Abstract

Adolescent delinquency is a multifactorial and complex problem. Often, when talking about adolescent delinquency, there is not much information regarding attitudes towards delinquent behaviors once the adolescent becomes an adult and how this influences their attitudes towards delinquent adolescents in adulthood. This study measures these behaviors by identifying certain factors associated with delinquency like Substance Abuse, Attitudes towards Punishment, and Parental Monitoring. Participants (n = 100) engaged in a survey identifying both their own engagement in these behaviors in the past and their current attitudes towards these behaviors at present. Once all data was collected, I ran a Linear Regression Model and a test for Intercorrelations between all Variables to identify significant relationships between past engagement and current attitudes toward adolescent delinquent behavior. The results showed that substance abuse and parental monitoring were significant predictors of post adolescent attitudes towards deviance. The results also showed that most variables were interrelated, implying that in many cases there might not be just one factor that could influence a person in adulthood but that these factors both influence and are influenced by one another. Thus, the hypothesis (that adults who grew up in environments where factors associated with delinquency were hyper-present would report stronger attitudes towards adolescent deviant behaviors than those who did not) was confirmed, implying multifactorial significance in the relationship between all variables and attitudes towards adolescent deviance. Future research could use these results to develop recommendations for guardians who have experienced adolescent deviance and are having difficulty assisting their children who are engaging in adolescent deviant behaviors.

Advisor

Garcia, Amber

Department

Psychology

Keywords

Adolescence, Delinquency, Substance Abuse, Punishment, Parental Monitoring, Deviance

Publication Date

2023

Degree Granted

Bachelor of Arts

Document Type

Senior Independent Study Thesis

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© Copyright 2023 Giuliana Morales