Delbert S. Elliott

Explaining delinquency and drug use

An Integrated Theoretical Perspective on Delinquency and Drug Use The Integration of Strain and Control Theories The Integration of Strain, Control, and Learning Theories The Fully Integrated Model Description of the Study An Initial Multivariate Test of

Multiple Problem Youth: Delinquency, Substance Use, and Mental Health Problems.

1 Introduction.- 2 The Demographic Distribution of Delinquency and ADM Problems.- 3 Prevalence and General Offending/Use Patterns: The Joint Occurrence of Delinquent Behavior and ADM Problems.- 4 Age, Period, and Cohort Effects.- 5 Developmental Patterns.- 6 The Etiology of Delinquency and ADM Problems.- 7 Prediction of Delinquent and ADM Behavior from Other Delinquent and ADM Behavior.- 8 Summary and Implications.- References.- Appendix A Frequency of Alcohol Use.- Appendix B Mental Health Measures.- Appendix C Prevalence and Offending/Use Rates for Multiple Problem Types.- Appendix D Annual Transition Matrices for Problem Behavior Types.- Author Index.

The Effects of Neighborhood Disadvantage on Adolescent Development

A conceptual framework for studying emerging neighborhood effects on individual development is presented, identifying specific mechanisms and processes by which neighborhood disadvantage influences adolescent developmental outcomes. Using path analyses, the authors test the hypothesis that these organizational and cultural features of neighborhoods mediate the effects of ecological disadvantage on adolescent development and behavior; they then estimate the unique contribution of neighborhood effects on development using hierarchical linear modeling (HLM). The study involves samples of neighborhoods from two sites, Chicago and Denver. The analyses support the hypothesis that the effects of ecological disadvantage are mediated by specific organizational and cultural features of the neighborhood. The unique influence of neighborhood effects is relatively small, but in most cases these effects account for a substantial part of the variance explained by the HLM model.

Issues in Disseminating and Replicating Effective Prevention Programs

The new frontier for prevention research involves building a scientific knowledge base on how to disseminate and implement effective prevention programs with fidelity. Toward this end, a brief overview of findings from the Blueprints for Violence Prevention-Replication Initiative is presented, identifying factors that enhance or impede a successful implementation of these programs. Findings are organized around five implementation tasks: site selection, training, technical assistance, fidelity, and sustainability. Overall, careful attention to each of these tasks, together with an independent monitoring of fidelity, produced a successful implementation with high fidelity and sustainability. A discussion of how these findings inform the present local adaptation-fidelity debate follows.

Reassessing the reliability and validity of self-report delinquency measures

Several issues related to the reliability and validity of self-report delinquency measures are raised and discussed. These include problems associated with the use of internal consistency as the measure of reliability, the level of reliability or precision required for different types of analyses, problems with the content validity of self-report measures, problems of overreporting and underreporting, problems with the use of official records as a validity check on self-reports, and the lack of any good criterion as a major obstacle in assessing the empirical validity of self-report measures. In the light of these problems, some cautions about the use of self-report measures are made.

An Integrated Theoretical Perspective on Delinquent Behavior

This paper presents an integrated theoretical model of the etiology of delin quent behavior. The proposed model expands and synthesizes strain, social- learning, and social control perspectives into a single explanatory paradigm which avoids the class bias inherent in traditional perspectives and takes into account multiple causal paths to sustained patterns of delinquent behavior. Major variables in the model include two types of social bonds (integration and commitment), attenuation experiences (such as failure in conventional social settings), and delinquent learning and performance structures. Two dominant etiological paths to delinquency are postulated by the paradigm. The first path is characterized by weak integration into and commitment to the social order and by involvement in delinquent peer groups. Characteristics of the second major path are initially strong bonds to the social order, subse quent attenuation, or weakening, of those bonds, and exposure and commit ment to delinquent peer groups.

Advancing knowledge about the onset of delinquency and crime.

Our main concern is to advance knowledge about the onset of delinquency and crime. When a person commits an offense for the first time, it is only future experience that can establish with certainty whether that offense was the onset of a persistent and serious criminal career or whether it was simultaneously the person’s first and last offense. However, the age at which a first offense occurs is one of the best predictors (or even the best predictor; see Blumstein, Farrington, & Moitra, 1985) of the future course of the criminal career.

A Social Learning Theory Model of Marital Violence

A social learning theory model of minor and severe marital violence offending and victimization among males and females was tested. Results support social learning as an important perspective in marital violence. However, males and females are impacted differently by their experiences with violence in childhood and adolescence. Prior experiences with violence have a more dramatic impact in the lives of females than males, both during adolescence and adulthood.

Self-Reported Violent Offending A Descriptive Analysis of Juvenile Violent Offenders and Their Offending Careers

Serious violent offenders are identified on the basis of self-reported involvement in violent FBI Index Offenses from a large representative sample of adolescents in the United States. The study involves a longitudinal prospective design with five annual waves of data on this national youth panel. Estimates of four basic parameters of violent offending are presented: prevalence rates, individual offending rates, career lengths, and crime mix patterns. These estimates are then compared to estimates based upon official arrest data. Self-reported estimates are substantially greater than those based upon arrest data, suggesting that those arrested for serious violent offenses constitute only a fraction of youth actually involved in serious violent behavior. The analysis also indicated that compared to self-reported data, arrest data overstate the magnitude of sex, race, and age differentials in the prevalence of serious violent offending. Further, self-reported individual offending rates were also substantially greater than those based upon arrest history data and there were no significant differences in self-reported individual offending rates by sex, race, class, or age. These findings suggest that prisoners incarcerated for serious violent offenses are not representative of those in the general population who are involved in serious violent offenses. The analysis of career length and crime mix patterns suggested that the period of involvement in violent offending was short (one year), individual offending rates increased with time, and the crime mix pattern became more diversified with time in the career.

Identifying Career Offenders Using Self-Reported Data

Self-reported delinquency data from a national youth panel were used to develop a career offender typology. Seven birth cohorts aged 11-17 at the first of five annual interviews provided the data for the study. The assumption that a career in delinquency implies continuity of involvement across time as well as the frequency with which illegal acts are committed was taken into account in the identification of four classes of offenders. The typology was validated using official arrest histories, social psychological predictor measures known to be associated with delinquent behavior, self-reported delinquency scales, and demographic variables. Offender typologies based upon official arrest and self-reported delinquency data were then compared. The findings indicate that the number of career offenders identified using official arrest data is only a fraction of the number identified using self-reported data. The partitioning of subjects into career offenders, noncareer offenders, and nonoffenders is quite different when using a self-reported compared to an official arrest measure of criminal involvement.