Interviewed delinquent adolescents (N=91) with respect to their personal and family drug use and criminal behavior. Found no significant gender differences with respect to drug use, but females committed more crimes against property than did males. Indicates that subjects saw a strong relationship between drug use and subsequent criminal behavior.…

Examines the extent to which alcohol and other drug use is related to violent and nonviolent criminal activity among adolescent males. Findings, based on 312 youthful offenders, suggest that, in comparison to marijuana and heroin, alcohol use is more strongly and consistently associated with both violent and nonviolent offenses. (RJM)

Studied 24 patients being held on lieutenant governor warrants in Ontario, Canada who had been placed on warrants as juveniles. Found subjects to be predominantly male with histories of psychiatric illnesses, diagnosed mainly as antisocial personality, and to have been found not guilty by reason of insanity on charges primarily of murder or…

The hypothesis tested in this study was that the presence of enuresis and cruelty to animals in juvenile firesetters would be significantly related to recidivistic firesetting. No relationship was found between firesetting recidivism and enuresis. However, juveniles who were identified as being cruel to animals were more likely to engage in…

Examined the games played by 561 juvenile offenders in coeducational correctional facilities. The types of games used against staff and peers varied considerably. The games were defined as therapeutic games, material games, psychological games, and physical games. Peer-oriented games included attention-seeking activities and a variety of dominance…

Two subgroups of delinquent girls: antisocial offenders and sexual delinquents, were compared to a matched group of nondelinquent girls on the Gough Femininity Scale. Both delinquent groups showed deviant conscious sex roles, the antisocial group having extremely masculine identification and the sexual delinquents slightly exaggerated femininity.…

Questionnaire responses from upper-status junior and senior high school students show the importance of perceived parental pressure in understanding adolescent self-esteem and deviant behavior. Adolescents who feel unduly pressured to achieve in school are likely to report low self-esteem, deviant activity, and feelings of inability to reach goals…

This paper described the delinquent way of life in Honolulu, the procedures the author used to learn about that way of life, and the historical context in which this experience was set. (Author/RK)

Examined social skill deficits in incarcerated (n=31) and nonincarcerated (n=31) adolescent males. Found family variables of structure and functioning correlated with social skills. Found significant relationship between social skill deficits and group membership. Family structure was related to group membership as well. Several social skill…

The major implication of this study is that school rebellion is not a response to the school experience itself. Other findings are presented concerning the scalability of school disruption items, the nature of expressive alienation and its components, and the impact of sex, race, and neighborhood on school rebellion. (KC)

Compared the family environments of adolescent sex offenders and violent and nonviolent juvenile delinquents with a normative sample of adolescents. Differences between the delinquents and the normative sample arose on 6 of 10 subscales of the Family Environment Scale. No differences were found among the three categories of juvenile delinquents.…

Studied 43 youthful male offenders. Over 50% of subjects had antisocial, antiauthority values; did not know how to be anything other than criminal; had been subjected to physical, psychological, or sexual abuse; were members of minority group; and were gang members. Whites were less likely to be gang members; those who were tended to be Skinheads…

The number of felony-murder convictions of adolescents on death row in the United States is arguably a warning beacon about the serious nature of juvenile homicide. Reviews the research on adolescent homicide and highlights significant family variables. The contribution of a family studies perspective for understanding adolescent homicide is…

Investigates variables associated with posttraumatic stress disorder in adolescents in a metropolitan area. Comparisons were made with regard to gender, ethnicity, family constellation, self-reported exposure to violence, self-reported exposure to trauma, and incidence of violent crime in the vicinity of school attendance. Revealed minority males…