Delinquency theory and prevention: A radical alternative

Twentieth century America has seen several delinquency prevention programs come into vogue and then collapse under the pressure of ever increasing rates of delinquency; pressuring policy makers to continue their search for new and better programs. Yet, new prevention programs are not pulled out of a hat. Because these programs are based on certain assumptions about human behavior they are, for the most part, derived from theories of crime and delinquency causation. Pursuing this relationship between theory and practice, this paper grounds the emergence of delinquency prevention with the development of positivist criminology, identifies the conceptual and practical deficiencies of positivist theories of crime and subsequent prevention strategies and presents the prevention directive of contemporary Marxist “Critical Criminology.”     

Friendship Networks and Delinquency: The Relative Nature of Peer Delinquency

Although acknowledging the importance of adolescent friendships in the etiology of delinquency, prior studies have yet to provide a detailed examination of the role of actual friendship networks in delinquency. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (1995–1996), this study's incorporation of friendship networks allows for a more rigorous conceptualization and measurement of peer delinquency based on carefully defined networks of adolescent friendships. Findings illustrate that friendship networks are very heterogenous in terms of members' participation in delinquent behavior with the majority of adolescents belonging to networks containing both delinquent and non-delinquent friends. In support of differential association's premise that delinquent behavior is influenced by the ratio of definitions favorable to those unfavorable to law violation (Sutherland, 1947), the proportion of delinquent friends in a respondent's network is most strongly associated with respondents' subsequent delinquency. This relative measure of peer delinquency is preferable to a measure of the absolute level of delinquency occurring by friends, the average delinquency committed by friends, or the absolute number of delinquent friends. Enmeshment in a friendship network where consensus about the appropriateness of delinquency is maximized (i.e., all friends are delinquent or non-delinquent) most effectively constrains the behaviors of network members to resemble the groups' behavior.     

Violent victimization among males and economic conditions

Research Summary In this article, we use data from the 1973 to 2005 National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) to estimate previously unknown trends in serious nonfatal violent victimization for Latino, non-Latino Black, and non-Latino White males in the United States. Past research has shown that Blacks and Latinos have been more susceptible than Whites to financial hardship during economic downturns and that economic disadvantage is an important correlate of violence in cross-sectional analyses. If significant declines in the national economy contribute to increases in violence, then crime trends disaggregated by race and ethnicity should show greater changes among minorities during periods of economic downturn. Although rates of violence have declined for all groups, we find that trends for Latino and Black males are similar and closely follow changes in consumer sentiment. In contrast, trends for White males display fewer fluctuations coinciding with changes in economic conditions. Continued disaggregation shows that these patterns appear primarily in stranger violence and not in violence by known offenders. The patterns also suggest that the association between changing economic conditions and male victimization trends might have weakened in recent years. Policy Implications The findings raise concerns about the potential impact of recent economic changes on the risk for serious victimization, particularly among Blacks and Latinos. In light of the possible recent weakening of the relationship between economic changes and crime, future research should assess whether criminal justice policies and other factors moderate the relationship between economic conditions and victimization and use group-specific measures of violence so that important variability across race and ethnicity is not masked. These analyses also should be expanded to consider the potential effects on violence of government policies designed to alleviate poverty and unemployment.     

Self-Reported Delinquency and Alienation: A Study of Juvenile Crime

Based on a probability sample of 7542 from the seventh, ninth, 11th grade students of the Toledo metropolitan area, this study, using self-reported delinquency, investigated the relationship between alienation and deviant behavior. A positive association between alienation (normlessness and societal estrangement) and self-reported delinquency were observed. The degree of association and the direction still maintained when controlled for the age and sex of the students.     

