Peer delinquency and parental social support as predictors of Asian American adolescent delinquency

Abstract

This study empirically documents the factors that predict Asian American adolescent delinquency. The model incorporates traditional Asian cultural values generated from a collectivist orientation that have typically been left out of a delinquency research literature that has focused primarily on individualistic populations. Asian American collectivist values may influence both parenting and adolescent behavior. In particular, the study assessed Asian American adolescents perceptions of social support from their parents and their role in predicting delinquency. Data was gathered on 101 Asian American high school adolescents. Contrary to expectations and previous studies, the findings indicated that Asian American adolescents did not perceive low social support from their parents and that this variable had no influence on delinquent behavior. The results suggest that peer delinquency is the strongest predictor of Asian American adolescent delinquency. Implications for research and practice are discussed.