Friendship Characteristics of Delinquent Adolescents

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Abstract
The objective of this study was to compare the main friendship characteristics of delinquent adolescents and non-delinquents. The results were collected by a questionnaire given to a group of 92 delinquents who were in a delinquent shelter and 352 non-delinquent adolescents in high school. The questionnaire systematically examined the network and nature of friendships: the level of attachment and intimacy with friends and the possible presence of conflicts. The comparative analysis identified a certain number of differences. Delinquents have more friends and more friends of the opposite sex than non-delinquents. The history of friendships indicates the process of marginalisation of friendships for delinquent adolescents. Whereas the majority of non-delinquent subjects make their friends in school, delinquents make their friends outside of school and commit a great number of antisocial acts with these friends. The study did not find differences in the level of attachment or the degree of intimacy that delinquents have with their friends which places doubt on certain studies which insisted on the ‘cold and brittle’ character of delinquents. It is the greater presence of conflicts which characterizes the friendships of delinquents and deprives them of the opportunities of acquiring social skills and psychological well-being associated with friendship in adolescence.

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