Prevention of Delinquency Through Repentance

Abstract

The investigator followed a group of boys in their natural setting, an Israeli slum, in order to study their transition from delinquent to nondehnquent behavior. They were attracted by a local charismatic rabbi and formed a cohesive "study group" around him. The influence of this group upon the boys'behavior was stronger than that of the local older delinquents, with whom the boys had associated prior to their joining the group. The phenomenon is discussed in terms of the reference group theory. In order to understand it fully, the relative attractiveness of the group (that is, its attractiveness vis-à-vis the delinquents' groupings) was investigated . Warmth and caring, together with order and discipline, were found to be the major attracting factors. Possible implications for delinquency prevention are discussed.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Aviad, J. (1980). From protest to return: Contemporary teshuva. The Jerusalem Quarterly, 16, 71-82.

Berger, P.L. (1974). The social reality of religion. Baltimore: Penguin University Books.

Bronfenbrenner, U. (1974, August). The origins of alienation. Scientific American, pp. 53-61.

Bronfenbrenner, U. (1980). On making human beings human. Character, 2, 1-7.

Burke, K.L. , & Bnnkerhoff, M.B. (1981). Capturing charisma: Notes on an elusive concept. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 20, 274-284.

Cohen, B.P. (1962). The process of choosing a reference group. In Criswell, J. H. , Solomon, H. , & Suppes, P. (Eds.), Mathematical methods in small group processes (pp. 101-118). Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

Cromer, G. (1981). Repentant delinquents: A religious approach to rehabilitation. The Jewish Journal of Sociology, 23, 113-122.

Eisenstadt, S.N. (1954). Reference group behavior and social integration: An explorative study American Sociological Review, 19, 175-185.

Empey, L.M.T. (1978). American delinquency: Its meaning and construction . Homewood, IL: Dorsey Press.

10.

Galbo, J.J. (1983). Adolescents' perceptions of significant adults . Adolescence, 18, 417-427.

11.

Glanz, D. , & Harrison, M.I. (1978). Varieties of identity transformation: The case of newly orthodox Jews. The Jewish Sociological Journal , 20, 129-141.

12.

Hazani, M. (1982). A marble palace. Yediot Aharonot , November 26. (in Hebrew)

13.

Kemper, T.D. (1968). Reference groups' Socialization and achievement American Sociological Review, 33, 31-45.

14.

Merton, R.K. (1967) Social theory and social structure. New York. Free Press.

15.

Peled, Y. (1978). Repentance as a means of delinquency prevention . Jerusalem: Israeli Prison Service . (in Hebrew)

16.

Polsky, H.W. (1962). Cottage six—The social system of delinquent boys in residential treatment. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.

17.

Raskin, S.B. (1983). A nonparametric survival analysis of time intervals between arrests. Unpublished Ph. D. dissertation, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.

18.

Schmitt, R.L. (1972). The reference other orientation. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press.

19.

Sherif, M. , & Sherif, C.W. (1964). Reference groups. New York : Harper & Row.

20.

Shils, E.A. , & Janowitz, M. (1948). Cohesion and disintegration in the Wehrmacht m World War II. Public Opinion Quarterly, 12, 280-315.

21.

Williams, M. (1970). Reference groups: A review and commentary. Sociological Quarterly, 11, 545-554.

22.

Wolfgang, M.E. , Figlio, R.M. , & Sellin, T. (1972). Delinquency m a birth cohort. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.