Societal belongingness -- feelings of being a connected, an affiliated, and a respected member of the larger society -- may contribute to the understanding of adolescent development both as a person and a member of society in a multicultural context. The current study examined the psychometric properties and measurement invariance of the…

Cognition plays a major role in the development of antisocial behavior. The aim of this study was to extend the current state of research regarding the mechanisms of negative peer influence in adolescence by testing whether aggregated classroom attitudes (injunctive norms) predict individual attitudes toward antisocial behavior and vice versa. For…

We examined factors targeted in two popular prevention approaches with adolescent drug use and delinquency in South Africa. We hypothesized adolescent life skills to be inversely related and perceived norms to be directly related to later drug use and delinquency. Multiple regression and a relative weights approach were conducted for each outcome…

Underage drinking is among the most serious of public health problems facing adolescents in the United States. Recent concerns have centered on young women, reflected in media reports and arrest statistics on their increasing problematic alcohol use. This study rigorously examined whether girls' alcohol use rose by applying time series methods to…

A substantial amount of research has suggested that adolescents' attitudes and behaviors are influenced by peers; however, little is known regarding adolescents' individual variability, or susceptibility, to peer influence. In this study, a performance-based index from an experimental paradigm was used to directly measure adolescents'…

This study recruited 559 youths from detention centers (mean age was 15.4 years; 50.1% of detainees were girls) to investigate pathways that link witnessing community violence in the 12 months before detainment to drug and sexual risk behaviors in the two months preceding detainment. Through the use of audio-computer-assisted technology, data were…

This study discusses a questionnaire concerning a proposed New Jersey law which would proscribe sexually oriented publications from sale to persons under eighteen years of age. The questionnaire was sent to New Jersey psychiatrists and psychologists. A copy of the proposed legislation, a copy of the questionnaire and the letter accompanying the…

This study investigates community-level prediction of adolescent substance use and problem behaviors using ratings by community leaders to assess the effects of four risk factors on levels of drug use and problem behaviors. Three questions are examined: (a) Can psychometrically sound measures of community leader perceptions of risk factors in…

Article attempted to settle the question of whether or not the larger number of delinquents are accurately described as constituting a subculture. It also analyzes their behavior and attitudes. (Author/RK)

Research among male juvenile delinquents in a custodial training facility showed that: (1) the subjects exhibited attitudes that reflected their "prisonization" (assimilation into the inmates' nonformal normative system); (2) many of the juveniles felt alienated from the institutional environment; and (3) prisonization often led to reinvolvement…

Administered the Correctional Institutions Environment Scale and the Nowicki-Strickland Personal Reaction Survey to 180 juvenile offenders. Results showed internals tended to perceive themselves as exhibiting more acceptable social behavior than do externals, and prefer order and a structured program. (JAC)

Data from a questionnaire administered in three urban high schools and two state institutions for girls suggest that there is little association between liberated attitudes and self-reported delinquency involvement. However, females' tendency to commit delinquent acts in groups, and their explanations for their participation, depart from…

Utilizes a modified therapeutic community model to investigate the social climate of a juvenile training school. Results indicate few significant differences among staff members' perceptions, although significant differences are present between staff and residents. Findings show that researchers must distinguish between juvenile and adult…

Assimilation theorists have long viewed inter-group romantic partnerships as indicators of racial equality. Although the past half-century has witnessed the erosion of anti-miscegenation laws and subsequent increases in the frequency of interracial marriages, these unions remain relatively infrequent. Low intermarriage rates may be partially…

Analyzed Asocial Index scores of three male juvenile delinquent groups and one male nondelinquent control group. Results indicated incarcerated offenders and those who became adjudicated offenders within one year, scored higher and were more frequently classified as delinquent. (Author)