NCJ Number
139797
Journal
Sociological Spectrum Volume: 12 Issue: 4 Dated: (October-December 1992) Pages: 381-401
Date Published
1992
Length
21 pages
Annotation
Roles played by child-parent interactions, expectations, and evaluations in predicting youthful misbehavior provided the focus of this study.
Abstract
Data were obtained from a random sample of 74 parochial school students in a southwestern city of 100,000 inhabitants. Factor analysis was employed to examine the feasibility of two distinct personal orientations, attachment to father and attachment to mother. Family-based activities were also assessed, as well as the use of physical punishment by parents and personal and biographic variables. Family activities constituted a more consistent predictor of adolescent misbehavior than youth evaluations of their parents. The parental discipline variable was positively related to delinquency; the greater the use of physical punishment, the greater the delinquency. Findings suggested that what parents of parochial students do is more important than how they are seen by their children, that some forms of punishment may not prevent delinquency, and that students with the highest average grades are consistently lowest in all forms of misbehavior. Implications of the results for social bonding theory are discussed. 63 references and 4 tables