NCJ Number
176454
Journal
Criminology Volume: 37 Issue: 1 Dated: February 1999 Pages: 174-195
Date Published
February 1999
Length
22 pages
Annotation
The proposition that socioeconomic status has both a negative and a positive indirect effect on delinquency and thus results in little overall correlation was tested using longitudinal data from the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study, which followed the health, development, and behavior of children in New Zealand.
Abstract
The research was prompted by recognition that empirical studies have consistently revealed weak or nonexistent correlations between individuals' socioeconomic status and their self-reported delinquent behavior, although many theories of crime have linked low socioeconomic status to high levels of delinquency. The present research used information on a complete cohort of 1,037 children born between April 1, 1972 and March 31, 1973 in Dunedin, New Zealand. The participation levels included 954 children at age 7, 925 for age 11, 850 for age 13, 976 for age 15, 1,008 for age 18, and 992 for age 21. The present research used measures of parental socioeconomic status recorded at participants' birth through age 15, social and psychological characteristics at age 18, and self-reported delinquency at ages 18 and 21. Results revealed that low socioeconomic status promoted delinquency by increasing individuals' alienation, financial strain, and aggression and by decreasing educational and occupational aspirations. In contrast, high socioeconomic status promoted individuals' delinquency by increasing risk taking and social power and by decreasing conventional values. Findings suggested a reconciliation between theory and data and underscored the conceptual importance of understanding the full range of causal linkages between socioeconomic status and delinquency. Figures, tables, and 37 references (Author abstract modified)