Does Dropping Out of School Enhance Delinquent Involvement? Results From a Large‐scale National Probability Sample*

Abstract

This study seeks to improve on previous research on the relationship between dropping out of school and later involvement in delinquency. Using data from the first two waves of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, the analysis addresses two problems with prior studies in this area: (1) By controlling for many variables that may account for observed dropout‐delinquency associations, it is possible to explore the possibility that the relationship may be spurious. (2) By examining the effects of different reasons for dropping out, the study avoids the assumption that dropouts are a homogeneous group. Results indicate that the effect of dropping out of school on later offending is more complicated than previous research leads one to believe. In addition, dropping out does not always enhance the likelihood of a person's later delinquent involvement.

Not all school dropouts are the same: Ethnic differences in the relation between reason for leaving school and adolescent substance use

“…To date, the only study to have investigated the relation between reason for leaving school and problem behavior is Jarjoura (1993Jarjoura ( , 1996. The results of that study are generally consistent with the hypotheses indicated by social control theory.…”

The Impact of Schools and Education on Antisocial Behavior over the Lifecourse

“…By contrast, Jarjoura ( 1993Jarjoura ( , 1996 found that dropping out has no in fl uence on future delinquency, likely because he examines the issue further by (1) controlling for factors that would likely predict both dropping out and delinquency and (2) differentiating among the reasons for dropping out. After controlling for prior factors, he fi nds that those who drop out of school are not more likely to engage in delinquency.…”

Consommation de psychotropes et délinquance : de bons prédicteurs de l’abandon scolaire ?

“…L'interpréta-tion des résultats des études sur ce sujet porte à débat, particulièrement entre les tenants de la théorie du contrôle social, pour qui le décrochage est un événement précipitant vers la conduite criminelle (Bachman et ai, 1971 ;Polk et al, 1981 ;Thornberry et al, 1985), et les tenants de la théorie des tensions, pour qui le décrochage scolaire vient diminuer la pression poussant à l'agir délictueux (Elliot et Voss, 1974 ;Hartnagel et Khran, 1989). Jarjoura (1993Jarjoura ( , 1996 montre comment ces deux perspectives théoriques peuvent être invoquées si on étudie les relations en fonction des motifs d'abandon ou du statut social des sujets. Nous proposons de raffiner cette piste d'investigation en étudiant l'impact du décrochage sur la conduite criminelle selon différents types de décrocheurs.…”

“…Certains ont abordé la question sous l'angle de la prédiction en tentant de déterminer si la consommation de drogues et la délinquance conduisaient à l'abandon des études (Bachman et al, 1971 ;Elliot et Voss, 1974 ;Fagan et Pabon, 1990 ;Farrington, 1995 ;Friedman, Bransfield et Kreisher, 1994 ;Friedman, Glickman et Utada, 1985 ;Kaplan et Liu, 1994 ;Krohn, Thornberry, Collins-Hall et Lizotte, 1995 ;Newcomb et Bentler, 1986 ;Weng, Newcomb et Bentler, 1988). D'autres ont plutôt investigué les conséquences du décrochage scolaire sur les conduites déviantes (Bachman et al, 1971 ;Elliot et Voss, 1974 ;Farrington, 1995 ;Hartnagel et Krahn, 1989 ;Jarjoura, 1993Jarjoura, , 1996Krohn et al, 1995 ;Pronovost et Le Blanc, 1979, 1980Thornberry, Moore et Christenson, 1985). À cet effet, les recherches empiriques sur le sujet affichent différents résultats.…”