NCJ Number
75898
Date Published
1981
Length
43 pages
Annotation
A 2-year longitudinal study of 351 boys aged 12 through 16 years, who had no previous juvenile court records, investigated the relationships between learning disabilities and delinquency.
Abstract
Some researchers have concluded that learning disabilities contribute to delinquent behavior, but none have added a longitudinal perspective to their studies. This sample was drawn from a group of public school students in Baltimore, Indianapolis, and Phoenix, Ariz. The sample was 58 percent white, 29,6 percent black, and 12.4 percent other ethnic groups. The 351 boys were interviewed in spring 1977 concerning their delinquent behaviors, school attitudes, and family backgrounds. Using a battery of educational and psychological tests, 16.2 percent were classified as learning disabled. Followup interviews were conducted in fall 1978 and fall 1979, and juvenile court records were searched in fall 1979 for any contacts that occurred with the courts during the study period. Data from these records revealed that charges had been filed for 4.8 percent of the boys and that the learning disabled youths were twice as likely to develop court records as nonlearning disabled youths. Because of the small sample size, this difference was not statistically significant. Analysis of the interview data indicated that learning disabilities did not have a noticeable effect on frequency or seriousness of self-reported delinquency. However, learning disabled youths who had less positive school attitudes or who came from homes where parents were better educated or employed in higher prestige occupations showed greater increases in delinquent behavior than comparable nonlearning disabled boys. Reasons for these findings are not readily apparent but could be attributed to the pressures that academic failure places on middle-class youths. Footnotes and a bibliography of over 30 references are included. Statistical tables and graphs are appended. (Author abstract modified)