Learning Objective #1: understand the phenomenon of adolescent's deviant behaviors in Taiwan

Learning Objective #2: understand the impact of parenting and childhood traumatic experiences on adolescent's deviant behaviors

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The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between adolescent's deviant behaviors and parental disciplines. The study design was a descriptive, correlational study. A stratified random sampling was used to select participants from three juvenile detention houses or reform schools in Taiwan. A total of 74 participants aged between 12 and 18 participated in this study. Most participants were males (68%) and lived with one single parent (26%) or both parents (31%), or step parents (15%) before the detention. Data were collected using structural questionnaires: Family Functioning, Parental Disciplines (paternal and maternal), Self-report Violent Behavior, and Child Behavior Checklist. The results of this study indicated that adolescent's positive behaviors were positively correlated with parental positive disciplines and maternal negative discipline, but were negatively correlated with paternal serious harm and poor parent-child relationships. Adolescents' aggressive behaviors were positively correlated with paternal moderate harm and poor parent-child relationships. Other deviated behaviors and emotional problems of teenagers, such as violation, fear, anxiety, depression, withdrawal, and immaturity had various degrees of positive relationships with poor parent-child relationship, paternal or maternal moderate or serious harms on them. The more life events the adolescents had experiences in their childhood, the more anxious and fearful they were. Females displayed more internal behaviors, such as depression than their male counterparts. The findings of this study provide an insight in understanding children's violent and deviant behaviors as well as its relationships to childhood traumatic experiences. Preventive intervention on adolescent's deviant behaviors should focus on parenting. The impact of early childhood traumatic experiences on adolescent's violent behaviors cannot be overlooked.