects of parental attachment between the two types of family structure. It is suggested that future studies in this area should be conducted utilizing the interview method so as to obtain more in-depth and accurate data especially in the aspects of parental attachment.