NCJ Number
127802
Date Published
1991
Length
21 pages
Annotation
This longitudinal study, based on a sample of West German juveniles born in 1964 and 1965, examined the deterrent impact of their perceptions of severity and certainty of punishment.
Abstract
The sample was randomly selected from a list of all citizens of a metropolitan area born in the specified years. The 740 boys and girls of the panel were questioned in 1981 regarding their perceptions of certainty and severity of punishments for specific deviant acts. Data on other variables related to theories of juvenile delinquency were also collected, for example, differential association, family background, social bonds, and moral assessment of deviant acts. In 1982, the same juveniles were questioned about the delinquent acts they committed the previous year using a list of 14 offenses that compose the bulk of juvenile crime. In 1984, the official penal records of the sample were obtained from the Federal Central Registration Office. Regression analysis encompassed the factors believed to contribute to the occurrence of deviance. Less than 10 percent of the sample reported robbery, fraud, burglary, car theft, and two types of assault. More than half the sample reported using public transportation services without paying the fare, and every fifth person reported one or more shoplifting incidents. Driving without a license was committed by approximately 4 out of 10. Seventy-eight percent of the sample reported a violation of at least one of the norms of the penal code. Correlation analysis between perceived severity and certainty of punishment in 1981 and self-reported delinquency in 1982 showed that perceived severity of punishment had little or no effect on deviance; perceived certainty of punishment showed some deterrent effect, but this disappeared when the analysis controlled for theoretically relevant variables. Implications of the findings are discussed. 5 tables and 46 references