| Abstrakt: |
In response to the recent increase in juvenile delinquency and violent behavior among Chinese adolescents in Municipal Taipei, this study examines delinquency by invoking a revision of Shaw and McKay's (1942, 1969) social disorganization model. Specifically, using a new research design (e.g., both self-report and official data) and multiple level measurement (i.e., contextual analysis), the present study approaches the underlying causes of Chinese juvenile delinquency by centering on both individual and structural community determinants. Using self-reported data collected from a random sample of 1,704 adolescents aged 13-17 drawn from senior and junior high school students in Municipal Taipei between the period of November 1 to November 18, 1991, the study provides much support for a revised social disorganization model. Specifically, communities that are characterized by high level of poverty, heterogeneity, and population density, and families that are characterized by a high level of disorganization, are found to have substantial direct influences on delinquent behavior. In a departure from some previous research, the study fails to replicate the point that the community mobility rate is positively related to juvenile delinquency. In addition, the causal effect of family income and residential mobility on juvenile delinquency are not confirmed by the analysis. Path analysis shows that explanatory variables also have indirect effects on juvenile delinquency through the intervening variables of bonding to conventional institutions, and/or bonding to deviant social groups. Logit analysis of the revised social disorganization model predicting juvenile's official recorded delinquency reveals that the community mobility rate, density, family residential mobility, family disorganization, and bonding to deviant social groups have substantial impacts on officially recorded delinquency. Results are consistent with much social disorganization research despite the fact that they are not completely congruent with the self-reported results. In sum, the hypothesis derived from the social disorganization perspective receives much support in this study. Also the effects of using both community structural characteristics and individual-level correlates in predicting juvenile delinquency are relatively impressive. The theoretical effectiveness, applicability, and generalization of the revised social disorganization model, calling for a new research design and contextual analysis, is worth pursuing in future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
