Abstract
Juvenile delinquents' conception of their own and others' commitment to delinquency was studied by using a questionnaire consisting of stories describing youngsters confronted with a situation calling for a delin quent act. Three stories dealt with theft and three with destroying a boy scout clubhouse. Each story of the group of three differed in the amount of group pressure exerted on the "hero." Ss were first asked to decide how the "hero" will behave in the situation, and then to indicate what they thought their friends had decided. Ss were 214 male juvenile delin quents, committed to eight correctional institutions (average age 14.3, S.D. = 1.4). Ninety non-delinquents attending residential institutions served as a control group (average age 14.4, S.D. — 1.2). Results show that delinquents gave more "delinquent" answers to the questionnaire than did non-delinquents and that they gave more answers which as serted that their friends were more committed to delinquency than they themselves were. Delinquents and non-delinquents alike took group pres sure into account as a potential source of influence on the "heroes" of the stories. These findings are discussed in relation to Cohen's and Matza's divergent theories about "Delinquent Subculture." While the findings raise some doubts about the existence of a delinquent subculture, they support Matza's notion of a process of "pluralistic ignorance" prevailing in what he calls "the situation of company." The possible psychological functions of delinquents maintaining a difference between themselves and their friends and the implications for therapy and rehabilitation are considered.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.