NCJ Number
155997
Journal
Journal of Crime and Justice Volume: 15 Issue: 1 Dated: (1992) Pages: 1-23
Date Published
1992
Length
23 pages
Annotation
Data from a survey of 869 Puerto Rican male adolescents in the South Bronx district of New York City were used to replicate the Integrated Social Control (ISC) model developed by Elliott and associates and to apply it to juvenile drug use.
Abstract
The ISC model is based on an integration of social control, social learning, and strain theories. Taking the ISC path model results as a starting point, using the same measures developed for their National Youth Survey, and applying the results of previous ethnographic research on the cultural specificity of the Hispanic family and on the relationships between conventional institutions and adolescent peer groups in inner-cities, the research examined hard-drug use among the youths. Results revealed the model to be generally applicable to Puerto Ricans. However, when a more comprehensive measure of drug use was applied to the Puerto Rican data, family and school bonding became more important influences on drug use. Findings supported the applicability of the ISC delinquency model to drug use and bolstered the importance of modeling the sociocultural contexts of specific ethnic groups in deviance theory. Tables, figures, notes, and 59 references (Author abstract modified)