NCJ Number
209291
Journal
Crime & Delinquency Volume: 51 Issue: 2 Dated: April 2005 Pages: 192-219
Date Published
April 2005
Length
28 pages
Annotation
Using data from a larger community-based research study with 329 Chinese, Cambodian, Laotian or Mien, and Vietnamese youth, this study examined the relative predictive value for delinquency of school, parent, and peer contextual variables.
Abstract
The average age for Chinese and Vietnamese was 14 years old, and the average age for Cambodian and Laotian or Mien youth was 15. Gender was almost equally distributed, although there were slightly more females in the Laotian or Mien group and slightly more males in the Cambodian and Chinese groups. Participants were recruited from two middle and high schools in Oakland, CA, that had the largest concentration of Asian or Pacific Islander youth. Data were collected on age, sex, ethnicity, school attachment, parent attachment, parental discipline, peer delinquency, minor delinquency, and serious delinquency. Factorial invariance and structural relationships among the latent variables were conducted with LISREL 8.54. The findings provided strong support for an association between peer delinquency and self-reported delinquency. For Chinese and Vietnamese, school attachment was negatively associated with delinquency. The small sample size prevented the development of male and female models separately for each ethnic group. Peer delinquency and school attachment were significant predictors of delinquency in both sexes. Although variables of parental influence were less significant predictors of delinquency, they were still important in providing contextual opportunities for youth to connect with peers. Since researchers considered this an exploratory study, they hope the findings will prompt other researchers to examine the etiology and development pathways related to delinquency and positive youth development across cultures. 6 tables and 68 references