No abstract

Fifty-nine families with delinquent daughters were compared with 59 families, matched on socioeconomic class, with daughters of the same age who were not delinquent. The frequency of broken homes was found to be the strongest distinguishing factor between probands and controls. Parental disabilities appeared to play a part in the incidence of delinquency among girls, particularly when the disabilities result in a broken home.

The brothers of 73 delinquent boys were found themselves to be more antisocial than the brothers of 73 matched control boys. Further, the average antisocial score of the probands' brothers increased with the number of brothers in the family, holding the number of sisters constant, and decreased with the number of sisters, holding the number of brothers constant. These results are interpreted in terms of male potentiation and female suppression of antisocial behaviour in boys. Results are also reported for 59 pairs of matched delinquent and control girls and their siblings.

No abstract