NCJ Number
216427
Journal
International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology Volume: 50 Issue: 6 Dated: December 2006 Pages: 711-726
Date Published
December 2006
Length
16 pages
Annotation
This study tested Hirschi’s social bonding theory in a non-Western country by examining the relationship between social bonding and juvenile delinquency among a sample of high school students in Turkey.
Abstract
The results confirmed the utility of Hirschi’s social bonding theory as an explanation for juvenile delinquency involvement in Turkey. Specifically, attachment to teachers, family supervision, school commitment, and belief in conventional values were significantly related to total delinquency, assault, school delinquency, and public disturbance among the youth. School involvement, attachment to family, and conventionality of peers were unrelated to delinquency involvement. The findings suggest that a higher level of social bonding is associated with lower degrees of delinquent involvement. Participants were 1,710 students from a randomly selected sample of high schools in the city of Ankara, Turkey who completed self-administered questionnaires that focused on engagement in juvenile delinquency and public disturbances, attachment to parents and teachers, peer associations, family supervision, school commitment, normative beliefs, and school involvement. Control variables included age, gender, and income. Factor analysis and multiple regression analyses were used to examine the data. Follow-up studies should attempt to replicate these findings with rural samples and should test the theory separately for males and females. Tables, notes, references