Predictors Of Delinquency Research Articles

Egotism and Delinquent Behavior

A recent work by Baumeister, Smart, and Boden suggested that “threatened egotism” is an important cause of violent behavior. Challenging the view that low self-esteem causes violence, Baumeister et al. held that those with inflated levels of self-esteem are likely to react violently when faced with ego threats. This article presents a preliminary test of the threatened egotism hypothesis with a sample of junior high and high school students in a small Southern city. The results show that egotism is positively associated with violent and nonviolent delinquency and that this relationship holds when a number of important predictors of delinquency are controlled, including social control and self-control. These results provide some support for the threatened egotism hypothesis and suggest that further research in this area is warranted.

The Role of Group Identity and Personality Domains as Indicators of Self-Reported Delinquency

We investigated the impact of personality factors and group identity factors on self-reported delinquency among high school students. Respondents were 420 Australian youth with a mean age of 15.22 r yrs. The sample comprised 224 males and 196 females. The strongest predictors of delinquency among both males and females were Eysenck's Psychoticism factor and an identity with so-called "rebels". In addition, Extraversion (males) and low self-reported academic achievement (females) were also found to be important factors. It was further concluded that Psychoticism, Agreeableness and Conscientiousness have little in common in their prediction of delinquency. The results are discussed with reference to previous research on the role of personality and group identity factors, and some suggestions for future research are also made.

A Meta-Analysis of the Predictors of Delinquency Among Girls

ABSTRACT This study presents the results of a meta-analysis of the predictors of female delinquency. Typically, literature on male delinquency has been generalized to females. Given the literature indicating that the most effective treatment programs target those areas of offenders' lives that are most related to criminal behavior, the need to understand the causes of female delinquency is imperative. This study found that many of the strong predictors of female delinquency are the same as those for males. These include history of antisocial behavior, antisocial attitudes, antisocial peers, and antisocial personality. Unlike previous meta-analyses, however, school and family relationships and a history of physical and/or sexual assault also appear to be robust predictors of female offending.

Low self-control and coworker delinquency: A research note

Since the publication of Gottfredson and Hirschi [ A General Theory of Crime. Stanford, CA: Stanford Univ. Press, 1990], a large amount of research has shown a link between low self-control and delinquency. Some research has revealed that low self-control has not been able to account for the strong effects of peer delinquency on delinquency. Criminological literature has, until recently, neglected the interactional relationship between low self-control and delinquent peers in predicting delinquency. This study used a sample of employed high school seniors to assess the interaction between low self-control and coworker delinquency on occupational delinquency. Regression analyses indicated that the interaction term was a strong predictor of occupational delinquency, even after controlling for several established predictors of delinquency.

Youth Employment, Differential Association, and Juvenile Delinquency

Attempts by criminologists to examine the causes of delinquency have traditionally focused on two institutions: the family and the school. Despite the fact that adolescent work is becoming an increasingly important part of adolescent life, relatively few studies have attempted to examine the potential effect of labor market participation on delinquent behavior. It has been commonly thought that employment provides adolescents with a number of personal benefits that can assist them in making a relatively seamless transition into adulthood. However, the limited research in this area is not so clear. Some researchers have found that work helps to insulate adolescents from delinquency, while others find that employment actually increases an adolescent's chances of becoming involved in delinquent behavior. This study seeks to examine the work-delinquency relationship by reporting the results of a self-report delinquency survey. Our analysis found that working during the school year has a positive effect on delinquency, while working during the summer does not. However, the strongest predictor of delinquency was not working, conventional commitments, or attachments, but rather delinquent peers at school.

Does Adolescent Religious Commitment Matter? A Reexamination of the Effects of Religiosity on Delinquency

This study reexamines the relevance of religiosity to the etiology of delinquency, given the inconsistent and inconclusive evidence found in the literature. Like previous researchers, the authors test whether the effects of religiosity on delinquency are spurious or completely indirect via social bonding, social learning, and sociodemographic variables. Unlike previous researchers, however, the authors (1) control for measurement errors in estimating the structural effects of religiosity on delinquency by applying a latent-variable modeling approach and (2) analyze longitudinal data collected from a nationally representative sample of adolescents in the United States. The effects of religiosity on delinquency are found independent of the theoretical and statistical controls while being partly mediated by nonreligious variables of social control and socialization. They also find some evidence of bidirectional causal relationships between religiosity and other predictors of delinquency and briefly discuss the theoretical and practical implications of the findings.

