Uninterrupted Delinquent Careers: The Timing of Parental Help-Seeking and Juvenile Court Contact

• NCJ Number: 158811
• Journal: Studies on Crime and Crime Prevention Volume: 4 Issue: 2 Dated: (1995) Pages: 236-251
• Author(s): M Stouthamer-Loeber; R Loeber; W van Kammen; Q Zhang
• Date Published: 1995
• Length: 16 pages
• Grant Number(s): 86-JN-CX-0009; 94-JN-CX-0003; MH48890; MH50778
• Sponsoring Agency: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP); National Institute of Mental Health
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This paper traces the onset and development of disruptive problems as related to parental efforts at help-seeking and the boys' contact with juvenile court.

Abstract

By eighth grade (approximately age 14) approximately 20 percent of a sample of boys who had committed delinquent acts had been in contact with the juvenile court. Only 41 percent of the delinquent boys' parents had ever sought help from anyone for the boys' problems. On average, by eighth grade delinquent boys had been exhibiting problem behaviors for 6 years. For those with a court contact, the interval between onset of problems and court contact was 4 years. Both delinquent boys with court contact and delinquent boys for whom parents had sought help were more seriously disturbed than were boys without court contact and boys for whom no help had been sought. Nevertheless, delinquent boys without court contact or boys for whom no help had been sought generally had a long problem history. For boys for whom help had been sought, those with a court contact had received more intensive help. In general, the development of disruptive and delinquent behaviors was largely left unchecked. Implications of the findings are discussed. 4 tables, 2 figures, and 33 references