A Focus on Familial Strain: Antisocial Behavior and Delinquency in Filipino Society

Criminologists have long recognized the salient role of the family in explaining delinquency. However, explanations using family measures have been derived mostly from the paradigms of differential association and social control. This paper uses Agnew's General Strain Theory to examine two types of familial strain: witnessing interparental violence and direct parent-to-child violence, specifically its impact on children's antisocial behaviors. These two family measures are then juxtaposed against traditional explanations of delinquency and antisocial behavior. A total of 961 grade school students were surveyed in the Philippines and comprise this study's sample. Results show that witnessing interparental violence is significantly associated with self-reported antisocial and delinquent activities and the Teachers'Predictions of Peer Nominations. This significant association remained when measures of social control and differential association were controlled. The results highlight the importance of delineating family dynamics and their relative impact on youth behavior. The results also point to the utility of examining delinquency theories using non-Western samples.     

The Family and Juvenile Delinquency*

This paper examines the effect of various “family variables” on the etiology of juvenile delinquency. These self-report data are unique in that they are from reports by parents of their child's behavior, the nature of the child's life at home, and parental perceptions of their relationship with the child. How the family and delinquency literature fit into control theory's conceptualization of the importance of a child's attachment to the family as a determinant of delinquency is evaluated. Variables measuring (1) family structure, (2) poor parental characteristics, (3) household characteristics, and (4) parent-child relationships are examined. The attachment variable was found to be the strongest predictor of delinquency and helps to “interpret” the effects of other variables that are significantly related to delinquency. The variables that predict male delinquency were found to be different from those that predict female delinquency. Characteristics of the parents' marriage play an important role for boys, while misbehavior of girls is more strongly predicted by variables measuring parent-child interaction and parental control.     

High School Social Climate and Antisocial Behavior: A 10 Year Longitudinal and Multilevel Study

A longitudinal and multilevel approach is used to examine the relationship between antisocial behavior during adolescence and high school social climate. The data are taken from a longitudinal study of 1,233 boys and girls who attended 217 public and private high schools. Students' disruptive behaviors were assessed yearly from 6 to 12 years of age. High school social climate was assessed by teachers, and students reported on their violent and nonviolent antisocial behavior while in high school. The multilevel analyses revealed (1) a large difference between the percentage of variance explained within schools (97%), compared with between schools (3%), and (2) teachers' reports of classroom behavior problems explain between‐school differences in student reported antisocial behavior, after controlling for students' family adversity and history of behavior problems during elementary school. The theoretical and practical implications of the study are examined and future directions for research are discussed.     

The Effect of Male Delinquency on Mothers and Fathers: A Heuristic Study

This paper addresses some of the lacunas extant in the empirical literature on adolescents. The focus rests on studying the impact of juvenile delinquency not on adolescents, but on their parents. From an interactional perspective, adolescents are denned as proactive social actors who contribute to the quality of their family lives. A multisample, multimethod study of delinquents'parents is conducted and finds that parents are highly affected by their children's delinquency; this effect is particularly strong for mothers compared to fathers. Difficult adolescent behaviors and delinquency lead to a series of complications and stressors in parental lives. Research questions are suggested that target a broad range of variables and themes.     

Social Capital and Adolescent Substance Use: The Role of Family,School, and Neighborhood Contexts

This study assesses the link between social capital factors of norm‐setting social arenas including family, school, and neighborhood and adolescent substance use measured by cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, and illicit drug use among a sample of adolescents in California. The key messages of this study are that socialization processes at different life domains, in varying degrees, are associated with adolescent substance use behavior. Compared with school and neighborhood contexts, family is the most influential setting that should be primarily targeted for youth substance use prevention. Among different aspects of within‐family social resources, parental monitoring seems to be the most protective of adolescent substance use. Study implications on family‐based interventions are discussed.     

School and Family Connections:

No abstract available for this article.     

Dropping Out of High School: The Effects of Family Structure and Family Transitions

We use the 1988, 1990, and 1992 waves of data from the National Education Longitudinal Study to examine the effects of family structure and family transitions on adolescent high school dropout. Our study differs from previous studies by using a large longitudinal sample (N?=?21,420) and applying event history analysis with standard errors corrected for clustered sampling. Our study has two major contributions. First, we examine single-mother, single-father, stepmother, and stepfather families separately. Controlling for socioeconomic status, children from single-mother families are doing better than children from single-father and stepparent families. Second, using event history we can determine the causal order between family transitions and high school dropout rates. We find high school students are not hurt by their parents marrying, remarrying, or starting a cohabiting relationship, but are negatively affected by a parental divorce or separation during the high school years.     

The Role of Death in the Addict Family

Drug addiction is a potentially life-threatening problem with suicidal ramifications. Within the family of the addict, the addiction takes on a special, participatory meaning; the addicted member is treated as one undergoing a slow death. These families attach special significance to death and give it considerable emphasis. This appears to arise from unresolved and premature deaths experienced by the family, particularly the parents. The addict is substituted for the deceased member. Treatment can deal with these issues directly through making the mourning explicit. The death issue can also serve as a vehicle for family change.     

Contextual Predictors of Adolescent Antisocial Behavior: The Developmental Influence of Family,Peer, and Neighborhood Factors

Numerous researchers have investigated risk factors for adolescent antisocial behavior (ASB) using social learning theory. Less attention has been directed to how these factors interact across time and context. Using this framework as well as social contextual theory, we examined 1,196 respondents from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health to investigate the relations among parenting, peer, and community risk factors of youth ASB. We found that community violence exposure was a strong, direct predictor, and parental monitoring moderated the relation between community violence and ASB. Results suggested that social contextual theory provides a useful framework for predicting ASB.     

