Delinquency: Its Roots, Careers, and Prospects - Hardcover

West, D. J.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0674195655 ISBN 13: 9780674195653

Publisher: Harvard University Press, 1982

Synopsis

Delinquency evaluates one of the largest longitudinal-observational studies of juvenile delinquents ever conducted. Utilizing a normal population sample and conducting individual interviews repeatedly over many years, the author and his colleagues followed the development of 400 British working-class boys from age eight to twenty-five, of whom one-third eventually had criminal records.

Five factors were found to predict most delinquent behavior, the most powerful statistically being the presence of a criminal parent. By measuring the accumulated pressure of these factors, D. J. West demonstrates the extent to which delinquency can be predicted from classroom observations or social background at an early age. He outlines policy guidelines that would tailor intervention to a youth's age and circumstances, and he argues persuasively that positive change in the parents' situation usually produces good effects on the children.

About this title

Review

“The substantive material is excellent. The findings are real and reasonable. The book is superior.”―Marvin E. Wolfgang

About this edition

• Publisher: Harvard University Press
• Publication date: 1982
• ISBN 10: 0674195655
• ISBN 13: 9780674195653
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 188