NCJ Number
178792
Journal
Criminal Justice and Behavior Volume: 26 Issue: 3 Dated: September 1999 Pages: 373-388
Date Published
September 1999
Length
16 pages
Annotation
Three attitudes toward juvenile delinquent activities were postulated in this study of 2,918 Dutch adolescents and young adults between 12 and 24 years of age: permissiveness toward violence, permissiveness toward acts that result in material damage, and non-permissive attitudes.
Abstract
It was anticipated each type of attitude would be related to a different level of delinquent activity, and delinquent activity was measured as the self-reported frequency of 28 delinquent acts committed during the previous year. Delinquent behaviors ranged from shoplifting to burglary and the use of violence. Young people with a strictly non-permissive attitude showed a low and stable level of delinquent activity at every age. Adolescents permissive of causing material damage displayed an intermediate level of delinquent activity with weak age differences, while young people permissive of violence revealed the greatest differences across age groups. The age-attitude interaction was similar for boys and girls, although boys engaged in delinquent behavior more often than girls. 30 references, 1 note, 3 tables, and 2 figures