Testing Moffitt's Account of Delinquency Abstention

• NCJ Number: 208486
• Journal: Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency Volume: 42 Issue: 1 Dated: February 2005 Pages: 27-54
• Author(s): Alex R. Piquero; Timothy Brezina; Michael G. Turner
• Date Published: February 2005
• Length: 28 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97), this study tested one of Moffitt's hypotheses regarding why some juveniles abstain from any delinquent acts, i.e., because personal characteristics block their access to delinquent peer networks, such that opportunities to mimic antisocial behavior are limited.

Abstract

Data from the NLSY97 were restructured to include only those juveniles who were 17 years old in the final wave of data collection, which is the peak age for self-reported delinquent offending. Abstention from delinquency was measured by respondents' report to 13 questions on whether they had ever participated in a variety of delinquent behaviors by the age of 17. Several measures indexed the nature and extent of the respondent's involvement with peers. According to Moffitt, some individuals abstain from delinquency because of some personal characteristics that make them unattractive to other teens or that leave them reluctant to attempt entry into newly popular delinquent groups. Some of these characteristics mentioned by Moffitt are tenseness, overly controlled or overly compliant, withdrawn, and socially inept. Several measures were used to assess these characteristics in respondents. The analysis also included an analysis of gender differences in abstention from delinquency. The study findings support some aspects of Moffitt's hypothesis regarding the importance of participation in peer networks, but there was mixed evidence regarding the specific personal characteristics associated with delinquency abstention and involvement in deviant peer networks. Among males, those who reported association with few delinquent peers were more likely to abstain from delinquency. They appeared to fit the profile of the compliant, good student with a positive attachment to teachers. Sadness, being withdrawn, and having other stereotypically unattractive personality characteristics were not associated with delinquency abstention, but rather with association with delinquent peers and delinquent behavior. 5 tables, 5 notes, and 57 references