NCJ Number
234305
Journal
Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 39 Issue: 1 Dated: January/February 2011 Pages: 60-66
Date Published
February 2011
Length
7 pages
Annotation
This study explored the relationship between nonsocial reinforcement and juvenile and young adult offending.
Abstract
Nonsocial reinforcement theory is an understudied portion of social learning theory that suggests physiological reinforcers have a link with offending in juveniles and young adults because they provide an internal reward for performing the offending behavior. Analysis of the three offending groups found that nearly 50 percent of individuals with a low but stable rate of nonsocial reinforcement reduced their criminal activity by the time they were 20 years old, 45 percent of individuals with higher but stable rate of nonsocial reinforcement engaged in offending or only committed one act by the age of 20; and 5 percent of individuals with an even higher but stable rate of nonsocial reinforcement increased their criminal activity by the age of 20. Data for this study were obtained from a subsample (n=413) of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. The study aimed to explore two questions: 1) does nonsocial reinforcement change or remain stable over time, and 2) does nonsocial reinforcement have a reciprocal link with offending. Analysis of the data found that 95 percent of the individuals in the sample were offending at a low level or had desisted from offending upon entering adulthood. This suggests that low levels of nonsocial reinforcement are associated with low levels of offending, and that increasing levels of nonsocial reinforcement lead to increases in offending. Study limitations and implications for future research are discussed. Tables, figure, notes, and references