An Examination of Household Chaos and Neighborhood Collective Efficacy on Adolescents’ Legal Cynicism and Delinquency

• In Event: Family, Peers, and Neighborhood Effects on Antisocial Outcomes

Abstract

The purpose of this project is to examine how household chaos and neighborhood collective efficacy influence fifteen-year-old teens’ legal cynicism and delinquent behavior. The relationship between family dysfunction and collective efficacy on cynicism towards the legal system and juvenile delinquency is important to study since an individual’s environment and social solidarity can have lasting effects on their life and wellbeing. To analyze this association, this research will utilize the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS) to conduct a secondary data analysis. The theoretical framework for this project draws from social disorganization theory and ecological systems theory. This study will longitudinally explore household chaos and neighborhood collective efficacy, the independent variables, at year nine and legal cynicism and delinquent behavior, the dependent variables, at year fifteen to examine this relationship. Methodologically, the variables will be examined using a basic structural equation model. Implications and directions for future research are also included.

Author

• Amelia Simmons, Virginia Tech