NCJ Number
69337
Date Published
1980
Length
51 pages
Annotation
THIS PERSPECTIVE USES A PSYCHOCULTURAL APPROACH TO EXAMINE YOUTH DELINQUENCY AMONG MINORITY GROUPS AND FOCUSES ON DELINQUENCY WITHIN GIVEN FAMILY INTERACTION PATTERNS AS IT RELATES TO URBANIZATION, AND MODERNIZATION.
Abstract
THE PERSPECTIVE DRAWS ON RESEARCH IN CONTEMPORARY JAPAN, COMPARATIVE DATA GATHERED IN A COLLABORATIVE EFFORT WITH ITALIAN SOCIAL SCIENTISTS, AND STUDIES OF JAPANESE-AMERICANS, KOREAN-AMERICANS, AND KOREANS IN JAPAN. IT WAS FOUND THAT MINORITY STATUS ACTS AS A SIGNIFICANT VARIABLE IN DELINQUENCY FORMATION, AND THAT THE EFFECTS OF MINORITY STATUS DIFFER WITH CULTURAL-HISTORICAL CIRCUMSTANCES. FURTHER, DIFFERING PATTERNS OF DEVIANCY COULD NOT BE SEPARATED OUT FROM DIFFERING PATTERNS OF SOCIAL ASSIMILATION OR THE RELATIVE MAINTENANCE OF A SEPARATE ETHNIC IDENTITY IN GIVEN SOCIETIES. IN ADDITION, FAMILY INTERACTION COULD MAINTAIN OR DESTROY STATUS DEFINITIONS INHERITED FROM A PAST CULTURE. FOR EXAMPLE, ALTHOUGH ROUGHLY 85 PERCENT OF JAPANESE-AMERICANS CAME FROM RURAL AREAS, THEY BROUGHT WITH THEM A FIRM CONCEPT OF THEIR HIGH STATUS AS FARMERS IN JAPAN AND HAD A STRONG TRADITION OF FAMILY COHESION AND CONFORMITY TO COMMUNITY STANDARDS. THESE JAPANESE-AMERICANS FROM THE EARLY 1930'S UNTIL THE PRESENT HAD A DELINQUENCY RATE OF ABOUT ONE-EIGHTIETH OF THE MAJORITY POPULATION IN CALIFORNIA. THE PRESENT-DAY IMMIGRANTS FROM KOREA HAVE ATTITUDES SIMILAR TO THOSE MOTIVATING THE JAPANESE OF THE PAST ERA, AND THEIR STRONG SENSE OF SELF-REGARD AND FAMILY SOLIDARITY ARGUES AGAINST DELINQUENCY. THEY SHOW FEW OF THE SOCIAL STIGMAS OF THOSE KOREANS GROWING UP IN MINORITY STATUS IN JAPAN. IN ITALY, BY CONTRAST, THERE IS A HIGH INCIDENCE OF DELINQUENCY IN THE CHILDREN OF SOUTHERN MIGRANTS WHO LIVE IN NORTHERN CITIES WHERE SOUTHERNERS ARE LOOKED DOWN UPON WITH CONTEMPT. THESE STUDIES SHOW THAT THE EFFECTS OF DISCRIMINATION AND MINORITY STATUS ARE RELATED TO SITUATIONS IN WHICH THE YOUTH SUFFERS FROM A LACK OF SUSTAINING SOCIAL SELF-IDENTITY AS WELL AS A LACK OF SUSTAINING FAMILY COHESION, SUFFICIENT AFFECTION, AND SATISFACTORY SUPERVISION AND DISCIPLINE BY INVOLVED PARENTS. FINALLY, EFFECTS OF MINORITY STATUS ON THE INDIVIDUAL OR THE GROUP GIVES WEIGHT TO ONLY ONE SET OF DETERMINANTS. BEHAVIOR MUST BE UNDERSTOOD INSTEAD AS A RESULT OF INTERACTION BETWEEN SOCIAL PRESSURES ON INDIVIDUALS AND THE PATTERNS OF BEHAVIOR SHAPED BY PAST CULTURAL AND HISTORICAL CIRCUMSTANCES. NOTES AND REFERENCES ARE PROVIDED.