Delinquency Proneness and Family Anomie

Abstract

Dr. Jaffe holds a joint appointment as Research and Teaching Fellow at the Paul Baerwald School of Social Work, the Department of Sociology, and the Institute of Criminology of the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel. He also serves as Consultant on Delinquency Research to the Israel Ministry of Social Welfare. Dr. Jaffe previously held the positions of Casework Supervisor at the Cleveland Psychiatric Institute and Hospital, and Research Associate at the Bellefaire Regional Treatment Center, Cleveland, Ohio. His earlier social work experience includes work at the Columbus State Psychiatric Hospital, Columbus, Ohio, and at the Cuyahoga County Division of Child Welfare, Cleveland, Ohio. The term has been used by Durkheim to describe the disintegrated state of a society that lacks a body of common values. Dr. Jaffe's present study results from his opinion that the same concept, when applied to the family, may be useful in the effort to understand delinquent behavior. In the article that follows, the author reports upon a study employing three tests: a delinquency proneness scale, a powerlessness scale, and a value consensus scale developed specifically for this research. A preliminary study involved Negro institutionalized delinquents and nondelinquency prone Negro children. The main study involved a group of eighth grade Negro students, and two contrast groups of eighth grade white students. The author presents his findings and describes his conclusions as to the possible existence of a family anomie syndrome.-EDITOR.