Prediction of Delinquency: The Role of Depression, Risk-taking, and Parental Attachment

AbstractThis study investigated the relative contributions of risk-taking behaviour (RTB), parental attachment, and depression to delinquency. Data were gathered from 108 university students and youth group members, aged between 17 and 23 years (M = 19 years). Each participant completed four self-report questionnaires: the Australian Self-report Delinquency Scale, the Adolescent Risk-taking Questionnaire, the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment, and the Beck Depression Inventory. The three predictor variables were significantly related to each other, and risk-taking behaviour and depression uniquely predicted total delinquency. While parent attachment was not a significant predictor of delinquency, when the subscales of parent attachment were assessed individually, parental trust and communication inversely predicted delinquent behaviour. Although based on a nondeviant sample, the findings suggest that adolescents who display poor parent attachment, depression, or high risk-taking behaviour, singularly or in combination, are more prone to engage in delinquent behaviour. The results hold a number of potentially important implications for both further studies and the design and provision of intervention and preventative programs.

Adolescent Prosocial Values and Self-Efficacy in Relation to Delinquency, Risky Sexual Behavior, and Drug Use

The present study examined relations of prosocial values and three measures of self-efficacy as predictors of delinquency, risky sex, and drug use in a sample of 2,146 racially diverse adolescents. It also explored moderating effects on the relations between self-efficacy and values on the three problem behaviors. Adolescents with strong prosocial values and self-efficacy reported fewer problem behaviors. Implications for program development and implementation based on differential needs by race and gender are discussed.

A long-term follow-up study of adolescent psychiatric in-patients. Part II. Predictors of delinquency.

A total of 932 adolescent psychiatric in-patients were followed up 15-33 years after hospitalization by record linkage to the National Register of Criminality. On the basis of the hospital records the patients were rediagnosed according to DSM-IV and scored on data postulated to be predictors of later delinquency. The factors were investigated by Kaplan-Meyer survival analysis and Cox regression. Cox analysis showed that, in males, main diagnosis (relative risk (RR)=2.9, 95% confidence interval (CI)=2.0-4.2), verbal abuse at home (RR=1.5, CI=1.1-2.0), disciplinary problems at school (RR=1.7, CI=1.2-2.5), and violating ward rules during hospitalization (RR=1.6, CI=1.2-2.2) were strong and independent predictors of delinquency. In females, main diagnosis (RR=2.6, CI=1.6-4.2), concurrent psychoactive substance use disorder (RR=2.9, CI=1.9-4.2), verbal abuse at home (RR=1.5, CI=1.0-2.1), and disciplinary problems at school (RR=1.6, CI=1.1-2.5) were strong and independent predictors of delinquency. Among males who violated ward rules and received a diagnosis of disruptive behaviour disorder, psychoactive substance use disorder or personality disorder at index hospitalization, as many as 77.6% had a criminal record at follow-up.

Family Factors, Theft, Vandalism, and Major Deviance Among a Multiracial/Multiethnic Sample of Adolescent Girls

This article reports on a study of 503 African-American, Hispanic, and White non-Hispanic adolescent girls attending public schools in Miami, Florida. The primary objectives of the study were to determine the prevalence of 13 self-reported delinquent behaviors in the sample, to compare these rates among the three groups of students, and to explore the predictive influences of several family factors that correlate with delinquency. It was found that 37.5% of the sample engaged in one or more acts of serious delinquency, with African-Americans reporting they had engaged in significantly more of these behaviors. The best predictors of theft/vandalism were low family pride and family substance abuse for Hispanics, low family communication for African-Americans, and low family pride for White non-Hispanics. The findings indicate that traditional family factors that have been used repeatedly to understand delinquency by male adolescents were not strong predictors of delinquency among the adolescent girls in the sample.

