NCJ Number
188138
Editor(s)
Robert J. Bursik Jr.
Date Published
February 2001
Length
33 pages
Annotation
This study tested casual and mediating processes of the social development model by examining the power of model constructs measured in middle school and early high school to predict violent behavior at age 18.
Abstract
The social development model seeks to explain human behavior through specification of predictive and mediating developmental relationships. It incorporates a growing body of knowledge regarding the effects of risk factors and protective factors (mediate or moderate the effects of risk exposure) in the development of antisocial behavior. The model specifies mechanisms by which identified risk and protective factors interact in the etiology of behavior. The social development model is an effort to develop integrated theory in criminology. It's a synthesis of control theory, social learning theory, and differential association theory. By using constructs measured at ages 10, 13, 14, and 16 this study examined the fit of the social development model to predict violent behavior at age 18. The sample of 808 were from a longitudinal panel of the Seattle Social Development Project, which in 1985 surveyed fifth-grade students from 18 schools serving high crime neighborhoods in Seattle, Washington. At ages 10, 13, 14, 16, and 18 students were interviewed in person and asked for their responses to a wide range of questions regarding family, community, school, and peers, as well as their attitudes and experiences with alcohol, drugs, delinquency, and violence. The test concluded that the social development model, using latent constructs measured in elementary, middle, and early high school, provided a good fitting prediction of violent behavior at age 18. References