NCJ Number
146416
Editor(s)
D Huizinga,
R Loeber,
T P Thornberry
Date Published
1993
Length
600 pages
Annotation
This report presents some findings to date of the Program of Research on the Causes and Correlates of Delinquency.
Abstract
In 1986, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention launched the Program of Research on the Causes and Correlates of Delinquency. This program involves three interrelated projects: the Denver Youth Survey at the University of Colorado, the Pittsburgh Youth Study at the University of Pittsburgh, and the Rochester Youth Development Study at the State University of New York at Albany. These three projects were selected to work collaboratively and cooperatively in conducting longitudinal studies to examine the development of serious delinquency and drug use. The program currently has collected data for over 3 years, and the first 3 years of data have been prepared for analysis and form the basis for this report. Topics include a focus on the extent of and relationships between delinquency, drug use, arrest, teenage sex and pregnancy, and developmental progressions in delinquency and drug use. Findings on these topics illustrate the scope, magnitude, and relationships among these problem behaviors. Other topics selected provide a focus on some potential causes and correlates of these behaviors. Findings about family relationships and parenting, school factors, the role of peers and gangs, ownership of weapons, the effect of teenage employment, and the use of mental health and social services for problem behaviors are examined.