Warm and Loving, Cold and Brittle: An Examination of Delinquent Affiliations in the Family

• In Event: Juvenile Delinquency and the Family: Additional Evidence

Abstract

It remains unclear whether relationships formed with antisocial individuals can best be described as warm and loving or cold and brittle. In addition, although it is possible that there is variation in the quality of these relationships, research has not yet identified the sources of this potential variation. Finally, it is not clear whether relationship quality moderates the association between delinquent affiliations and the adoption of delinquent definitions. The current study examines two hypotheses: 1) Contextual factors influence the type of relationship formed with antisocial parents, and 2) Parental antisocial behavior interacts with parent-child relationship quality to predict delinquent definitions among children. The study features regression analyses of data from the Measuring Juvenile Reoffending Study. The findings and their implications for differential association and learning theories are discussed.

Author

• Dequan Cowell, Florida State University