NCJ Number
212725
Journal
Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice Volume: 4 Issue: 1 Dated: January 2006 Pages: 34-54
Date Published
January 2006
Length
21 pages
Annotation
This exploratory study examined the impact of participation in delinquent activity on fear of general and gang-related crimes among juvenile probationers in Oxnard, CA.
Abstract
The data were collected during the evaluation of the South Oxnard Challenge Project (SOCP), an experimental juvenile probation program in Oxnard, a largely Latino working-class community with the highest crime rate in the county in the mid-1990s. The author, who was one of the evaluators, collected data for the current study in the course of the SOCP evaluation. A total of 539 youths were assigned to the study, including 264 SOCP youths and 275 control youths on routine probation. Interviews with the youth were conducted between June 8, 1999, and September 13, 2001, 12 months after the random assignment. Although the interviews covered many topics, the current study focused on the relationships between self-reported delinquent and drug activities and fear of crime. In addressing this issue, the data collection involved 153 youth in the experimental group and 164 youths in the control group. There were no significant differences between this portion of the sample (58.8 percent) and the total sample. Independent variables pertained to personal characteristics, drug behaviors, and delinquent behaviors. The dependent variables were fear of general crimes (not related to specific perpetrators) and fear of gang-related crimes. The study found that among juvenile probationers, girls were more afraid of both types of crime than boys, regardless of their level of participation in crimes. Apparently those juveniles on probation who were less involved in drug and delinquent behaviors were more afraid of victimization, particularly from less serious crimes, although this finding was not definitive. Most of the probationers were either afraid or very afraid of being victimized by the most serious crimes, i.e., being shot in the street, murder, and a drive-by shooting. 5 tables, 7 notes, and 47 references