This study was conducted to determine the significant factors contributing to youth offending. A wide range of literature was consulted in order to identify risk factors in youth offending and to guide the researcher throughout this research project. A qualitative research design, supported by descriptive and explanatory goals directed the methodology of this research project. Research tools utilised included case studies, in-depth interviews (aided by an interview guide). Research participants included young, coloured, incarcerated male offenders ranging between 16 and 23 years. The data was interpreted within the criminal event framework; suitable theoretical explanations for youth offending included social bonding and learning. Significant factors that were found to play a role in youth offending were presented under the main themes of family, school and youths environment/community. / Criminology / M.A. (Crimonology)

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Work

This dissertation examined etiological risk factors in juvenile delinquency from a control theory perspective (social and self-control theories). Two adolescent samples were used for this purpose: A Swiss national sample (N = 970) and a local American sample (N = 232). Four main questions were empirically examined: First, whether rates of deviance in delinquency were different by Swiss educational tracks (apprentices versus Gymnasium students) and by national origin (Swiss versus "non-Swiss"). Second, whether underlying developmental processes in juvenile delinquency were similar by educational tracks, by language regions, and by birth origins. Third, whether self-control was predictive of later deviance (U.S. sample). And finally, what explanation applied to the rates of delinquency in Swiss and American youth. The findings were: (1) Apprentices were more delinquent than Gymnasium students; no difference was found by national origin; (2) self-control during early adolescence was highly predictive of delinquent behavior four years later; and (3) American youths were consistently more delinquent than their Swiss age mates, especially on more serious acts. Although developmental processes in delinquency were similar for both groups, Swiss youth reported closer family relations and a higher level of self-control. These closer family relations and the greater self-control accounted for over 70 percent of the mean level difference in delinquency by nation. The discussion section focuses on implications of this study's findings for the tenets of self-control theory as well as its implications for national differences.

This thesis, whilst taking a predominantly criminological topic as its subject matter, incorporates other sociological and social psychological debates around youth transitions, power relations, youth culture and capital. In so doing, this thesis attempts to come to terms with the wider problems faced by young people who become embroiled in offending. It argues that the transition to 'adulthood' is heavily implicated in the fact that most offending occurs in late childhood and youth. This study asked 20 young women and 20 young men about why they started and stopped offending and what influenced or inhibited them in that behaviour as they grew older. What these young people suggested was that their decision to offend - or not offend - was very much based on their need to feel included in their social world, through friendships in childhood and through wider commitments in adulthood. The process of moving through the transitional arrangements from childhood, through youth, to adulthood seems to run parallel with the process of starting offending, maintaining such behaviour over a period of time and eventually stopping offending in favour of greater conventionality and stability. This analysis of the parallel paths between the process of youth transitions and the process of offending draws on the theoretical concepts of Pierre Bourdieu, in particular that of capital accumulation. But it goes further in suggesting the need to take into account not only capital accumulation but also capital expenditure and power imbalances - power imbalances based not only on class distinctions, as Bourdieu suggests, but also on age and status.

The purpose of this study is to discover the spatial distribution of adjudicated delinquents and to analyze the relationship of these delinquents to a distribution of other attributes of population aggregates. Specifically, this study focuses on the relationship in Fort Worth between the social and economic data of a specific zone. Chapter I and III of this study discuss previous ecological studies and their findings. Furthermore, possible restriction to previous studies are brought out and the design for this study is developed. Chapter III presents the methodology design used in the project. Chapter IV and V present findings of this study and discuss implication drawn from these findings. Moreover, statistically significant results are explained with regard to present sociological knowledge and future research.

University of Macau / Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities / Department of Psychology

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2003. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 185-205).

Youth who experience maltreatment are at increased risk for delinquent behavior. This pattern in which youth victims become offenders has been termed the Cycle of Violence. This study identifies intervening factors that explain how maltreatment leads to delinquency in order to highlight methods for interrupting the Cycle of Violence. A first primary objective of this study is to determine whether more severe maltreatment leads to more severe delinquency among youth involved in the child welfare system. Next, the study investigates what factors explain the relationship between maltreatment and delinquency, examining mental health, substance use, and school disengagement as potential intervening factors. Finally, this research tests whether pathways from maltreatment to delinquency differ by gender. The study sample is drawn from three waves of the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW) [1999-2003]. This national sample included 1179 youth (age 11-15 at baseline) who were involved in the child welfare system. Data were analyzed using Latent Growth Modeling (LGM). Findings indicate youth who were more severely maltreated had higher levels of initial delinquency and more stable delinquency over time. Sexually abused youth were no more or less likely to report delinquent behavior than youth who experienced other forms of maltreatment, and gender did not affect delinquency patterns. Among the intervening factors, mental health and school disengagement significantly mediated the maltreatment-delinquency relationship. These findings indicate that youth who were more severely maltreated reported more mental health problems (depression and PTSD) and more school disengagement. These problems resulted in youths’ increased risk for delinquent behavior. Substance use did not mediate the maltreatment-delinquency relationship. Substance use was, however, a strong predictor of delinquency among all youth involved in the child welfare system regardless of the level of maltreatment experienced. It is noteworthy that gender did not moderate the relationship between maltreatment and delinquency or any of the mediating effects. Results indicate a need for improved screening and intervention in child welfare to prevent youths’ delinquent behavior and strongly indicate the need for improved cross-system collaboration to bridge services systems. / text

published_or_final_version / Sociology / Master / Master of Social Sciences

Thesis (M.S.W.)--University of Hong Kong, 1990.