NCJ Number
169149
Journal
Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 25 Issue: 5 Dated: (1997) Pages: 409-423
Date Published
1997
Length
15 pages
Annotation
Data from 601 participants in the only shock incarceration program in Arkansas were used to examine the deviance syndrome perspective, according to which drug use and crime are behavioral manifestations of one underlying problem and can be explained by a single theoretical model.
Abstract
The research sought to determine whether factor analysis procedures would indicate that drug use, property crimes, and crimes against persons among boot camp participants represented one factor. The research also examined whether the same sociodemographic and theoretical variables predicted each of these forms of deviance. Results did not support the deviance syndrome perspective. Instead, items measuring each form of deviant behavior loaded on the separate factors of drug use, property crimes, and crimes against persons. Moreover, analyses of elements from control theory, strain theory, and social learning theory indicated that different predictors are relevant to each form of deviance. Findings indicate that drug use and crime are not expressions of an interrelated underlying syndrome. Tables, discussion of study limitations, and 82 references (Author abstract modified)