Marvin D. Krohn

Social learning and deviant behavior: A specific test of a general theory

In the last decade we have seen a dramatic shift away from sociological explanations of deviant behavior toward developing theoretical perspectives on societal reactions to and definitions of deviance and crime. Labeling and conflict formulations have become major foci of sociological theorizing as well as the sounding boards for most of the controversy and discourse in the field of deviance. This shift in focus was deemed necessary to redress the previous imbalance of attention to the deviant behavior itself (Akers, 1968), and it clearly has had that effect. Unfortunately, it also has led to the neglect of theoretical developments in the etiology of deviant behavior. Neither labeling nor conflict perspectives has offered a general explanation of deviant behavior, although some conflict theorists have offered preliminary but incomplete efforts in that direction (Taylor, et al., 1973; Spitzer, 1975). There have been other efforts directed toward explaining deviant behavior, but these have been fairly narrow in scope; they have usually been limited either to a specific type of deviant behavior or to a restricted range of substantive variables. For example, a good deal of attention has been paid to the modern resurrection of deterrence theory (Gibbs, 1975; 1977; Waldo and Chiricos, 1972, Tittle, 1975; Silberman, 1976; Erickson et al., 1977; Meier and Johnson, 1977; Geerken and Gove, 1977). The scope of deterrence theory has been changed little, however, since its statement by the classical criminologists two centuries ago and is limited to the actual or perceived certainty, severity, and celerity of formally administered legal sanctions for violations of the criminal law. Another example is Travis Hirschi’ s (1969) control (social bonding) theory which is a more general explanation of deviance than deterrence theory, but which is, in turn, primarily restricted to informal social control which comes from individuals being bonded to groups and institutions.

The Role of Juvenile Gangs in Facilitating Delinquent Behavior

This study examines alternative explanations for why gang members are more likely to have higher rates of serious and violent crime than nongang members. Specifically, three models are posited: (a) a selection or “kind of person” model; (b) a social facilitation or “kind of group” model; and (c) an enhancement model that combines aspects of the selection and social facilitation models. Each model has different implications for the rate of delinquency and drug use of gang members before, during, and after membership in a gang. Data from the Rochester Youth Development Study, a panel study that overrepresents adolescents at high risk for serious delinquent behavior and drug use, are used to compare these models. Findings indicate that gang members, as compared to nongang members, did not have higher rates of delinquent behavior or drug use before entering the gang, but once they became members, their rates increased substantially. Moreover, when gang members left the gang their rates of delinquency typically were reduced. These results are interpreted as being supportive of the social facilitation model.

Linked Lives: The Intergenerational Transmission of Antisocial Behavior

There is a strong assumption of intergenerational continuity in behavior patterns, including antisocial behavior. Using a 3-generation, prospective study design, we examine the level of behavioral continuity between Generation 2 (G2) and Generation 3 (G3), and the role of economic disadvantage and parenting behaviors as mediating links. We estimate separate models for G2 fathers and G2 mothers. Data are drawn from the Rochester Youth Development Study, a longitudinal study begun in 1988 during G2s early adolescence (n = 1,000), which has collected prospective data on G2, their parents (G1), and now their G3 children. Results show that intergenerational continuity in antisocial behavior is evident, albeit somewhat modest. Parenting styles and financial stress do play a mediating role, although their effects vary by G2s gender. In general, adolescent delinquency plays a larger role in linking the generations for G2 fathers, whereas parenting behaviors and financial stress play a larger role for G2 mothers.

Testing Interactional Theory: An Examination of Reciprocal Causal Relationships Among Family, School, and Delinquency

Attachment to parents and commitment to school are important buffers against delinquency. Adolescents who are emotionally bonded to their parents and who succeed at school are unlikely candidates for serious delinquency. These relationships have strong empirical support. In addition, however, it is possible that frequent involvement in delinquency can cause a substantial deterioration in the emotional bond between parent and child and in the adolescents commitment to school. Indeed, an interactional perspective argues that bidirectional or reciprocal causal influences such as these are more accurate representations of how delinquency develops over the life-course. The present paper tests an interactional model for these variables using the first three waves of data from the Rochester Youth Development Study. Results strongly suggest that the causes of delinquency are more complex than originally thought. While weakened bonds to family and school do cause delinquency, delinquent behavior further attenuates the strength of the bonds to family and school, thereby establishing a behavioral trajectory towards increasing delinquency.

