NCJ Number
82766
Journal
Indian Journal of Criminology Volume: 10 Issue: 1 Dated: (January 1982) Pages: 47-52
Date Published
1982
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This paper describes the development and testing of an instrument designed to distinguish juvenile delinquents from normal youths in developing countries, especially India.
Abstract
Existing tests are sometimes lengthy and were developed for use in North America and Europe. Thus, they contain items that would be inappropriate to use with subjects in developing countries and lack items depicting the behaviors characteristic of delinquent youths in these societies. In addition, the language used in the tests would be difficult for non-English speaking residents of developing countries. The new measure drew on the existing inventories, the literature on delinquency in India, and the researchers' experience in dealing with official and unofficial delinquents. The investigators prepared 90 items for the new inventory and administered it to 110 institutionalized male juvenile delinquents and 100 male high school students. The 50 items which differentiated delinquents from normals at the .01 level were chosen for the delinquency inventory. A critical score for identifying delinquents was developed using the method by Quay and Peterson. The inventory was administered to 168 delinquents randomly chosen from approved schools and juvenile jails and from 108 normals from a high school. Two additional samples of 60 and 35 were chosen for cross-validation of the inventory. The inventory correctly identified 81 percent of the cases. Thus, the inventory can be used as a valid tool to identify delinquents. The inventory was also found to be positively related with the Quay and Peterson scale. One table and an appendix presenting the instrument are provided.