NCJ Number
137083
Journal
Criminology Volume: 30 Issue: 2 Dated: (May 1992) Pages: 261-291
Date Published
1992
Length
31 pages
Annotation
Data from interviews with 942 adolescents age 12-19 in the Toledo, Ohio metropolitan area were analyzed with respect to racial variations in the role of the school in involvement in juvenile delinquency, with emphasis on the impact of school variables on the delinquent involvement of black youths.
Abstract
The research was conducted from the perspective of control theory, which suggests that the greater the degree of school bonding, the less the likelihood of involvement in delinquent activities. The analysis revealed seven distinct dimensions of school bonding. Findings also revealed that black students are at least as strongly bonded to the school as white students, that the study's model explains comparable amounts of variance in delinquency across race-gender subgroups, and that the racial composition of the school is generally unimportant in conditioning the effect of school bonding on delinquency. Although the findings were generally supportive of control theory, such a conclusion may be both premature and mistaken. Instead, the findings should be interpreted within a framework that also considers family and peer bonding. Footnotes, tables, and 67 references (Author abstract modified)