山东省未成年人犯罪的原因及预防对策

调查结果表明,近年来山东省未成年人犯罪日趋严重,犯罪人数逐年上升,已成为当前山东省一个突出的社会问题.本文列举了当前山东省未成年人犯罪的六个特点,分析了造成未成年人犯罪的四大原因,提出了预防和治理未成年人犯罪的四大措施.     

Influences of Race and Family Environment on Child Hyperactivity and Antisocial Behavior

Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, latent growth curve modeling was used to examine relationships between trajectories of child hyperactivity and antisocial behavior symptoms for African Americans (n= 680), European Americans (n= 1195), and Hispanics (n= 432). A systematic examination of predictors of, and interrelationships between, these trajectories was tested based on two distinct models of family influences in the development of child behavior problems. Overall, child hyperactivity mediated the effects of family environment on child antisocial behavior, but with key racial differences. The results indicate the importance of conceptualizing patterns of family interaction as adaptive responses to the environment, rather than individual developmental interactions.     

Antisocial Propensity,Adolescent School Outcomes,and the Risk of Criminal Conviction

Data from the 1986 Northern Finland Birth Cohort Study (n = 4,645) were used to examine the influence of mid‐adolescent (age 15) school outcomes on late‐adolescent (ages 17–19) risk of criminal conviction. Consistent with social‐developmental theories of offending, we found that poor academic performance and reduced school attachment increase the risk of criminal conviction independently of pre‐existing differences in antisocial propensity and other confounding factors identified in prior research. Moreover, in support of an integrated model, our research suggests that academic performance and school attachment mediate the effects of childhood antisociality and learning difficulties on late‐adolescent risk of criminal conviction. The implications of findings for policy and future research are discussed.     

The Role of the Clinician in Natural Family Planning

Abstract

“The BCG Controversy: A Methodological and Statistical Reappraisal,” John D. Clemens, Jackie J. H. Choung, and Alvan R. Feinstein. Because of the conflicting results of eight major controlled trials, BCG vaccination against tuberculosis remains controversial despite more than 50 years of use. Suspecting a methodological source for the controversy, we reviewed the scientific and statistical quality of each trial. The analysis showed that (1) although biased allocation of the vaccine appeared an unlikely explanation for the disparate results, adequate demonstration of unbiased detection of tuberculosis was available only for the three trials reporting 75% or greater protective efficacy; and (2) in most trials reporting low efficacy, the results had wide confidence intervals that could not exclude high efficacy, but the trials reporting high efficacy all had narrow confidence intervals that excluded low efficacy. Because the trials with the best methodological quality and greatest statistical precision reported high efficacy, the evidence suggests that BCG can confer a high degree of protection against tuberculosis and that bias or inadequate statistical power may have contributed to the conflicting data. (Journal of the American Medical Association 1983;249:2362–2369.)

“Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, Opportunistic Infections, and Malignancies in Male Homosexuals: A Hypothesis of Etiologic Factors in Pathogenesis,” Joseph Sonnabend, Steven S. Witkin, and David T. Purtilo. The acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) occurs in a subgroup of male homosexuals having sexual contact with a large number of partners. Uncommonly, AIDS has also been diagnosed in Haitians, hemophiliacs, and intravenous drug users and their infants. Manifestations include autoimmune disturbances, opportunistic infections, Kaposi's sarcoma, chronic lymphadenomegaly, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, or squamous cell carcinoma. The hypothesis receiving most consideration is that a yet-to-be-identifed virus causes AIDS. An alternative view is that repeated sexual involvement with multiple partners, in a subgroup of male homosexuals, exposes the men to the immunosuppressive impact of cytomegalovirus (CMV) and allogeneic semen. Antibody to asialo-Gm, and other antigens on sperm react with and impair lymphoid cells. We propose a biphasic process. First, a reversible acquisition phase of impaired T-cell immunoregulation permits reactivation of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), and autoantibodies are produced by the activated B cells. If sexual activity continues at a high level, accumulating immune defects, including destruction of thymic epithelium, lead to a second, self-sustaining phase wherein cytotoxic lymphocytes fail to eliminate herpesvirus-infected cells. Evidence is mounting that Kaposi's sarcoma is caused by CMV and that EBV is responsible for the B-cell lymphomas in these patients. Multiple factors, rather than a novel virus, probably induce AIDS in male homosexuals. If this hypothesis is correct, then rational bases for prevention and intervention can be designed. (Journal of the American Medical Association 1983;249:2370–2374.)     

Gambling,Risk-Taking,and Antisocial Behavior: A Replication Study Supporting the Generality of Deviance

Research suggests that high frequency gambling is a component of the “generality of deviance”, which describes the observation that various forms of risky and antisocial behavior tend to co-occur among individuals. Furthermore, risky and antisocial behaviors have been associated with such personality traits as low self-control, and impulsivity, and sensation-seeking. We conducted a replication (and extension) of two previous studies examining whether high frequency gambling is part of the generality of deviance using a large and diverse community sample (n = 328). This study was conducted as a response to calls for more replication studies in the behavioral and psychological sciences (recent systematic efforts suggest that a significant proportion of psychology studies do not replicate). The results of the present study largely replicate those previously found, and in many cases, we observed stronger associations among measures of gambling, risk-taking, and antisocial behavior in this diverse sample. Together, this study provides evidence for the generality of deviance inclusive of gambling (and, some evidence for the replicability of research relating to gambling and individual differences).