NCJ Number
3513
Journal
JOURNAL OF CRIMINAL LAW, CRIMINOLOGY AND POLICE SCIENCE Volume: 61 Issue: 4 Dated: (DECEMBER 1970) Pages: 549-553
Date Published
1970
Length
5 pages
Annotation
VALUE CONFUSION MAY BE A SIGNIFICANT FACTOR IN THE DELINQUENCY OF GROUP EXPOSED TO CONFLICTING CULTURAL DEMANDS, BUT NOT IN THE CASE OF STABLER CULTURAL MILIEUS.
Abstract
SELLIN AND WOLFGANG, IN AN EFFORT TO DERIVE A COMMON BASELINE FOR EVALUATING THE EXTENT OF CRIMINALITY, OBTAINED RATINGS OF THE SERIOUSNESS OF 141 DIFFERENT CRIMINAL OFFENSES FROM SAMPLES OF MIDDLE CLASS PENNSYLVANIA RATERS. THEY SUGGESTED THAT THEIR DATA REFLECTED VALUES THAT WOULD BE FAIRLY GENERAL THROUGHOUT WESTERN CULTURES. TO DETERMINE IF DIFFERENCES IN CRIMINALITY, SOCIAL CLASS, EDUCATIONAL LEVEL, LANGUAGE OR CULTURAL BACKGROUND MIGHT INFLUENCE SUCH RATINGS, SAMPLES OF LOWER CLASS PUERTO RICAN OFFENDERS AND NON-OFFENDERS WERE ASKED TO RATE SPANISH TRANSLATIONS OF THESE OFFENSES. NOT ONLY WERE FEW SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES FOUND, BUT A HIGH DEGREE OF AGREEMENT WAS OBTAINED BETWEEN THESE TWO SAMPLES AND ALSO BETWEEN THESE PUERTO RICAN SAMPLES AND THE PENNSYLVANIA SAMPLES STUDIED BY WOLFGANG AND SELLIN. IN ADDITION TO SIMILARITY BETWEEN THE MEANS, THERE WERE NO DIFFERENCES IN VARIABILITY AS MIGHT BE EXPECTED IF ONE GROUP WAS MANIFESTING GREATER VALUE CONFUSION. REFERENCES MAY BE FOUND IN THE NOTES. AUTHOR ABSTRACT