Antecedent factors of junior high school students' mild delinquency: Longitudinal study from the first through the second school term

Abstract

This study examined the characteristics typically seen before the start of delinquency. Questionnaire surveys were administered twice to 1 524 junior high school students, in the first and again in the second school term. Students were classified into three groups according to the time when they started engaging in delinquent behavior: "experienced" (having engaged in delinquency before the first survey: N = 304), "started" (reporting their start of delinquency after the first survey: N = 157), and "no experience" (having no experience of delinquency: N = 1 063). Comparisons of the three groups showed that the "started" group shared the same characteristic factors with the "experienced" group. Compared with the "no experience" group, both delinquency groups reported a less intimate relationship with their parents, more experience of domestic abuse, less parental control, and more conforming behavior with their friends. Also, the "started" group showed a sharp change in their degree of enjoyment of school life. Although the "started" group reported the same level of school life before starting delinquency as the "no experience" group, they reported a lower degree of enjoyment, nearly equal with that of the "experienced" group, after starting delinquency.

Longitudinal Study of Mild Delinquency and In‐School Problem Behaviors During Junior High School1

“…1. Parental Monitoring: Parental monitoring was measured using items from Obokata and Muto (2006a). The items were: "My parents know where I am when I go out," "My parents know who my friends are," "My parents immediately know if I have something I did not have before," and "My parents often ask me about what happens at school."…”

“…2. Parental Violence: Three items were used from Obokata and Muto (2006a), excluding one item whose factor loading did not meet .40. The items were "My parents hit me when they scold me," "A parent is often violent at home," and "A parent was violent towards me when I was little."…”

“…1. Self-control: Five items having a high factor loading in Obokata and Muto (2006a) on the Low Self-Control Scale (Grasmick, Tittle, Bursik, & Arneklev, 1993) were used. The items were: "I often act on the spur of the moment without stopping to think," "I often do whatever brings me pleasure here and now, even at the cost of some distant goal," "I lose my temper pretty easily," "Often, when I'm angry at people, I feel more like hurting them than talking to them about why I am angry," and "Sometimes I will take a risk just for the fun of it."…”

“…Regarding juvenile delinquency research, there are mainly two types of research: investigations of people who are in a juvenile classification home or juvenile detention school (Brennan, Breitenbach, & Dieterich, 2008) and investigations of students who have experienced problem behavior through population-based research (Godleski, Eiden, Shisler, & Livingston, 2020), including school-based research (Booth, Farrell, & Varano, 2008). Obokata and Muto (2006a) examined mild delinquency, which was defined by observing behaviors of students who attended junior high school, such as smoking. In order to focus on the acts observed in students who attend school, their definition of "mild delinquency" was adopted in this study.…”

“…Investigating the risk factors through short-term and longitudinal studies in junior high school might lead to preventive schoolbased interventions. In a short-term longitudinal study, Obokata and Muto (2006a) clarified the antecedent factors of students whose delinquent behavior had begun in the second semester from factors in the first semester. However, the repetition of problem behavior was not considered, and the students who were at higher risk were not identified.…”