Page No: 285-291
G. Kavya and R. Nithya
Bharathiar University, Coimbatore.
This study examines the relationship between moral disengagement and alexithymia
in delinquency-prone versus non-delinquency-prone adolescents. Moral disengagement
is a mental process where people justify unethical actions to make them seem
acceptable, allowing them to evade feelings of guilt. Alexithymia refers to difficulties in
recognizing and expressing emotions, which are crucial for understanding adolescent
behavior. In a sample of 88 adolescents, equally divided into delinquency-prone and
non-delinquency-prone groups, self-reported measures assessed these constructs.
The results showed a strong connection between moral disengagement and alexithymia
in both groups, with marked differences in levels between delinquency-prone and nondelinquency-
prone adolescents. These results highlight the roles of moral cognition
and emotional awareness in adolescent delinquency. Effective prevention strategies
must address external and internal risk factors across various contexts—individual,
family, school, peer, and community. Such comprehensive approaches are more likely
to reduce delinquency and foster positive youth development.