Abstract
Objectıve:
The aim of this study was to evaluate psychiatric diagnoses of children and adolescents admitted for forensic evaluation, their ages at the time of the crime, type of crime and the results of forensic reports.
Method:
721 cases who were refered to Manisa Mental Health Hospital Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Outpatient Department between the dates 2012 March and 2013 June for the purpose of carrying out a forensic evaluation by legal authorities were examined retrospectively and of these; forensic reports and charts that belonged to 111 cases of delinquency were evaluated.
Results:
The age range of 111 cases was between 12 to 18 (15±1.5) and 16 (14,4%) were female while 95 (85,6%) were male. 61 (55%) were diagnosed with conduct disorder (CD) and 16 (14,4%) were diagnosed with mental retardation (MR). The most common type of crime among the alleged delinquents was theft (43,2%).
Discussion:
It was observed that there was a male predominance among juvenile delinquents in our sample. Present literature also points out that aggressive behavior and delinquency are more commonly seen in male children and adolescents. Higher rate of psychiatric disorders was observed in our delinquent sample with the most common psychiatric diagnosis determined as CD. Different studies report crimes commited against property such as theft are much more commonly observed. Consistent with the fi ndings of this body of research, theft was also the most commonly committed crime in our sample of delinquents.
Keywords: Child, adolescent, delinquent, forensic