Family Experience in Preadolescence and the Development of Male Delinquency

This study examined aspects of the family experience of 194 males at age 10 as predictors of police arrest by age 17. Effects for quality of parent-child relations, parental discipline practices, family structure, and family problem solving on arrest were found, with intelligence, socioeconomic status, and peer relations as controls. Experience in stepfamilies or single-parent families more than doubled the risk of delinquency that began by age 14, but did not increase the risk for delinquency that began between ages 14 and 17. The elevated risks associated with poor peer relations and antisocial characteristics were constant across the family structures. Effects of family problem solving were found only in stepfamilies and single-parent families. The results clarified the timing and indirect nature of family effects on the development of delinquency. An association between childhood experiences in the family and juvenile delinquency has long been recognized (e.g., Glueck & Glueck, 1950). Recent theory and research have sought to specify more precisely how family factors are involved (Gottfredson & Hirshi, 1990; Sampson & Laub, 1994; Steinberg, 1987). This work has identified three separate aspects of family life that contribute to delinquency: (a) an absence of parentchild attachment that inhibits a child's acceptance of norms and values (Gottfredson & Hirshi, 1990), (b) inept parenting practices that promote impulsive, antisocial behavior (Patterson, Reid, & Dishion, 1992; Simons, Wu, Conger, & Lorenz, 1994), and (c) family structures such as stepfamilies and single-parent families that involve transitions that can disrupt the socialization process (Amato, 1993; McCord, 1991; Peterson & Zill, 1986). Previous studies have not examined the unique effects of each of these factors while controlling for key nonfamily variables such as peer relations or intelligence. This is an important gap because the nature of family effects may be incorrectly identified when controls for other relevant factors are omitted (Demo & Acock, 1988; Cherlin et al. 1991; Demo,1993). This study clarifies the extent to which parentchild relations, parenting practices, and family structure influence the risk of juvenile delinquency. To assess the relative importance of these particular family characteristics compared with others, our analysis also considers the impact of four additional variables that influence the development of delinquency: (a) peer relations (Warr, 1993), (b) family problem solving (Leadbeater, Hellner, Allen, & Aber, 1989), (c) intelligence (Wilson & Herrnstein, 1985), and (d) socioeconomic status (Sampson & Laub, 1994). This study focuses on specific features of family experience in preadolescence (age 10) as predictors of delinquency by age 17 in a prospective longitudinal design. The preadolescent period is examined because the child's developmental profile typically is established by this time, but the major transitions associated with puberty have not yet begun. LINKS TO DELINQUENCY Family Disruption, Parenting, and Parent-Child Relations Empirical studies of at-risk samples repeatedly show that children from single-parent families or stepfamilies are more likely to become delinquent than those from two-parent families (e.g., McCord, 1991; Sampson & Laub, 1994). The psychological trauma of separation from a biological parent, strained parent-child relationships, less effective parenting, and other stresses associated with these structures may have adverse effects on the socialization processes (Amato, 1993). Children from single-parent families or stepfamilies may tend to be undersocialized and thus more susceptible to delinquent influences (Gottfredson & Hirshi, 1990; Steinberg, 1987). This view has been challenged by studies that suggest that negative child outcomes associated with certain family structures may be due to factors that often accompany them, rather than the family structure itself (Demo & Acock, 1988; Cherlin et al. …

The Twelfth Jack Tizard Memorial Lecture. The development of offending and antisocial behaviour from childhood: key findings from the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development.

In the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development, 411 South London males have been followed up from age 8 to age 32. The most important childhood (age 8-10) predictors of delinquency were antisocial child behaviour, impulsivity, low intelligence and attainment, family criminality, poverty and poor parental child-rearing behaviour. Offending was only one element of a larger syndrome of antisocial behaviour that arose in childhood and persisted into adulthood. Marriage, employment and moving out of London fostered desistance from offending. Early prevention experiments are needed to reduce delinquency, targeting low attainment, poor parenting, impulsivity and poverty.

Video game playing, dependency and delinquency: A question of methodology?

A methodological challenge to Fisher's (1992) study of adolescent fruit machine gamblers was carried out with young video game players. Fisher (1992) described an association between frequency fruit machine playing, dependency and delinquency. Some methodological concerns were considered that might weaken this conclusion, in particular the use of heterogeneous measures that fail to distinguish between variables. As such measures feature elsewhere in contemporary gambling research it was deemed important to examine some of the potential problems that may arise. 183 11-16 year old video game players (152 males; 31 females) were recruited from four amusement arcades to answer a computerised questionnaire. Using an analysis similar to Fisher (1992) her results for adolescent fruit machine use were 'confirmed'. However a separation of key variables and the use of a multiple regression analysis showed that of money spent, time spent and impaired choice, only the first was a significant predictor of delinquency. It is suggested that delinquents have higher disposable incomes to spend on their leisure activities. Video game playing and possibly fruit machine gambling appear to be independently associated with delinquency; in video game playing this association is not mediated by dependency. It was argued that a similar methodology should be used in the UK to re-examine Fisher's (1992) conclusions for children who use gaming machines.

