NCJ Number
108934
Journal
Criminology Volume: 25 Issue: 4 Dated: (November 1987) Pages: 863-891
Date Published
1987
Length
29 pages
Annotation
Contemporary theories of delinquency are seen as limited in three respects: they tend to rely on unidirectional causal structures that represent delinquency in a static rather than dynamic fashion; they do not examine developmental progressions; and they do not adequately link processual concepts to the person's position in the social structure.
Abstract
The present article develops an interactional theory of delinquency that addresses each of these issues. It views delinquency as resulting from the freedom afforded by the weakening of the person's bonds to conventional society and from an interactional setting in which delinquent behavior is learned and reinforced. Moreover, the control, learning, and delinquency variables are seen as reciprocally interrelated, mutually affecting one another over the person's life. Thus, delinquency is viewed as part of a larger causal network, affected by social factors but also affecting the development of those social factors over time. (Publisher abstract)