The purpose of this study was to explore differences in self-reported experiences of fifteen boys and girls who were released from correctional schools from June 24, 1965, to May 16, 1967, into the community of Ketchikan, Alaska, from a control group of nineteen who had not been in correctional institutions, who were matched by sex, age and race. Between the dates of July 16, 1967, to September 13, 1967, I interviewed and administered a questionnaire to each respondent in both groups. The respondents, ranging in age from 14 years to 20 years, were seen in the welfare office, the person's home or foster home, the jail, other institutions and other settings. The items that I chose for the questionnaire were those from the Seattle Atlantic Street Center’s Student Opinion Survey with regard to the following six classifications: 1. Report of delinquent behavior. 2. Attitude toward community norms. 3. Delinquent friends. 4. Perception of community reaction to deviance. 5. Integration in neighborhood. 6. Activities and companions in activities. The significance of the difference of the responses of the two groups was determined by the chi - square test of significance at the 5 per cent level of confidence. Because of the smallness of the two groups and because of the lack of random sampling in the selection of the second group, the findings could not be considered conclusions applicable to a larger population. However, generalizations as speculations to suggest further research and principles for action were made. There were both similarities and differences in the two groups. The releasees admitted more misbehavior and knew young people in similar circumstances. Both groups were objective about friends, drank liquor (with different meaning and consequences), thought they were expected to finish high school, expected punishment for misbehavior, and thought they had a chance of being caught for misbehavior by the police. The average or normal youngster had higher aspirations, expectations and attainment at school, work and play. The releasees participated more in unorganized activity and were more apt to be with the "gang" or "loners."
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:pdx.edu/oai:pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu:open_access_etds-1886 |
| Date | 01 April 1969 |
| Creators | Swain, Marian L. |
| Publisher | PDXScholar |
| Source Sets | Portland State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Dissertations and Theses |
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