Direct supervision and delinquency: Assessing the adequacy of structural proxies

This research tests the hypothesis that children who grow up in families that carefully and consistently monitor children's behavior will be less delinquent than children in families where supervision is lax and/or haphazard. Although research operationalizing direct supervision in family interactional terms has supported this hypothesis, research using structural proxies for direct supervision (i.e., family size, broken home, and employed mother) has tended to show negligible effects. This research tests the direct supervision hypothesis using a more parsimonious structural proxy — the ratio of adults to children in a household. It is hypothesized that this ratio will be negatively related to delinquency, and that it will be a stronger predictor of delinquency than more common structural measures. Using data from the 1986 wave of the Monitoring the Future survey (Bachman, Johnston, and O'Malley, 1986), bivariate and multivariate ordinary least squares (OLS) regression models reveal that none of the structural variables, including the ratio of adults to children, are good predictors of delinquency. These results support Wells and Rankin's (1958) contention that family structural proxies are inadequate for testing the specific family functional processes on which direct supervision hinges.

Tests of three hypotheses regarding the predictors of delinquency.

Three hypotheses regarding the predictors of criminal activity in children and adolescents were assessed. These dealt with family, peer, and attitudinal variables, and they were explored in relation to indices based on seriousness of criminal activity and reoffending. The data were based on a sample of 338 youths who had been convicted of crimes and received probation or custody dispositions. The results provided general support for a model implicating family, peer, and attitudinal variables in youthful criminal activity. They did not, however, provide support for hypothesized interactions between family relationship and family structuring dimensions or between family relationship and peer association variables. The results did support an hypothesis regarding the independent contribution of an antisocial attitudes variable to the prediction of criminal activity.

Parental neglect and overprotection as risk factors in delinquency

This study examined perceived parental neglect and overprotection as correlates of self-reported delinquency in 405 male and 387 female Australian secondary school students under the age of 18. Consistent with the research hypotheses, correlations obtained show that perceptions of low care and high protection, from either fathers or mothers, were associated with higher levels of both male and female delinquency. Results from analyses of variance confirm that adolescents reporting the parental style of affectionless control (neglect plus overprotection) were more delinquent than those with optimal parental bonding (care plus permission of independence). A regression analysis including various parental bonding interactions further shows that maternal care was the most important predictor of delinquency, that paternal care was another significant correlate, and that an interaction effect of paternal neglect and overprotection was found among male adolescents.

The Impact of Race-Esteem and Self-Esteem on Delinquency

Abstract This article presents findings from a study of the relationships between race, self-esteem and delinquency. Of major concern was whether personal measures of self-esteem correlated with group measures of self-esteem, and more importantly, whether either measure effects delinquency. Self-report questionnaires were administered to a random sample of 1,100 high school students from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Scales of self-esteem and delinquency were factor analyzed. It was discovered that factors representing personal identity measures of self-esteem were almost identical for both races. However, there were racial differences in the relationships between factors of self-esteem and delinquency. Multiple regression analyses revealed that for blacks both personal and group measures of self-esteem are related to delinquency. For whites, however, personal identity measures of self-esteem are better predictors of delinquency than are group measures. The implications of these findings are discussed.

Personality traits are linked to crime among men and women: evidence from a birth cohort.

Is there a relationship between personality and criminal behavior? We addressed this question in a representative birth cohort of 862 male and female 18-year-olds. Personality was assessed with the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ). The MPQ measures 10 relatively independent personality traits and was not designed to identify offenders. Delinquency was assessed via 3 data sources: self-reports, informant reports, and official records. Variable-centered analyses revealed that MPQ scales indexing negative emotionality and behavioral constraint were consistent predictors of delinquency across the 3 data sources. Person-centered analyses revealed that youths abstaining from delinquency were uniquely characterized by low interpersonal potency. Youths involved in extensive delinquency were uniquely characterized by feelings of alienation, lack of social closeness, and risk taking. Advances in understanding criminal behavior can be made through research that places the personality-delinquency link in a developmental context.

Type of Place, Urbanism, and Delinquency: Further Testing the Determinist Theory

This research examines the relationship between type of place and juvenile delinquency in an effort to extend knowledge about the “determinist” theory. This theory predicts a positive relationship between type of place and delinquency, and that relationship will be mediated by “urbanism,” the negative consequences of exposure to urban environments. The theory is tested using two measures of type of place, six measures of urbanism, and three delinquency indexes. The results provide little support for the determinist theory. Delinquency does not predict urbanness, and urbanness does not predict urbanism. Urbanism does, however, prove to be a significant predictor of delinquency.

Childhood aggression, peer status, and social class as predictors of delinquency.

Measures of aggression, peer status, and social class, gathered during the subjects' childhoods, were assessed as predictors of later delinquency for 711 boys. Multiple regression analysis indicated that aggression was the most significant predictor of delinquency followed by social class as the second significant predictor. A descriptive analysis isolated characteristics of groups varying markedly in terms of differences in rates of delinquent outcomes.