NCJ Number
72251
Date Published
1979
Length
209 pages
Annotation
Based on data from a longitudinal investigation conducted in Marion County, Oregon during the 1960's, this study examined the influence of delinquent and rebellious behavior on the academic performance and personal development of teenaged males.
Abstract
The study differentiates delinquent behavior and rebellious behavior and reviews the theoretical literature on adolescent responses to social and economic pressures and institutional labeling. This research suggests that rebellious nondelinquents will express less commitment to school than nonrebellious delinquents. To test this hypothesis, data were obtained from 284 Oregon study participants interviewed in March 1967 while they were high school seniors and from an additional sample of 241 delinquents and school dropouts. Court records and a crude scale categorizing levels of offense seriousness were used to identify delinquents, while an attitudinal scale measured rebelliousness. In the sample, 4 percent were serious delinquents, 18 percent were nonserious delinquents, and 78 percent were not delinquent. Control variables related to social class and school status measured by academic achievement were also introduced. Analysis showed that rebellious boys were not as committed to school as delinquent males, but tended to be more alienated from the social process, resentful, and hostile. In contrast, evidence demonstrated that the nonrebellious delinquent boy was rather well integrated into the social fabric compared to youths classified as conformers. A secondary analysis based on the social class and school status data supported the theory that delinquency and rebellion are alternative responses to adolescent strain. For example, rebellion affects school commitment whereas delinquency does not, and adolescent drinking and smoking are rebellious rather than delinquent behaviors. These findings suggest that delinquency may be overlooked, but school authorities may label rebellious youths as delinquent because their reactions to pressure surface in the school environment. Social and economic status did not appear to be significant factors. Failing in school was the strongest indicator of trouble among adolescent males and was the highest among the most rebellious youngsters. The educational implications of these findings, tables, and appendixes containing questionnaires used in the Marion County Youth Study and over 70 references are provided.