School attachment and official delinquency status in the People's Republic of China

This research examines the effect of school attachment on the likelihood of being an officially sanctioned delinquent using data for a sample of youths in Tianjin, China. Our statistical analyses are organized around a conventional, integrated causal model that draws upon Western criminological theories of delinquency. The results of multivariate regression analyses reveal that school attachment and school quality are inversely related to an indicator of official delinquency status. A measure of association with delinquent peers similarly exerts a significant but positive effect on official delinquency status. Our analyses are consistent with perspectives on delinquency developed in the West, suggesting that these perspectives are reasonably generalizable. We conclude with a discussion of new directions for further comparative research on delinquency in China.