The purpose of this study was to explore, classify, and evaluate the personal experiences of juvenile offenders following release from a state training school. During a two month period beginning in the fall of 1967, a group of twenty-three releasees from the MacLaren School for Boys in Woodburn, Oregon were interviewed on a weekly basis in the Portland metropolitan area. The boys, ranging in age from thirteen to seventeen were contacted in their homes, schools, and other settings to learn of positive, negative, and critical experiences encountered in the community. Open ended questions based upon a twenty- seven item schedule were administered to the boys, focusing upon personal experiences in six major areas: school, family, peer group, community, work and authority. Responses were recorded verbatim and classified according to the boys’ judgments of positive and negative connotations. Critical experiences were also recorded to determine specific incidents which brought the boys into contact with legal authorities or otherwise seriously affected their parole status. Positive, negative, and critical experiences from this study were analyzed both descriptively and statistically. Null hypotheses were tested to determine the quality, quantity, and intensity of experiences with respect to such major variables as age of the boys, race, length of stay in the community, records of school attendance, and personality inventory characteristics. Experiences were similarly related with respect to other variables found to be present as a result of the interviewing experience. Findings yielded evidence to indicate a predominance of negative experiences in the boys’ contacts with the community following release. The highest proportion of these occurred within the boys’ families, followed by contacts with authority and school, respectively. Peer group relationships for the boys indicated the highest proportion of positive experiences when compared with other major categories.

No description available.

The problem of this investigation was to test the motor performances of Haney Correctional Institution inmates, compare their performances to various norm populations, find out if their motor performances improved after they stayed for a short period of time in the Institution, determine whether their motor performances were typical for the dominant physique type of delinquents and decide whether factors such as size, maturity and mental performance had any relationship to their motor performances. The purpose of the investigation was to arrive at some kind of a "motor performance picture" of delinquents, as compared to the "normal population." It was hypothesized that: (a) inmate motor performances and mental performances would be lower than those of the norm population; (b) inmate motor performance would not be typical of their dominant physique type; (c) inmates would improve motor performances after a short stay at the Institution; and (d) relationships would be-found between size, maturity, mental performance and motor performance. The subjects were 670, male inmates of the Haney Correctional Institution, British Columbia, ranging in age from l4 to 4O, but with the majority between 17 and23 years of age. Of this population of 670, only 280 were given the Motor Educability test, one of the motor performance items. Tests were given to inmates on their arrival and again after four months and the pertinent data recorded. The re-test population decreased in size from 670 to 255 and from 280 to 129 for the Motor Educability test. Transfers, discharges, medical and various other reasons not connected with physical education and out of the investigator's control caused these reductions. The reductions and some missing data further reduced the size of the population to 111 when the inter correlation matrix of all variables was calculated by the computer. A computer was used for the majority of the statistical; work to obtain means, standard deviations, inter correlation matrix of all variables and t statistic of differences between initial and re-test motor performance scores. Other calculations, such as the t statistic of differences between H.C.I. inmates' scores and those of the norm populations, and preparation of frequency distribution polygons, were done by the investigator. The results, in all but a few instances, supported statistically the hypotheses stated by the investigator. It was concluded, therefore, that Haney Correctional Institution inmates had lower motor performances than the various norm populations, had motor performances that were not typical for the dominant physique type of delinquents, had inferior mental performances, had heights and weights that were shorter and lighter than the norms and had typical relationships between mental performance, size, maturity and motor performance. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate

Using Taiwanese data this dissertation attempts to test five criminological theories against one another. Alternative models are derived from social control, strain, differential association, power-control, and conflict theories to obtain a critical test. Furthermore, social control, strain, differential association, and power-control theories assume the causes of official delinquency will be the same as the causes of self-reported delinquency. Conflict theory, focusing on judicial judgements, has been applied mainly to official delinquency. Various statistical techniques--crosstabulation, Pearson correlation, factor analyses, logit regression, ordinary least squares regression, and Chi-squares difference test computed from EQS--are used to identify the equations. These five theories are presumed to apply in the entire sample and in a male sample. The data show that social control theory and conflict theory are partly supported, but differential association, power control and strain theories are not. The best fitting model suggested in this analysis for an Asian society is comparable to prior models found in studies in the United States and Canada.

The purpose of this study is to examine the extent to which fifth-grade teachers, teachers in special education, and child psychiatrists hold similar views regarding the seriousness of commonly observed student behaviors. In addition, the views of these three groups are compared to research regarding which behaviors in children are predictive of future delinquency. The Wickman Scale, consisting of fifty commonly observed children's behaviors, and a fifteen-pair Semantic Differential Scale, designed for use in this study, were administered to a group of fifth-grade teachers, a group of special education teachers, and a group of child psychiatrists.

M.A.

Studies on delinquency fall into two groups, a statistical orientation and a qualitative approach. This study adopted the latter approach using Maslow's theory to investigate the relationship between unmet needs and stealing. It also attempted to explicate the function of stealing for each individual and focused upon interpersonal and intrapersonal aspects. The Rorschach, Thematic Apperception Test and the Draw a Person Test were administered to four white male adolescents who had stolen. Their ages ranged from 14 to 17 years. An analysis of each test was completed focusing upon the needs of the individual. In addition the case history and impressions gained during testing were included. It was found that unmet needs had resulted in stealing. Their personalities displayed common characteristics but differences were also evident. A summary was provided and the implications for therapy were then discussed.