NCJ Number
61048
Date Published
1979
Length
161 pages
Annotation
DATA ON A SAMPLE OF 27 JUVENILE CORRECTION CENTER INMATES IN TEHRAN, IRAN WERE USED TO DETERMINE IF FACTORS IN THEIR DELINQUENCY CONFORMED TO SUTHERLAND'S DELINQUENCY THEORY OF DIFFERENTIAL ASSOCIATION.
Abstract
SUTHERLAND (SUTHERLAND AND CRESSEY, 1974) MAINTAINS THAT THE NECESSARY AND SUFFICIENT CONDITIONS FOR DELINQUENT BEHAVIOR ARE SETS OF DELINQUENT MOTIVATIONS, ATTITUDES, AND TECHNIQUES LEARNED THROUGH EXCESSIVE EXPOSURE TO DELINQUENT PATTERNS OF THOUGHT AND BEHAVIOR IN INTERACTION WITH A PRIMARY GROUP. TO TEST THIS THEORY DATA WERE GATHERED FROM OFFICIAL RECORDS AND IN-DEPTH INTERVIEWS OF 27 JUVENILE CORRECTION CENTER INMATES IN TEHRAN, IRAN. SINCE OVER 90 PERCENT OF THE DELINQUENTS IN THE CORRECTION CENTER WERE FROM SOUTHERN TEHRAN, TIME WAS SPENT IN THIS SECTION OF THE CITY OBSERVING AND EXPERIENCING ITS SOCIOLOGICAL DYNAMICS. PARENTS AND CLOSE RELATIVES OF MANY OF THE SUBJECTS WERE ALSO INTERVIEWED. WHILE MOST OF THE RESIDENTS OF SOUTHERN TEHRAN EXPRESSED NEGATIVE ATTITUDES TOWARD THE LAW AND THE JUDICIARY SYSTEM, THE RATE OF JUVENILE DELINQUENCY WAS NOT DEEMED SUFFICIENT TO MATCH THE PREVALENCE OF THIS NEGATIVE OUTLOOK TOWARD THE LAW. HOWEVER, 19 OF THE SUBJECTS DID REPORT REGULAR INTERACTION WITH A PEER GROUP THAT APPROVED AND REINFORCED DELINQUENT ACTIVITY THROUGH GROUP VALUES AND PRESSURES. THE REMAINING EIGHT SUBJECTS BECAME DELINQUENT AS A RESULT OF THEIR PERCEPTIONS OF CIRCUMSTANCES SURROUNDING THEIR DELINQUENT ACTS. WHILE THE ACTS WERE NOT DIRECTLY ASSOCIATED WITH PEER INVOLVEMENT, THE PERCEPTIONS AND RATIONALE LEADING TO DELINQUENT ACTS MAY HAVE BEEN ROOTED IN INTERACTIONS WITH SIGNIFICANT OTHERS. THIS RESEARCH DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A COMPLETE EXPLANATION OF DELINQUENCY FACTORS IN TEHRAN. SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH ARE OFFERED. TABULAR DATA AND REFERENCES ARE PROVIDED. (RCB)