NCJ Number
198382
Journal
Reports of the National Research Institute of Police Science Volume: 41 Issue: 1-2 Dated: March 2001 Pages: 28-38
Date Published
March 2001
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This article describes the structural equation model that was used in this project to empirically examine a theoretical model of the effects of community activities for preventing juvenile delinquency.
Abstract
A questionnaire was administered to 10,110 junior high school students and 9,180 parents selected from 92 school districts throughout Japan. The questionnaire elicited information from the students concerning their participation in community activities, informal relationships with adult resident in the community, a degree of internalization of conventional moral values, and recent experiences of juvenile delinquency. The results of the survey, based on a unit of analysis of a school district, were aggregated to produce neighborhood-level variables which were then analyzed using structural equation modeling. The results of the survey indicate that psychological bonds are more likely to be developed between youth and adults in neighborhoods where delinquency preventing activities are actively pursued and as a result, social supports are provided by the adult residents. In the neighborhoods where the students had internalized conventional moral values emphasizing self responsibility, it was found that stronger psychological bonds with adult residents existed. And, finally, in the neighborhoods where the students were less likely to engage in delinquent activities, it was found that those students internalized conventional moral values.