NCJ Number
224312
Journal
International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology Volume: 52 Issue: 5 Dated: October 2008 Pages: 571-583
Date Published
October 2008
Length
13 pages
Annotation
This study explored the relations of moral disengagement with several legal, institutional, and demographic characteristics of young offenders held in custody.
Abstract
The results of the study show that moral disengagement is related to some indices of social dysfunction and delinquency. Higher moral disengagement was related to the offenders’ families receiving help from a social worker; the expectation of an unstable living situation after custody; drug use before custody; and intention of drug use after custody. However, the results also suggest that moral disengagement is an independent variable exerting an influence on juvenile delinquent behavior over and above the social characteristics of juvenile delinquents. According to the theory of moral disengagement (Bandura, 1991 and 1999), apart from social influences, there is a strong influence of personal agency in human behavior. The aim of this study was to examine the relations of moral disengagement between several indices of social dysfunction and delinquency and compare the scores of an institutionalized sample of young offenders with the scores of a community sample. Table and references