The proposed study will explore the relationship between trauma and delinquent behaviors and how this relationship differs between male and female adolescents. I aim to investigate why childhood exposure to interpersonal trauma is a stronger predictor of delinquency in females than males. Within female adolescents, I propose that the relationship between trauma and delinquency is mediated by disruption in attachment schema which is caused by exposure to trauma. Therefore, I will use multiple regression to analyze a moderated mediation model. This model is informed by Social Control Theory and a Feminist Pathways Perspective of crime and delinquency. Study participants will include male and female adolescents attending public high school in Austin, Texas. / text

In recent time, juvenile delinquency and its associated problems pose serious threat to Lesotho and across the globe. This includes actions and inactions of children below the age of eighteen, of which the child is subject to conviction by the state. This study investigated the social background patterns of juvenile delinquents to ascertain their contributions to juvenile delinquencies in Lesotho. The study made use of all the 43 juveniles who were in the Juvenile Training Centre (JTC) in Maseru at the time of this research. Relevant data were collected through the use of survey questionnaires with close-ended questions. The results in the main corroborated what exists in literature that most delinquents come from broken homes; most delinquents are males; delinquency is at a higher rate in urban areas compared to the rural areas and that most delinquents are part of peer groups who engage in delinquent behaviours. Precisely, Maseru the capital city of Lesotho and Leribe were found to be the districts with highest rates of juvenile delinquency. It was also discovered that most of the juveniles have fathers who are employed in the mining industry. The most committed offence across the country was robbery. The high rates of robbery, housebreaking and stock theft indicate that poverty may be the factor behind the scene in Lesotho, which requires urgent attention from the government to tackle and eradicate poverty.

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The purpose of the study was to examine whether a set of theoretically and empirically established risk factors could contribute to the classification of violent versus non-violent offending in an ethnically diverse sample of male and female adolescent juvenile delinquents. Variables examined included economic disadvantage, grade point average (GPA), sex, dependency involvement, special education diagnosis, specific learning disability diagnosis, emotional disability diagnosis, history of illegal substance violation, and recidivism. Observed versus expected frequencies of violent versus non-violent offending across different ethnicity categories were also examined. It was hypothesized that economic disadvantage and grade point average would not significantly contribute to the classification of violent versus non-violent offense group membership in juvenile delinquents. It was hypothesized that sex, dependency involvement, special education diagnosis, specific learning disability diagnosis, emotional disability diagnosis, history of illegal substance violation, and recidivism would significantly contribute to the classification of violent versus non-violent offense group membership in juvenile delinquents. It was also hypothesized that there would be no significant differences between observed versus expected frequency of violent versus non-violent offending across ethnicity categories.A discriminant analysis retained five of nine variables in the final stepwise model, including recidivism, illegal substance violation history, special education diagnosis, emotional disability diagnosis, and specific learning disability diagnosis. While variables in the analysis significantly contributed to the classification of non-violent group membership, the model yielded low hit ratio for classification of cases into the violent group. A chi-square analysis was also conducted to examine whether there were significant differences between observed and expected frequencies across different ethnicity categories with regard to violent versus non-violent offense group membership. No significant association existed between ethnicity and the juvenile delinquents' expected versus observed frequency of violent versus non-violent offender group membership. Implications of these findings, limitations of the study, and areas for future research are discussed.

