NCJ Number
54372
Date Published
1978
Length
128 pages
Annotation
IN AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF DETERRENCE, THE BEHAVIOR AND PERCEPTIONS OF 58 SOUTHWEST INDIAN YOUTHS FROM THE SOUTHWEST CENTER FOR YOUTH DEVELOPMENT AND ACHIEVEMENT (CYDA) WERE EXAMINED.
Abstract
THE PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY WAS TO TEST TWO MAJOR PROPOSITIONS OF DETERRENCE THEORY: THAT THE GREATER THE OBJECTIVE CERTAINTY OF PUNISHMENT FOR A PARTICULAR BEHAVIOR, THE LOWER THE RATE OF THAT BEHAVIOR, AND THAT THE GREATER THE OBJECTIVE CERTAINTY OF PUNISHMENT FOR A PARTICULAR ACT, THE GREATER THE PERCEIVED CERTAINTY OF PUNISHMENT FOR THE COMMISSION OF THAT ACT. SUBJECTS WERE MALES BETWEEN THE AGES 13 AND 21 FROM CYDA, A COMMUNITY BASED TREATMENT PROGRAM SERVING THE AMERICAN SOUTHWEST. SUBJECTS WERE RANDOMLY ASSIGNED TO THREE EXPERIMENTAL CONDITIONS AS FOLLOWS: (1) A NO REACTION TREATMENT CONDITION WHICH REQUIRED HOME PARENTS TO IGNORE LATE RETURN VIOLATIONS, (2) A 50 PERCENT CERTAINTY CONDITION WHICH REQUIRED THAT HOME PARENTS APPLY SANCTIONS FOR DETECTED LATE RETURNS ONE-HALF OF THE TIME, AND (3) A 100 PERCENT CERTAINTY CONDITION IN WHICH SANCTIONS FOLLOWED LATE RETURN VIOLATIONS WHENEVER THEY WERE DETECTED. IT WAS FOUND THAT THE FREQUENCY OF LATE RETURNS WAS THE GREATEST IN THE 50 PERCENT CERTAINTY CONDITION. THE RESULTS WERE NOT CONSISTENT WITH THE DETERRENCE DOCTRINE. EXPERIMENTAL FAILURE WAS ATTRIBUTED TO ANY ONE OF THE FOLLOWING FIVE POSSIBILITIES: SUBJECTS MAY NOT HAVE HAD SUFFICIENT FEAR-CONDITIONING, MAY HAVE BEEN RELATIVELY IMMUNE TO VARIATIONS IN THE CERTAINTY OF PUNISHMENT FOR RULE VIOLATIONS, LATE RETURNS MAY HAVE BEEN AMONG THE MOST INNOCUOUS OF MAJOR RULE INFRACTIONS, LATE RETURNS MAY HAVE BEEN SITUATIONALLY INDUCED, AND THE RULE AGAINST LATE RETURNS MAY NOT HAVE BEEN ACCORDED MUCH LEGITIMACY BY CYDA YOUTH. THE HISTORY OF THE DETERRENCE DOCTRINE AND A REVIEW OF THE SOCIOLOGICAL DETERRENCE EXPERIMENTS ARE ALSO PRESENTED. TABLES, FIGURES, AND A LIST OF REFERENCES ARE INCLUDED. (MLC)