Citation

Stattin H, Magnusson D. Br. J. Criminol. 1995; 35(3): 417-449.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1995, Centre for Crime and Justice Studies, Publisher Oxford University Press)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Using a longitudinal sample of Swedish boys (n 686), the aim of the study was to examine whether age at the onset of official delinquency is associated in time (to some extent) with school and problem behaviour generally. As was expected, boys for whom onset was early (their first registered offence before the age of 13) manifested educational difficulties and externalizing problems in early school grades (at the ages of 10 and 13) to a greater extent than other boys, and they also exhibited such problems at the age of 15. Educational and externalizing problems were most manifest at the age of 15 (less so at earlier ages) among the group of boys with middle adolescent onset of official delinquency (first registered offence at the age of 14, 15, or 16). Boys with early and middle adolescent onset had school and conduct disturbances in common at the age of 15, had frequent peer contacts in both early and late grades, and perceived their peers as endorsing norm-breaking. In comparison, with boys who were not registered by the police for some offence, up to the age of 16, they had lower IQ, lower socioeconomic status, and a higher frequency of dropping out of school. The two groups of boys differed with regard to certain features of their peer network. Boys with early adolescent onset of offending had poor relations throughout school. By contrast, boys with middle adolescent onset of offending displayed less evidence of poor peer relations in early grades, and they had many close friends, friends at school, and same-age friends at the age of 15. With regard to family upbringing, it was particularly boys with middle adolescent onset of offending who were characterized by a prior history of not living together with their natural parents. The results are discussed against the background of distinctions between unsocialized, aggressive, and socialized delinquency and previous research on peer status at school. (Abstract Adapted from Source: British Journal of Criminology, 1995. Copyright © 1995 by Oxford University Press)

Sweden
Foreign Countries
Onset of Offending
Age of Onset
Child Crime
Child Offender
Child Male
Child Delinquency
Child Behavior
Child Problem Behavior
Juvenile Crime
Juvenile Offender
Juvenile Male
Juvenile Delinquency
Juvenile Behavior
Juvenile Problem Behavior
Male Behavior
Male Crime
Male Delinquency
Male Offender
Peer Relations
Interpersonal Relations
Relationship Skills
School Performance
School Achievement
Fammily Relations
Crime Causes
Delinquency Causes
06-05