NCJ Number
146453
Journal
Social Problems Volume: 8 Dated: (1960) Pages: 219-230
Date Published
1960
Length
12 pages
Annotation
Illustrative material drawn from the Berkshire Farm for Boys, a residential treatment school for adolescent delinquents in New York State, is used to discuss the reference group theory of juvenile delinquency presented here.
Abstract
The theory is outlined in a series of seven statements designed to answer the question of how an individual becomes committed to delinquency. The first proposition is that the family is the first reference group of the child. The family is a normative reference group. Prior to participation in a delinquent act, the juvenile becomes involved in a street group, which acts as his personal reference group in which he establishes important peer relationships. This theory holds that the street group that becomes the personal reference group for lower class boys, specifically those in New York City, has a delinquent subculture that advocates stealing and truancy. The boy who becomes involved in this type of personal reference group is likely, in the dynamic assessment preceding a delinquent act, to decide in favor of committing it. The boy involved in a street group as a personal reference group will tend to import its attitudes and behavior patterns into his home environment, thereby rejecting his parents and neutralizing the normative influence which they exert. The final proposition holds that, for boys involved both in a normative personal reference group and a delinquent personal reference group, satisfying relationships within the normative context will exercise a positive influence against participation in delinquency. 13 references