NCJ Number
141789
Date Published
1992
Length
221 pages
Annotation
The relationship between students' bonding to school and three types of school-related delinquency was examined using data from 754 students in grades seven and eight in a middle school in Delaware.
Abstract
Data were gathered during the 1990-91 school year by means of a questionnaire survey, observations, open-ended interviews, reviews of attendance and discipline records, and informal teacher interviews. It was expected that personal background characteristics, family involvement with schooling, and ability grouping influence the strength of the school social bond, which, in turn, controls the extent to which children become involved in school crime, school misconduct, and truancy. An analysis of the individual effects of the four components of the school bond as well as the overall effect of the school bond supported Hirschi's social bonding hypothesis that decreasing levels of school commitment, school attachment, involvement in school activities, and belief in the fairness and legitimacy of school rules are linked to increasing rates of school delinquency. Of the four school bond components, commitment and belief were the most powerful predictors of school delinquency. High math ability, being white, and having parents involved in schooling seemed to be the strongest predictors of the school social bond. A significant finding of the study was that the school social bond is an important intervening mechanism that helps explain the effects of personal background, family involvement with schooling, and ability grouping on school crime, school misconduct, and school nonattendance. Literature review, figures, tables, appended instruments and background materials, and 125 references (Author abstract modified)