Predicting juvenile delinquency in the context of different legal socialization processes.

• In Event: European Developmental and Life-course Criminology Working Group, Panel 3: The development of (juvenile) delinquency

Abstract

Research on policing and juveniles has been limited to exploring the juvenile's perceptions of police legitimacy and cooperation with law enforcement. However, there have been very few studies that have examined the factors that lead to juvenile delinquency within different legal socialization processes. This current study aims to fill this gap by exploring the dynamics between social resistance, perception of police legitimacy, evaluation of police fairness, and assessment of police effectiveness in explaining juvenile delinquency among three groups of juveniles: (a) at-risk juveniles (N=150); (b) normative juveniles (N=143); and (c) at-risk juveniles participating in a police studies program (N=175). The study found that among at-risk juveniles, an evaluation of police effectiveness and social resistance were significant predictors of risky and criminal behavior. Furthermore, the results showed that police effectiveness was a slightly stronger predictor of such behavior than social resistance. Among normative juveniles, perception of police legitimacy and social resistance were significant predictors of risky and criminal behavior. However, social resistance played a stronger role in predicting such behavior than perceptions of police legitimacy. Lastly, among at-risk juveniles participating in a police studies program, only perceptions of police legitimacy were found to be a significant predictor of risky and criminal behavior, while an evaluation of police effectiveness and social resistance played no role in predicting such behavior.

Authors

• Ameen Azmy, criminology department at Bar-Ilan University and faculty of humanities at Ono Academic College

• Tomer Einat, Department of Criminology, Bar-Ilan University

• Avital Mentovich, University of Haifa