NCJ Number
71009
Date Published
1979
Length
71 pages
Annotation
This study developed a descriptive profile of the adjudicated adolescent by identifying common delinquent characteristics, antiauthoritarian behavior patterns, and scholastic underachievement data.
Abstract
The study was based on 200 randomly selected case studies of adjudicated adolescents referred to a licensed psychologist who acts as a consultant to a juvenile bureau in an urban center in the southwestern United States. Two primary questions were addressed: (1) For which offenses are delinquents, at different ages, most frequently adjudicated? and (2) Is there a relationship among demographic data, delinquent behavior data, and scholastic achievement data at the time of adjudication? The construction of an adjudicated adolescent profile that could serve as a basis for future research was central to the study. Findings indicated significant relationships between subjects from broken homes and subjects who had taken drugs immediately preceding the offense; race of subjects and grade level attained; chronological age and race, sex, drug use, grade level attained, and offenses; arithmetic scores and crime against person offenses and learning problems; and reading scores, race, and learning problems. Significant relationships were also found between subjects with learning problems and those who used drugs and between the intelligence quotient of subjects and race, home, drugs, and learning problems. A composite sociopathic profile describes the sociopathic adolescent as chronically antisocial, as profiting neither from experience nor punishment, and as chronically rationalizing behavior so that it appears warranted, reasonable, and justified. Tabular data, footnotes, charts, and references are provided. (author abstract modified)