NCJ Number
134939
Date Published
1992
Length
56 pages
Annotation
Social scientists have long regarded family, school, and peer group influences as particularly crucial to the understanding of juvenile delinquency, although theories vary on the importance of these influences and specific ways they affect juvenile delinquency.
Abstract
There is growing concern with identifying specific contributions of family, school, and peers to the understanding of juvenile delinquency among different groups and within different settings. Children from broken homes are disproportionately likely to appear in police, court, and institutional statistics, but studies using self-report data indicate at the most a weak association with juvenile delinquency. The nature of relationships between children and parents is more relevant in explaining juvenile delinquency than the nature of the home environment. Extremes of permissiveness and overly strict discipline are more often associated with higher rates of juvenile delinquency than a mild emphasis on discipline administered according to standards that appear fair and equitable to children. The quantity of time a parent spends with a child is not as critical as the quality of interaction. Experiences of family violence are correlated with violence outside the family and increase the odds a young person will acquire a criminal record in the future. In the school setting, the higher a student's academic achievement, the lower the involvement in juvenile delinquency. Students in remedial or non-college tracks have a higher probability of delinquent involvement than students in college tracks. In terms of peer influences, delinquent friends consistently emerge as critical in explaining juvenile delinquency, but the acquisition of delinquent associates is influenced by the degree of attachment to the family and success in or attachment to school. Juvenile delinquency is most often a form of group behavior and typically occurs spontaneously in ordinary teenage peer groups. While girls are less likely to engage in juvenile delinquency than boys, when they do so it is at least as likely to occur while with peers. Peer groups with gang characteristics account for a disproportionate share of crime and juvenile delinquency but do not represent the typical form of peer group juvenile delinquency. Attitudes of teenagers toward the law, delinquent activities, and goals, are primarily conventional, differing according to the degree of approval or disapproval from adults. In addition, teenagers are commonly concerned about maintaining autonomy and resisting adult control, and those most involved in activities that facilitate such freedom have higher probabilities of involvement in juvenile delinquency. 134 references and 9 figures