Background & aim: Crime and criminal behavior can occur under the influence of various environmental and personality factors. One of the personality traits that is especially important in adolescents is the level of arousal and reaching the optimal level of arousal, which may pose risks for them and is considered as an accusation and ultimately a crime; Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine and investigate the relationship between emotion seeking and crime in children and adolescents in Yasuj.
 
 
Methods: The present descriptive-analytical comparative study was conducted in 2018 on 160 children and adolescents in the care centers of the Welfare Organization, the Center for Correction of Education and schools in Yasuj. The samples were selected by convenience sampling method and after replication were divided into two groups of 80 people (case, control). In this study, the demographic and excitement questionnaires of Rousseau children and adolescents were filled in with samples from both groups. Data were analyzed using t-test, Pearson correlation and Spearman test.
 
 
Results: The results showed that the age group of the case group was among 10 to 18 years and their highest crime was theft (41.2%) and conflict (32.6%). In addition, a significant relationship was observed between children and adolescents' excitement with crime (p <0.05) and a significant relationship was seen between the components of excitement, i.e., excitement, adventure and social deterrence, children and adolescents and crime (p <0.05).
 
 
Conclusion: Since it was found that excitement, adventure and social deterrence of children and adolescents have a significant relationship with crime, therefore, teaching life skills to adolescents and creating appropriate contexts for emotional discharge is recommended by educators and community leaders.