The purpose of the proposed study was to examine if differences existed in the riskfactors predictive of recidivism in adolescent male offenders versus adolescent femaleoffenders. Specific independent variables examined included special educationdiagnosis, diagnosis of an emotional disability, diagnosis of a learning disability, age attime of the most serious offense, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, grade point average,high school credits, grade level, standardized achievement scores in reading, writing, and math, adjudication status, offense history, and offense severity. It was hypothesized that these variables would not predict sex membership or recidivism in female delinquents,but would significantly predict recidivism in male juvenile delinquents. It was also hypothesized that no significant differences would exist between factors predictive of recidivism in male versus those for female delinquents.In regard to factors predicting group membership, analysis indicated that offenseseverity could significantly differentiate between male and female delinquents. Forrecidivism in female delinquents, analyses found that 7 of 21 factors were significantlypredictive of recidivism in females, including: total number of parole violations,diagnosis of an emotional disability, total number of status offenses, adjudication status,the total number of personal and property misdemeanor offenses, and grade pointaverage. For males, 9 of 21 variables significantly predicted recidivism, including: totalnumber of parole violations, diagnosis of an emotional disability, standardized readingperformance scores, total number of status offenses, total number of drug offenses,adjudication status, total personal and property misdemeanor offenses, and grade level.Thus, six predictor variables for recidivism were shared by both female and maledelinquents, namely, total parole violations, diagnosis of an emotional disability, totalstatus offenses, adjudication status, total misdemeanor personal offenses, and totalmisdemeanor property offenses. A hierarchical regression was also computed with sex as an independent variable, resulting in 12 variables being predictive of recidivism. Theresults revealed that differences existed between males and females in terms ofrecidivism, and highlight that risk assessment instruments should be individualized based on sex of the juvenile. The implications of these findings, areas for future research, and limitations to the study are discussed.

There is no abstract available for this thesis.

This thesis was an investigation of self concept differences and similarities between non-delinquent and delinquent adolescents. Self concept was measured by the utilization of the Tennessee Self Concept Scale, which was developed by William H. Fitts, Ph. D.The investigation was comprised of tasting 30 male, non-delinquent and 30 delinquent male adolescents. Each subject was individually administered the Tennessee Self Concept Scale.It was determined by statistical analysis that non-delinquent adolescents possessed a significantly more adequate self concept than their delinquent counterparts. It was felt that this study’s results would be helpful in providing insight into working with delinquent adolescents.

The purposes of this study were to (1) identify major problems faced by the youth who, in transition from school to work, have resorted to anti-social behavior and are now inmates of Deuel Vocational Institution, (2) identify the behavioral patterns of youth having employment problems that resulted in incarceration within our penal system, (3) identify a profile of students leaving school who have resorted to anti-social behavior, as indicated by their incarceration within Deuel Vocational Institution, and (4) identify changes in the existing educational programs to aid youth in their transition from school to work. Procedures Thirty-five randomly selected inmates between the ages of 18 and 30 were in the sample for the case studies. Each inmate was interviewed using a directed interview instrument and allowed to express his own opinions regarding school and work. The inmate record jackets were searched to verify the data given in the interview, also for probable causes of anti-social behavior, employment history, family background and educational status. Findings The first part identified drugs as the most common link to antisocial behavior. In every case involving a youth indulging in the use of "reds" and alcohol, the crime was of the following nature: the smashing of a man's head with a concrete water meter cover; the apparently motiveless shooting of a man walking on a beach; the clubbing of a woman because "she called me a son of a bitch." In each case involving a youth using heroin, the anti-social behavior was related to the procurement of the money necessary to support a habit costing up to one hundred fifty dollars per day. The heroin addict is a thief, a robber or a drug dealer. The drug user seemed to feel he could not support his habit through regular employment or have the time needed to use the drugs. There were no cases of drug addicts gainfully employed. Every case investigated showed the inmate to be predominantly self-centered, There were no cases in which the inmate, either in his own statement about the crime or at any time during incarceration, stated that he felt concern for the victim or the relatives of the victim, A major portion of the inmates' records indicated antisocia1. behavior at an early age: the youngest was arrested at the age of nine and 90 percent were arrested before the age of 16. Most cases included two arrests before the inmate had left school. Thirty seven percent of the youth were involved in organized gangs. The gangs protected and provided for their members through a myriad of anti-social crimes. Four cases were involved in gang murders related to fights and recruitment drives. "Hanging out, standing around on the street or in the park was reported by many of the cases. "Hanging out" is a form of unstructured gang promoting drugs, alcohol and a philosophy that excludes working--or the slang term for working, "snapping"--to provide subsistence. Conclusions The following conclusions were derived from this study: (1) The major problems faced by the inmates in transition from school to work were developed before the age of 16. (2) The major factors relating to the inmates' anti-social behavior had very little to do with their education. (3) A major portion of those youth inclined toward anti-social behavior did not want to, and would not, work. (4) Those youth inclined toward anti-social behavior that did desire work were successfully employed at the time of the crime. (5) Anti-social behavior was not related to the inmates' transition from school to work. / Graduation date: 1977