School Crime and Belongingness

• NCJ Number: 84424
• Author(s): S MacDonald; C Oden
• Date Published: 1978
• Length: 53 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: US Dept of Health, Education, and Welfare
• Corporate Author: Paul M. Deutsch Press, Inc
• Sale Source: Eric Document Reproduction Service; Not Available Through National Institute of Justice/NCJRS Document Loan Program
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: *This document is currently unavailable from NCJRS. A paper from Theoretical Perspectives on School Crime

Annotation

One of 52 theoretical papers on school crime and its relation to poverty, this chapter discusses the results of three studies made of subjects in a residential vocational training center for youth.

Abstract

The first study correlated demographic, medical history, and behavioral variables to center adustment. The second study examined possible relationships between number of visits to the dispensary and misbehavior and other overt indications of stress. The third study concerned the effect of an autonomous groups program on the incidence of misbehavior. The effect was not only a reduction in incidence of minor and major misconduct, but the stimulation of individuals' anticipation regarding how their friends would view their behavioral offenses. Apparently such anticipation resulted in enhanced efforts toward positive adjustment. Other anecdotal evidence supported the findings of the third study that a sense of belongingness on the part of youth is an important factor in stimulating anticipation of the consequences of behavior. (Resources in Education (ERIC) abstract)