Desistance as a Developmental Process: A Comparison of Static and Dynamic Approaches

New research in the field of developmental criminology has led researchers to reconceptualize desistance as a behavioral process that unfolds over the life course. This approach puts more emphasis on the pathways by which people reach the state of non-offending, and less emphasis on the state of non-offending itself. This reconceptualization has implications for how we measure desistance in longi-tudinal data. In this paper, we suggest that the traditional measurement approach is inconsistent with this view, and we present an alternative measurement approach based on the premises of developmental criminology. Although not perfect, we argue that the dynamic measure better describes the key elements of the process of desistance. Both approaches are implemented using data from the Rochester Youth Development Study, a longitudinal study of youthful offenders. We demon-strate that the two approaches identify different people as desistors. Moreover, we argue that the dynamic definition of desistance has more promise for providing insight into the changes that are the behavioral focus of the desistance process.

Official Labeling, Criminal Embeddedness, and Subsequent Delinquency A Longitudinal Test of Labeling Theory

This article examines the short-term impact of formal criminal labeling on involvement in deviant social networks and increased likelihood of subsequent delinquency. According to labeling theory, formal criminal intervention should affect the individual’s immediate social networks. In many cases, the stigma of the criminal status may increase the probability that the individual becomes involved in deviant social groups. The formal label may thus ultimately increase involvement in subsequent deviance. We use panel data of a sample of urban adolescents to examine whether involvement in deviant social groups mediates the relationship between juvenile justice intervention and subsequent delinquent behavior. Using measures from three successive points in time, the authors find that juvenile justice intervention positively affects subsequent involvement in serious delinquency through the medium of involvement in deviant social groups, namely, street gangs and delinquent peers.

Delinquency and Family Life Among Male Adolescents: The Role of Ethnicity

This study addresses the role of ethnic and racial diversity in the relationship between family processes and delinquency. The study evaluates the overall role families play in the etiology of delinquency across different ethnic/racial groups, and investigates the relative role of specific issues such as family involvement, family attachment, and family control among Hispanic, African American, and white male adolescents. This analysis utilizes two waves of data from the Rochester Youth Development Study, a longitudinal project investigating the causes and correlates of delinquency among a high-risk urban sample of youth. Results of this study indicate that family variables as a group are more important in constraining delinquency for Hispanic adolescents. In addition, the relative influence of particular family processes on delinquent conduct appears to differ among diverse populations. We also find that living in a single-parent home has less impact on family processes than living in a situation of economic hardship.

Social Learning Theory and Adolescent Cigarette Smoking: A Longitudinal Study

We specify causal models of the learning process implied in Akers’ (1977) social learning theory for the initiation and maintenance of adolescent cigarette smoking. Path analyses of data from a three-year panel study of junior and senior high school students indicate that the theory is more effective in accounting for maintenance (or cessation) of cigarette smoking than in explaining initiation to cigarette smoking. Most important, our measures of social and nonsocial reinforcement mediate the effect of differential association on smoking as social learning theory predicts.

The interrelationship between substance use and precocious transitions to adult statuses.

This study focuses on the interrelationship between premature or precocious transitions to adult statuses and roles and the use of alcohol and drugs. Panel data from early adolescence to young adulthood for a sample for a sample of youth who were at high risk for serious delinquent behavior is used. The results indicate that use of alcohol and drugs in early adolescence increases the risk of dropping out of school, becoming pregnant or impregnating someone, becoming a teenage parent, and living independently from parents or guardians prematurely. In turn, experiencing these precocious transitions increases the risk of the use of alcohol and drugs when respondents are young adults. The importance of these findings to the life course perspective generally and to interactional theory specifically are discussed.

The Web of Conformity: A Network Approach to the Explanation of Delinquent Behavior

I use concepts and assumptions from the literature on social networks to construct a theory of delinquent behavior. The major premise of the theory is that the structural characteristics of a social (personal) network affect the degree to which participation in the network constrains behavior. I base hypotheses at both the social psychological and social structural levels of analysis on the structural characteristics of networks of multiplexity and density. Then I examine how this approach can account for some perplexing findings from past work on the relationships between social class and delinquent behavior. My essential argument is that social status and status area are related to delinquent behavior because they affect the structure of social networks.