The Social Context of Attempted Murder and Premeditated Homicide among Juvenile Delinquents in Jordan
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.35516/Hum.2025.9080Keywords:
Juvenile, murder, homicide, social context, Jordan.Abstract
Objectives: The present study aims to illustrate the social context driving juvenile delinquents to commit and attempt premeditated homicide in Jordan.
Methods: A qualitative exploratory descriptive design is adopted by relying on interpretative phenomenological analysis. A purposive sample of (13) male juveniles (aged 13-17) was selected, serving terms in the educational and rehabilitation centres of the Jordanian Ministry of Social Development. Data were collected via interviews, and a thematic qualitative analysis of the data was carried out through the deductive approach, based on primary and secondary coding. Similar symbols were grouped together, and relationships were examined to form major themes.
Results: The results reveal that the main factors behind murder by juveniles are family disintegration in the form of divorce or separation, school dropout, drug abuse, harmful companions, addiction to violent electronic games, and factors related to personality and psychological health. The study also shows that the social context surrounding such juveniles is characterised by chaos, poor financial resources, weak family ties, disruption of a sound moral system, an authoritarian parenting style that disregards emotional and psychological needs, the absence of good role models, and a poor and insecure residential environment.
Conclusion: Juvenile delinquency is an expression of unsatisfied desires and drives and a type of social maladjustment, rooted in a complex multifaceted system comprising factors such as personal characteristics, family, school, peers, and community. Murder by juveniles is an adaptive behaviour and a delinquent response to a negative social context.
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Accepted 2024-10-09
Published 2025-10-01


