The reciprocal effects of the development of delinquency and the acceptance of legal norms

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

Abstract

In criminological research, legal norm acceptance is one of the most theoretically and empirically important factors influencing individual delinquency. While a large number of empirical analyses of the effect of legal norm acceptance on delinquency (especially juvenile delinquency) have been conducted in recent decades, the construct of legal norm acceptance itself has been little studied. In particular, the developmental trajectories during adolescence and the reciprocal influence of the trajectories of legal norm acceptance and delinquency have rarely been analysed in detail.

Using data from the first eight waves of the Crime in the Modern City (CrimoC) panel study conducted in Duisburg, Germany, with over 3,000 adolescents, I examine how the developmental trajectories of delinquency and legal norm acceptance influence each other. The method used is a Bayesian parallel process latent growth model. First results suggest a reciprocal influence.

Author

• Jasper Bendler, Bielefeld University