A Study of the Factors Related to the Tendency of Adolescent Boys of Ilam City to Criminal Behavior

Today’s criminal behaviors have become a difficult problem, with undesired effects on individual and family life of the people, and have led to many social disorders, whose social and economic roots can be analyzed and investigated in terms of different dimensions. Different types of criminal behavior result from various factors; therefore, in order to understand their nature as an interconnected collection we need to investigate different factors that are related with each other. The sociology of deviation mostly copes with the social and cultural factors that influence crime and emphasizes agencies of youth sociability such as the family, school, peer groups, and mass media. So, the current paper tries to investigate the sociability factors related to tendency towards criminal behavior among adolescent boys of Ilam city. In fact, our aim is to answer the question: what sociability factors are involved in tendency towards criminal behavior among Ilam adolescent boys? And what role each factor has in the appearance of this phenomenon? In despite of having many human talents, Ilam province, with a population of more than 500,000, is considered as a low performing province, with problems such as immigration of people from rural areas to suburban ones, increasing rates of crime. The shape and pattern of the cities of this province is not based on a citizenship and urbanism principle, which would follow a regular migration pattern. This is a study based on cross-sectional plan. Research population include all adolescent boys (14-18 Years) of Ilam city, whose total number is approximately 10000, according to the census statistics in 1385. The sample size is 370, based on Cochran formula, assuming maximum variance of research variables (q=0.5 and p=0.5). The reliability level is 0.95 %.Research data have been collected through a research-made questionnaire with regard to operationalization of relevant variablesDiscussion of Results & The results of the study show that cheating in exam, sexual behaviors and quarrelling are the highest prevalent deviant behaviors among respondents. Given that the studied group goes through period of sexual puberty, the tendency towards quarrelling and sexual behavior can be expected at this age. Perhaps the most important reason is that respondents are unaware of their actions and consequences of these affairs because of cultural limitations. On the other hand, when respondents are aware of the consequences of dangerous behaviors such as consumption of tobacco products, psychedelic tablets, alcohol and running away from home, they show very little interest in such behaviors. Undoubtedly, informing adolescents from dangers of such behaviors is useful and society and family should convey this awareness to them. The results also show that there is a strong and reverse correlation between supervision of family and tendency towards criminal behavior among the studied sample, that is, when the family has more supervision and control on the operation and behaviors of its children, they have less tendency towards criminal behavior.Based on “Control” theory, norm breaking and deviations are resulted from the lack of prior and efficient parental control so that whatever the is more control, and parents exercise various supervisions in direct and indirect ways, the adolescent become more harmonious with the family. According to this principle, individuals who have family problems are more likely than others to become deviant. This deviation is a kind of negative reaction to parent's performance and operation and is a manifestation of becoming an adult and a macho. So, the relationship between family members, especially between parents and their adolescents, is key in analyzing youth tendency towards criminal behaviors.Moreover, research findings also show that there is a significant relationship between companionship with felonious friends and tendency towards deviant behaviors. This relationship is direct and strong, namely, the more companionship one has with felonious friends, the more likely that he gets involved in criminal behaviors. This is indicative of the fact that friendship during adolescence years plays a powerful (authoritative) role in shaping ones attitudes and behavior, outside of the family environment. Therefore, is it very important for families to know who are their children's friends and in which direction they take their young adolescents. The media is also among the factors that can contribute to the creation of motivation for criminal behavior. Sutherland believes that young individuals mimic behaviors of others in a social learning process and they learn some of the felonious behaviors such as violation and aggressiveness through the media. Bandera also emphasizes social learning process and the role of mass media, especially television, on the formation of felonious and violent behaviors. The findings of this study show that there is a reverse and significant correlation between the extent of using domestic media and tendency towards felonious behavior among the studies sample. On the other hand, foreign cultural products, especially satellite movies and the Internet, play a significant role in the popularity of an ethical promiscuity, which is in opposition to national social norms, and can lead to a lack of religious faithfulness and premature puberty of adolescents in sexual matters. This research shows that there is a reverse and significant correlation between consumption of foreign cultural products and the tendency towards felonious behavior.