Self-Concept, Negative Family Affect, and Delinquency - A Comparison Across Mexican Social Classes

• NCJ Number: 80320
• Journal: Criminology Volume: 19 Issue: 3 Dated: (November 1981) Pages: 434-448
• Author(s): A Meadow; S I Abramowitz; A De LaCruz; G O Bay
• Date Published: 1981
• Length: 15 pages
• Grant Number(s): 3-448705-57061
• Sponsoring Agency: Ford Foundation
• Publication Format: Article
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Using a semistructured measure to minimize cross-cultural biases, we examined the relationship between negative self and family-other affect and delinquency among 135 Mexican families of varying social class.

Abstract

The results indicated that: (a) both processed and released delinquent youths and their parents evaluated themselves more negatively than nondelinquent youths and their parents; (b) appraisals in the families of processed and released delinquents did not differ appreciably; (c) migrant families tended to manifest the most negativity and lower-class families the least, with middle-class families in between; and (d) socioeconomic status did not predict the relationship between family hostility and delinquency. The results are seen as providing more support for the family control theory of delinquency than for processing-labeling theory. (Publisher abstract)