Well-being in institutionalised adolescents.

Area of Science:

• Criminology
• Psychology
• Sociology

Background:

• Adolescent offenders' desistance from crime may depend on well-being.
• Factors influencing well-being in this population are under-researched.
• Internal states and environmental factors may foster well-being.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the well-being of young male incarcerated offenders.
• To examine relationships between well-being and family contact, socio-educational environment, future outlook, and self-efficacy.

Main Methods:

• 195 young male offenders in Brazil completed anonymous self-report questionnaires.
• Measures included scales for psychological well-being, socio-educational environment perception, feelings about the future, and self-efficacy.
• Sociodemographic data were also collected.

Main Results:

• Well-being positively correlated with perceptions of the socio-educational environment, positive future outlook, and self-efficacy.
• Family contact frequency, positive socio-educational environment perceptions, positive future outlook, and self-efficacy in leisure/social activities independently predicted well-being.

Conclusions:

• Findings suggest interventions supporting family ties and personal development are crucial for rehabilitating young offenders.
• Results align with international studies, indicating potential for effective rehabilitation strategies.
• Further longitudinal research is needed to confirm causal relationships.