NCJ Number
178879
Journal
Journal of Social Science Research Volume: 25 Issue: 1-2 Dated: 1999 Pages: 77-107
Date Published
1999
Length
31 pages
Annotation
Data from 1,093 adolescents from 6 public high schools were used to determine the potential usefulness of a social control model with several reciprocal relationships between social learning elements and juvenile delinquency and to apply the hypothesized model to criminal behavior, alcohol use, and other drug use.
Abstract
The participants included all 53 students in a rural school in Oklahoma and students from 2 schools in Baltimore, 1 school in Little Rock, Ark., and 2 schools in rural Arkansas. The dependent variables included seven alcohol and drug variables and eight items measuring criminal behavior. The theoretical measures focused on attachments, commitment, involvement, beliefs, peer association, and religiosity. The data were analyzed using two-stage least-squares regression. The theoretical model explained 22 percent of the variation in frequency of alcohol use and 24 percent of the variation in frequency of criminal behavior. However, the model accounted for only 6 percent of the variance in drug use. In contrast, these three forms of juvenile delinquency shared several reciprocal relationships. Findings clearly supported the need to formulate and test models with reciprocal effects. Findings indicated the complex, dynamic interactional context involved in becoming delinquent and were mostly congruent with what is known about adolescents. Findings also suggested the need for effective drug treatment for adolescent offenders, the need to remove adolescents from delinquent peers while outpatient or inpatient treatment is conducted for drug abuse or criminality, and the need to substitute prosocial affiliations for delinquent associations as soon as possible. Finally, group work is useful for teaching adolescents to challenge each other's beliefs, to form attachments, and to express inner feelings and desires rather than acting them out through delinquent behavior. Tables, figure, and 92 references (Author abstract modified)