Comparative Theoretical Examination of Troublesome Adolescents in Germany and Bosnia-Herzegovina

• NCJ Number: 241523
• Journal: Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice Volume: 28 Issue: 4 Dated: November 2012 Pages: 406-425
• Author(s): L. Thomas Winfree Jr.
• Date Published: November 2012
• Length: 20 pages
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)

Annotation

This article explores the reasons for joining and staying in youth-oriented groups offered by 13 to 16 year-old adolescents residing in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and Germany.

Abstract

This article explores the reasons for joining and staying in youth-oriented groups offered by 13 to 16 year-old adolescents residing in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and Germany, all surveyed as part of two separate school-based youth and violence studies that used the same questionnaire and data collection protocol. The 1,785 youths included in the current analysis self-identified as members of one of three types of youth groups: noncriminal youth group, crime-involved youth group, and street-oriented youth gang, the latter defined by the Eurogang definition. Besides looking at why they joined their respective groups and how they benefitted from membership in them, the current study explores the ties between membership and measures drawn from self-control theory, bonding, and social learning theories, plus the collective influence of these variables on the level of delinquency attributed by the youths to their respective groups. The implications of the findings for both cross-national tests of theory and antigang policies are discussed. Abstract published by arrangement with Sage Journals.