Post-divorce mother-son relations of delinquent and well-adjusted adolescents

This study exmined the long-term effects of divorce an adolescent boy's relations with their mothers. Eighteen ealry father-absent (before age 5), 18 late father-absent (between ages 5 and 10), and 18 infant families with a delinqunet or a well-adjusted male adolscent were evaluated using observational and self-report measures of mother-son relations, as well as personality measures. Multivariate between-groups comparisons indicated that the relations of divorced mothers and their sons were more conflictive and less warm than were mother-son relations in infant families. Moreover, mother-son relations were least positive ie early father-absent families. Regarless of the intactness of the home, fammilies with a delinquent boy evidenced difficulties in several areas of mother-adolescent relations. These findings suggest that the task of raising an adolescent son in generally more difficult in divorced than in intact families, but that the association between adolescent behavioral maladjustment and mother-adolescent relations is similar across family structures.     

Effects of parenting,father absence,and affiliation with delinquent peers on delinquent behavior among African-American male adolescents

This study examined the effects of different aspects of parenting, father absence, and affiliation with delinquent peers on delinquent behavior in a cohort of African-American male adolescents. One round of survey data was collected from the youths' mothers or mother surrogates (N = 175) and two rounds of survey data were collected from the adolescents themselves. Analyses revealed that mothers' perceived control of sons' behavior was a deterrent of delinquent behavior, while other aspects of parenting (e.g., mother-son communication and relations) were not. The effect of mothers' perceived control was not mediated by adolescents' affiliation with delinquent peers. The effects of mothers' parenting variables and peer affiliation did not vary significantly by family structure, but socioeconomic disadvantage was more strongly associated with delinquent behavior in father-absent families. Though parenting effects were modest, this study suggests that African-American male adolescents are less likely to engage in delinquent behavior if they are closely monitored and supervised by their parents.     

Correlates of the Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale in delinquent adolescents

Correlations between scores on the Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale and a number of relevant personality characteristics, i.e., intelligence, memory, social inadequacy, social desirability, and fantasy proneness, were examined in a sample of 71 delinquent boys. Analysis showed that intelligence and memory were negatively related to suggestibility scores. That is, lower memory and intelligence were associated with higher suggestibility. No significant correlations were found between suggestibility and other personality characteristics.     

Differences in intelligence between nondelinquent and dropout delinquent adolescents

This study examined differences in intelligence between dropout delinquent adolescents and nondelinquent adolescents in Israel. It was part of research aimed at using psychological tests to characterize dropout delinquents. The participants, 215 adolescents at a psychoeducational center, were divided into three groups and were tested using the WISC-R: dropout delinquent adolescents living in residential institutions, dropout delinquent adolescents living at home, and nondelinquent adolescents living at home and enrolled in the formal education system. Results showed significant differences among the three groups in Verbal IQ, Performance IQ, Total IQ, and the Freedom from Distractibility factor, and pointed out the relative weakness of the dropout delinquent groups.     

Chaplain contacts improve treatment outcomes in residential treatment programs for delinquent adolescents

This is a report of a study of 828 delinquent adolescents who completed behavioral treatment during 1995, 1996, 1997 in Holy Cross Children's Services programs. The research focused on a measure of chaplain contact time with each youth, and three outcome variables: "planned release" (program completion), living situation at 12 months after discharge, and a calculated cost of care for the 12 month graduates. The findings include statistically significant correlations between chaplain time and all three preferred outcome measures. The results were significant when age, number of prior incarcerations and religiosity variables were controlled for in a regression analysis. When the costs of aftercare for the graduates were computed, the average cost-of care-per-day of the no-Chaplain-contact graduates was significantly higher than that of the high-contact group. Based on the findings, the author suggests that chaplain involvement in the behavioral treatment of delinquent adolescents improves outcomes and is cost effective.     

Proactive and reactive aggression in delinquent adolescents: relations to aggression outcome expectancies

Investigated whether the relation between aggression and the tendency to expect positive outcomes for aggressive behavior is specific to the proactive subtype of aggression (as opposed to the reactive subtype). In a sample of 86 incarcerated adolescent boys ages 13 to 18, we measured outcome expectancies for aggression using audiotaped hypothetical vignettes. For each participant, staff members completed proactive and reactive aggression rating scales. Regression analyses revealed that the relation between aggression and outcome expectancies was indeed specific to proactive aggression. Furthermore, this finding was supported regardless of whether outcome expectancies were assessed using vignettes describing proactive-aggressive behavior or those describing reactive-aggressive behavior. We discuss these findings and argue that interventions to reduce proactive or reactive aggression should differ from each other by addressing the specific social cognitive processes involved in each type of aggression.     

The salience of the family in antisocial and delinquent behaviors among Spanish adolescents

The authors examined the relations between self-report measures of parental support, communication, and psychological control and measures of antisocial and delinquent behavior in a sample of 641 Spanish adolescents (M age = 14.35 years, SD = 1.53 years). Findings revealed similarities in the relations between parenting processes and both measures of deviant behavior. The results also demonstrated the need for researchers to consider the parenting effects of mothers and fathers independently. Specifically, maternal support was a negative predictor of antisocial and delinquent behaviors of male adolescents, and maternal psychological control was a positive predictor of antisocial and delinquent behaviors of female adolescents. Paternal parenting efforts did not account for additional variability.