Risk Factors of Juvenile Delinquents’ Post Rehabilitation Relapse: Evidence from Eastern Cape Province, South Africa

This study explored the risk factors of post-rehabilitation relapse among juvenile delinquents in Eastern Cape, South Africa. It is foregrounded on three sociological theories, namely, labelling, differential association and social control. Through snowballing technique, a sample of 35 respondents was drawn from population of parents and guardians in Mthatha whose children had attended rehabilitation. Data were collected by survey (questionnaire) and subsequently analyzed by use of complementary statistical tools. While social rejection (0.806) is the main core frisk factor of post rehabilitation relapse, being male (β=-0.13), younger age (β=-0.349), living in rural area (β=0.223), higher number of siblings (β=0.464) are social attributes mostly associated with post rehabilitation relapse among juveniles. This study recommends post rehabilitation monitoring program that targets the more susceptible social categories as identified in this study.