Strain, Control, and Structure: Results from a Longitudinal Community Youth Study

• In Event: Community, Youth, and Delinquency

Abstract

Juvenile delinquency in particularly disadvantaged areas represents an important area of study. Data was used from a 14-year community panel study conducted in extremely impoverished areas, constituting what Wilson would call the underclass. It represents a unique view of the problems faced by minority youth in a mid-sized Southeastern city. Multi-level ordinal regression was used to analyze individuals over time, and a combination of factors were examined as they relate to disaggregated types of delinquency rather than a single combined measure. The constructs examined include strain, control, and health related variables hypothesized to contribute to self-reported delinquency. Findings from the study show that both strain and control constructs contribute to increased delinquency at roughly equal levels, indicating that neither constitutes a superior explanation of delinquency in this area. In addition, health related constructs, including food insecurity, hopelessness, and psychological stress also predicted higher levels of juvenile delinquency. The implications of this study show that while strain and control constructs predict delinquency, it is important to take public health considerations into account with vulnerable populations. Additional findings such as control and strain variables that have a disproportionate impact, and the variance between predictive power and types of delinquency are discussed.

Author

• Michael Alan Hollingsworth, Black Hills State University