流动人群未成年人犯罪防控机制的构建

由于升学、就业、社会保障等方面存在的差别待遇,户籍在社会群体的分野中发挥重要作用。在犯罪学中将流动人群作为研究犯罪成因和防控的特定社会群体,有着现实的意义。未成年人犯罪问题日益为社会所关注,而流动人群中的未成年人受到所处环境等因素的影响,犯罪呈高发、上升态势,严重影响未成年人的身心健康和社会稳定。除了从犯罪遏制力、社区矫正等方面探讨流动人群未成年人犯罪的预防与控制外,我们还应结合流动人群未成年人的特殊性,采取必要的辅助手段。     

Self-Control and Racial Disparities in Delinquency: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach

The purpose of the present study is to examine the racial disparities of offending within the context of self-control theory. The study utilized data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY79), to examine this effect. All concepts within self-control theory are examined: parental management, low self-control, and delinquency. Results from the study show partial support for Gottfredson and Hirschi’s (1990) self-control theory. The structure of the theory remained stable when controlling for both race, as well as peer pressure. Both theoretical and policy implications are given.     

Gender Differences in Delinquency and Situational Action Theory: A Partial Test

This paper investigates to what extent a recent perspective in criminology, Situational Action Theory, is valid for both males and females and to what extent elements from the theory explain gender differences in delinquency. Data are used from the first (N?=?843) and second (N?=?616) wave of the Study of Peers, Activities, and Neighborhoods, which included detailed data about core elements of Situational Action Theory (morality, self-control, unsupervised peer activity and peer deviancy), proposed indirect causes (bonds with parents and school, parental monitoring) and self-reported delinquency. Cross-sectional and lagged Tobit regression analyses show that the core relations with delinquency are not significantly different between boys and girls and that the elements of Situational Action Theory are able to explain gender differences in delinquency for a substantial part. However, there is still a remaining independent effect of gender on current and lagged delinquency.     

Roadblocks and drunk driving: A time series analysis

Deterrence theory suggests that drunk driving can be reduced when the certainty of apprehension is improved. Sobriety checkpoints or roadblocks have been implemented in several jurisdictions to increase both the number of drunk drivers apprehended and the public’s perception of the risk of apprehension. The present study was conducted to obtain additional information on the effectiveness of such checkpoints as implemented in a medium sized urban community. A time series design consisting of 126 weeks of data was utilized to measure the impact of sobriety checkpoints on the number of alcohol related crashes. The research methods utilized, results obtained, and suggestions for further research are presented.     

HIERARCHICAL MANAGEMENT MONITORING: A Regional Data Collection System in Delinquency

We describe a systematic way of collecting and organizing information on juvenile delinquency. Monthly data are collected from agencies such as police, courts, and corrections, by county and city. These data are aggregated into figures for different levels of administrative responsibility (such as counties, districts, areas, states, and region as a whole). Trends in monthly values are automatically detected, and sudden changes in rates are signaled. Agencies at each administrative level receive appropriate feedback of data on rates, trends, and signals.     

Gender Differences in Acquisitive Delinquency: A Macro-Level Routine Activities Analysis

This study examines macro-level variation in juvenile theft and burglary arrest rates using a sample of 127 large cities in the United States. Independent variables were drawn from routine activities theory and included measures of guardianship (e.g., portion of families with both parents working, police to resident ratio, etc.), the number of motivated offenders (e.g., portion of the population under age 18), and the availability of suitable targets (e.g., poverty rates). Both ordinary least squares and weighted least squares regression analyses were performed. These analyses found that the significant predictors varied between burglary and theft. Additionally, there were differences in the predictors which significantly affected the arrest rates of male and female juveniles. However, within each offense the models explained similar portions of the overall variation in arrests for both genders.     

Injuries inflicted on homicide victims: A longitudinal victiminologic study of lethal violence

For the purpose of studying homicidal violence from a victiminologic point of view, we have examined the number and nature of injuries inflicted on homicide victims examined at the Department of Forensic Medicine in Stockholm during the periods 1976–1978, 1986–1988 and 1996–1998. Evaluation of the total number of injuries (both lethal and non-lethal) revealed a break in the earlier trend during the last of these periods, which demonstrated a clear increase in the number of injuries probably caused by intense and prolonged violence. Thus, there were 14 victims with 40 or more injuries (the maximum being 101 injuries) in the 1996–1998 period, whereas there was only one such victim in each of the two earlier periods. Furthermore, the proportion of victims exhibiting multiple lethal injuries was greater during the last period than during the two preceding periods. These findings indicate a general enhancement in the level of aggression exerted by violent offenders, as well as an increase in the number homicide victims with injuries apparently inflicted by acts of aggression characterized by outrage.