Suchergebnisse

As a result of methodological limitations, prior research may have artificially attenuated the magnitude of the broken homes/delinquency relationship. As a result of theoretical limitations, prior research has achieved only limited success in identifying the mechanism through which broken homes may promote delinquency. The present study addresses both issues using a national probability sample of 1, 725 adolescents. Results suggest that divorce/separation early in the life course may be more strongly related to delinquency than prior research implies and that remarriage during adolescence may be strongly associated with status offending. Overall, results also suggest that association with deviant peers and attitudes favorable to delinquency account for the broken homes/delinquency relationship better than do a number of alternative explanations.

Extensive research suggests that marijuana use tends to precede the use of other illicit substances among adolescents. At the same time, there remain two viable interpretations of such research. First, marijuana use may cause an increase in one's probability of using other drugs. Second, the correlation between marijuana use and other drug use may be spurious, reflecting the influence of one or more "third variables" that simultaneously cause both behaviors. The present paper provides an empirical assessment of each view using panel data from three waves of the National Youth Survey. Even after adjusting for the influence of variables derived from strain theory, social bonding theory, and differential association theory, a series of longitudinal logistic regression analyses fail to disconfirm the hypothesis that marijuana use exerts a causal influence on one's probability of using other illicit substances. A three-wave panel model adjusting for the influence of unmeasured variables yields similar results.

AbstractThis study examined how emerging adults' perpetration of aggression toward a sibling closest in age was longitudinally associated with their sibling relationship quality. Emerging adults (N = 143; Mage = 19.62; 70% female) completed surveys online or by mail at two time points, 4 years apart. Of emerging adults, 25% perpetrated aggression against their closest‐in‐age sibling. Perpetration of sibling aggression was predictive 4 years later of less sibling warmth, involvement, and emotional help. None of the interactions with gender and sibling gender was significant. This study's findings demonstrate the importance of examining the consequences of perpetration of aggressive behavior toward a sibling for sibling relationship quality in emerging adulthood.

Multiple criminological theories predict that attitudes toward delinquency should affect an individual's delinquent behavior. Criminological research, however, has not sufficiently incorporated social psychological theory predicting the reverse causal relationship, and tends to suffer from important methodological limitations. The present study addresses these issues using longitudinal data from the New Hampshire Youth Study (N = 626). After using latent variable models to demonstrate the discriminant validity of attitudinal and behavioral measures, it uses structural equation models to examine whether attitudes are stronger predictors of behavior or vice versa. Net of controls, results provide qualified support for a reciprocal relationship but suggest that behavior affects attitudes much more than attitudes affect behavior. We conclude by discussing the implications of these findings for future research and for interventions aimed at controlling delinquency.

The strong correlation between measures of personal and peer deviance occurs with near "law‐like" regularity. Yet, as with other manifestations of peer similarity (often referred to as homophily), the mechanisms generating this relationship are widely debated. Specific to the deviance literature, most studies have failed to examine, simultaneously, the degree to which similarity is the consequence of multiple causes. The current study addresses this gap by using longitudinal network data for 1,151 individuals from the Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement (NSCR) School Project. Structural equation modeling is used to address these issues by adapting Jussim and Osgood's () model of deviant attitudes in dyadic pairs to the current data. Across two separate behavioral domains (substance use and property offending), the results provide strong support for the prediction that individuals project their own deviant tendencies inaccurately onto their peers. Conversely, the results provide little or no support for the predictions that respondents accurately perceive their peers' deviance or that their perceptions of peer deviance influence their own behavior. Implications for understanding the role of peer behavior in the etiology of adolescent deviance are discussed.

We examine how aspects of community context (i.e., social and familial attachments, attachment to place, and economic environment) are linked to rural emerging adults' educational and occupational experiences and aspirations. We use a year of qualitative interview data and 2 years of longitudinal survey data to explore how community context may shape two groups of rural emerging adults' aspirations for those who remain in their rural home community posthigh school graduation and those who leave after high school to seek opportunities elsewhere. We found that the declining economic context of these rural communities shaped educational and occupational aspirations of both groups toward practically focused occupations. Interviewees struggled to balance their positive community attachments with the area's lack of occupational opportunities. Our work uniquely underscores that analysis of community context may be a key to understanding emerging adults' educational and occupational pathways and aspirations in economically strained rural environments.

AbstractUsing survey data from two youth samples, one rural and one urban, we examine the role and significance of perceived community cohesion in the stress process. In particular, we assess the extent to which community attachment and detachment are related to depressed mood, problem substance use, and delinquency net of social statuses, stress exposure, and personal attributes. In addition, we explore the degree to which those dimensions of community cohesion explain or condition the links between the above stress‐process components (e.g., social statuses, stress exposure, and personal attributes) and well‐being. We find remarkably similar results across samples: community attachment is related to lower odds of problem substance use and delinquency; community detachment is related to higher levels of depressed mood, problem substance use, and delinquency; and community attachment buffers the link between stress and problem substance use. With respect to depressed mood, however, the rural youth show greater vulnerability to stress than the urban youth and unique benefits from community attachment compared to the latter. Our findings highlight the roles of community attachment and detachment in the stress process and underscore the importance of each for youth well‐being in rural and urban settings.