An Analysis On Emotional Intelligence And Mental Health Of Juvenile Delinquents

Abstract

The main objective of this paper is to examine the relationship of emotional intelligence and mental health of juvenile delinquents.  Sample of the study comprises of 153 juvenile delinquents residing in a juvenile home at Chennai.  Normative survey method was employed for data collection.  Emotional Intelligence Scale developed by Schutte et al. (1998) was used to assess the emotional intelligence of juvenile delinquents.  To assess the mental health of juvenile delinquents, the investigator constructed and standardized the tool, Mental Health Battery (MHB) with 30 items. Differential analysis like ‘t’ test and Pearson product moment correlation was used to analyse the collected data. Results revealed that there is no significant difference based on gender in the dimensions of emotional intelligence and mental health of juvenile delinquents. Recommendations were given in order to improve their mental health and emotional intelligence to reduce the juvenile delinquency so that their basic needs have been satisfied in order to bring a change in their lives.