SOCIAL CLASS VALUES AND DEVIANT BEHAVIOR - AN EMPIRICAL TEST OF SOME THEORIES OF DELINQUENCY

• NCJ Number: 18900
• Author(s): R C SHERWIN
• Date Published: 1968
• Length: 290 pages
• Sale Source: UMI Dissertation Services
• Publication Type: Thesis/Dissertation
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: DISSERTATION - UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT

Annotation

SHOWS A SIMILARITY ACROSS CLASS BOUNDARIES BETWEEN DELINQUENTS AND NON-DELINQUENTS, AND POINTS TOWARD A CONSIDERATION OF DELINQUENCY CAUSAL FACTORS NOT DIRECTLY RELATED TO CLASS POSITION.

Abstract

THE PRINCIPAL EMPHASIS OF THE DISSERTATION IS TO TEST THE THEORIES OF ALBERT COHEN AND WALTER MILLER RELATIVE TO VALUE DIFFERENCES AND STATUS FRUSTRATIONS, AND CONFLICTS BETWEEN THE MIDDLE AND LOWER CLASSES, AND THE INFLUENCE THESE FACTORS HAVE ON DELINQUENT BEHAVIOR. THREE HUNDRED AND EIGHT RESPONDENTS WERE SEPARATED INTO SOCIAL CLASSES ACCORDING TO THE OCCUPATION AND ACHIEVED EDUCATIONAL LEVEL OF THE 'BREADWINNER' IN EACH FAMILY. A SELF-IMAGE WORD CHECK LIST AND VALUE-ORIENTATION DILEMMA QUESTIONS ARE USED TO EXAMINE RESPONDENTS VALUES THAT THEY DO OR DO NOT HOLD AS REPRESENTATIVES OF THE LOWER AND MIDDLE CLASS. POLICE RECORDS AND A HIDDEN-DELINQUENCY CHECK-LIST ARE USED TO CLASSIFY RESPONDENTS AS DELINQUENTS AND NON-DELINQUENTS. DATA IS GATHERED FROM A SELF-ADMINISTERED QUESTIONNAIRE. THE FINDINGS ARE THAT THE RATES OF DELINQUENCY DO NOT VARY APPRECIABLE BETWEEN MIDDLE- AND LOWER-CLASS RESPONDENTS. THE MIDDLE-CLASS AND LOWER-CLASS DELINQUENTS EXHIBIT A SIMILAR PREFERENCE FOR CERTAIN KINDS OF OFFENSES. THERE IS LESS DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE VALUE ORIENTATIONS OF MIDDLE-CLASS AND LOWER-CLASS DELINQUENTS THAN THERE IS BETWEEN THEN LOWER-CLASS DELINQUENTS AND THE NON-DELINQUENT REPRESENTATIVES OF EITHER SOCIAL CLASS. SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH ON THE BASIS OF THESE FINDINGS ARE OFFERED.