Descripción y análisis de los factores protectores de adolescentes en la prevención del delito: el perfil del adolescente resistente y las competencias emocionales asociadas

The main objective of this study is to go deeply into the concept of desistance and factors of protection, first on a theoretical level and later on an empiric level. The study comprises two parts, a first part which describes the profile of the desisting minor, and a second made from surveys, in which the dimensions of the emotional competence in a group of offending adolescents are evaluated. Based on a sample of 288 offending adolescents, 86 persistent offenders and 202 desisting, from the districts of Baix Llobregat, Garraf, Alt Penedès and some towns in Anoia, the socio-demographic and criminological differences and those in the educational paths followed in the Directorate General for Juvenile Justice are analyzed. A sample of 101 adolescents, 45 persistent offenders and 56 desisting, originating from mediation, open environment and internment programmes, then participate in the survey study. Adolescents desisting from offences obtain higher scores than persistent offenders, with these differences being statistically significant in the dimension of social competence and in the overall emotional competence score.