The Generality of Deviance: Replication of a Structural Model among High-Risk Youths

Abstract

Drawing on previous research completed on young adults in the general population, the authors report the results of a test of a structural equation model separating general and specific deviance components of deviant behavior on data collected in a longitudinal study of a cohort of juvenile detainees. Consistent with earlier work, the authors' findings indicate that each deviant behavior is, in part, a manifestation of a general tendency toward deviance and, in part, a unique phenomenon among the high-risk youths they studied. In addition, analysis suggests that the youths' self-report measures of deviance reflect a tendency toward self-disclosure, which accounts for part of the covariance among these measures.