Status origins,youth rebellion,and delinquency: A reexamination of the class issue

This report examines the relationship between status origins and delinquency using an expanded range of status origin indicators together with both self-report and official measures of delinquency. Data were drawn from an ongoing investigation of adolescents in the Pacific Northwest. It was found that with few exceptions all four measures of status origins offer extremely low predictive utility vis-à-visdelinquent involvement. It is suggested that future efforts be directed at unraveling other more fruitful indicators of delinquency and, most especially, at examining the structure, process, and implications of differential status allocation within the educational arena.The research on which this report is based was supported by funds granted by the National Institute of Mental Health (Grant No. MH14806 Maturational Reform and Rural Delinquency).Received his Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Oregon. Currently Assistant Professor of Sociology at the State University College of New York at Geneseo. Teaches courses in juvenile delinquency, criminology, and deviance.Received his Ph.D. in educational foundations from the University of Oregon. Presently Associate Professor and Chairperson of the Department of Educational Foundations at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Teaches classes in the Sociology of Education and Alternative Strategies in Education.