Abstract

This study aims at comparing the parent, teacher and friend representation of general teenagers with that of delinquent juveniles. 292 students (148 male students and 144 female students) and 337 delinquent juveniles (274 males and 63 females) in correctional facilities were interviewed. As for delinquent juveniles, the friend representation was the highest, while the teacher representation was the lowest. The gap between the friend representation and the parent representation of delinquent juveniles was very significant. In contrast, the gap between the friend representation and the parent representation of general teenagers was less significant than that of delinquent juveniles. The analysis on the difference in personal representation between general teenagers and delinquent juveniles showed that the parent representation of general teenagers was significantly higher than that of delinquent juveniles, and the friend representation of delinquent juveniles was significantly higher than that of general teenagers. General teenagers showed significantly higher representation on homosexual parents than hetrosexual parents, while delinquent juveniles showed significantly higher representation on hetrosexual parents than homosexual parents. The results imply interpersonal representation is related to the crimes of teenagers.