The Impact of School Delinquency on Self-Worth Development Among Minority Adolescents

• In Event: Roundtable Session 23
  In Roundtable Session: Issues in Adolescence and Youth Development

Abstract

Adolescence is a complex time of psychological and contextual transitions involving mutual influences of personal, social, and cultural characteristics (Block & Robins, 1993). Kaplan’s (1978) self-enhancement thesis suggests that low self-esteem increases the chance of delinquent behavior among adolescents, and that delinquency has a “self-enhancing” influence on the development of later self-esteem. Using longitudinal data from a sample of high-poverty adolescent minorities, we found that higher levels of school delinquency resulted in a greater increase in self-worth, but only for adolescents with low levels of self-worth. Adolescents with high levels of self-worth found the increase in school delinquency to have a detrimental effect on their self-worth trajectories. Results support Kaplan’s thesis in the context of school delinquency.

Authors

• Sara E. Tomek, The University of Alabama

• Heather M. Moore, The University of Alabama

• Jeremiah W Jaggers, Indiana University - IUPUI

• Wesley Church, The University of Alabama