NCJ Number
92756
Journal
Youth and Society Volume: 15 Issue: 2 Dated: (December 1983) Pages: 171-194
Date Published
1983
Length
24 pages
Annotation
Within limits, containment theory offers a plausible explanation for delinquency among whites but not for delinquency among blacks.
Abstract
According to containment theory, which assumes that the propensity to commit deviant acts is inherent in everyone, the determining factor that explains both conformity and deviance is the extent to which an individual is prohibited from committing delinquent acts. This prohibition comes from the self in terms of four factors: a favorable self-concept, goal orientation, frustration tolerance, and retention of norms. It also comes from three factors in the immediate social world: internalization of rules, availability of meaningful roles, and group reinforcement. This study examined the relationship between these seven factors and delinquency among categories of race and sex. Data came from self-administered questionnaires in four high schools and three juvenile correctional institutions in a southwestern metropolitan area. The sample of 680 subjects, male and female, black and white, included juveniles ranging from those who had committed no delinquent acts to those who had committed several offenses. The seven factors explained a statistically significant amount of the variation in delinquency among whites, although not as much as a previous study assumed. However, they explained very little of the variation for blacks. Because the experiences of black youth may confound the relationship between containment variables and delinquency, most of the theories that have dominated sociology in regard to juvenile delinquency may be inadequate for explaining delinquency across race. Six tables, an appendix containing the scales of the containment variables by items, notes, and 35 references are supplied.