Delinquency and social changes in United Arab Emirates: a comparison studybetween delinquent males and females on the family functioning questionnaire

The purpose of this study was to specify descriptive elements of juvenile d elinquents in United Arab Emirates (UAE); a comparison between male and fem ale young offenders was also conducted using the Family Functioning Questio nnaire (FFQ). The results revealed that some of the characteristics of youn g offenders were: school dropouts, had parents with no or some elementary e ducation, lived in the city, and came from low income families. The statist ical analysis revealed that there were significant differences between male s and females on the FFQ subscales. That is, then was a differential treatm ent of male and female delinquents in the UAE society. Suggestions, implica tions and limitations for the potential use of the results reported in this study are also discussed.