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Wasserman, Gail A.; Keenan, Kate; Tremblay, Richard E.; Coie,John D.; Herrenkohl, Todd I.; Loeber, Rolf; Petechuck, DavidRisk and Protective Factors of Child Delinquency. OJJDP ChildDelinquency Bulletin Series.Department of Justice, Washington, DC. Office of JuvenileJustice and Delinquency Prevention.NCJ-1934092003-04-00

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95-JD-FX-0018OJJDP, 810 Seventh Street, NW, Washington, DC 20531. Tel.:202-307-5911; Fax: 202-307-2093; e-mail: Askjj@ncjrs.org; Website: http://ojjdp.ncjrs.org/. For full text:http://www.ncjrs.org/ html/ojjdp/193409/contents.html.Information Analyses (070) Reports Descriptive (141)

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Children; *Delinquency; *Early Intervention; *Incidence;Juvenile Justice; *Prevention; *Program Development; ProgramEffectiveness*Protective Factors; *Risk Factors

Sparked by high-profile cases involving children who commitviolent crimes, public concerns regarding child delinquents have escalated.Compared with juveniles who first become involved in delinquency in theirteens, child delinquents (offenders younger than age 13) face a much greaterrisk of becoming serious, violent, and chronic juvenile offenders. The Officeof Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) formed the Study Groupon Very Young Offenders to examine the prevalence and frequency of offendingby children younger than 13. This Study Group identified particular risk andprotective factors that are crucial to developing effective earlyintervention and protection programs for very young offenders. This bulletinfocuses on four types of risk and protective factors: individual, family,peer, and school and community. (Contains 95 references.) (GCP)

Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be madefrom the original document.

Risk and Protective Factors of ChildDelinquency

byGail A. Wasserman

Kate KeenanRichard E. Tremblay

John D. CoieTodd I. Herrenkohl

Rolf LoeberDavid Petechuck

Child Delinquency Bulletin SeriesApril 2003

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONOffice of Educational Research and Improvement

EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATIONCENTER (ERIC)

This document has been reproduced asreceived from the person or organizationoriginating it.

Minor changes have been made toimprove reproduction quality.

Points of view or opinions stated in thisdocument do not necessarily representofficial OERI position or policy.

Mir COPY AVARILA

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U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Justice Programs

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention

.tccioGsl

J . Robert Flores, Administrator

A- Pleilalefromi- ailf,I>

Preventing children from engagingin delinquent behavior is one ofOJJDP's primary goals. Early inter-vention is crucial to achieving thisgoal, and understanding the factorsrelated to child delinquency is essen-tial to effective early childhood inter-vention. As part of its effort to under-stand and respond to these needs,OJJDP formed the Study Group onVery Young Offenders.

This Bulletin, part of OJJDP's ChildDelinquency Series, focuses on fourtypes of risk and protective factors:individual, family, peer, and schooland community. It is derived fromthe chapters devoted to these criticalareas for prevention and interventionin the Study Group's final report,Child Delinquents: Development,Intervention, and Service Needs.

To succeed, intervention methodsdesigned to prevent child delinquencyfrom escalating into serious and vio-lent juvenile offending must addressa range of risk and protective factors.In addition to the factors addressedin this Bulletin, OJJDP is pursuingresearch to examine the role of reli-gious traditions and training as pro-tective factors in the life of a child.

Preventing delinquency early in achild's life can pay significant divi-dends by reducing crime rates anddecreasing crime-related expendi-tures of tax dollars. More important,it can help children avoid the conse-quences of delinquent behavior byincreasing their chances of leadinglaw-abiding and productive lives.

LvdeliAlmes-teiApril 2003

Risk and Protective Factorsof Child DelinquencyGail A. Wasserman, Kate Keenan, Richard E. Tremblay, John D. Coie,Todd I. Herrenkohl, Rolf Loeber, and David Petechuk

Sparked by high-profile cases involvingchildren who commit violent crimes, pub-lic concerns regarding child delinquentshave escalated. Compared with juvenileswhose delinquent behavior begins later inadolescence, child delinquents (offendersyounger than age 13) face a greater riskof becoming serious, violent, and chronicjuvenile offenders. OJJDP formed theStudy Group on Very Young Offenders toexamine the prevalence and frequencyof offending by children younger than 13.This Study Croup identified particular riskand protective factors that are crucial todeveloping effective early interventionand protection programs for very youngoffenders.

This Bulletin is part of OJJDP's ChildDelinquency Series, which presents thefindings of the Study Group on Very YoungOffenders. This series offers the latestinformation about child delinquency, in-cluding analyses of child delinquency sta-tistics, insights into the origins of veryyoung offending, and descriptions of earlyintervention programs and approachesthat work to prevent the development ofdelinquent behavior by focusing on riskand protective factors.

Some aspects of children's behaviors,such as temperament, are establishedduring the first 5 years of life. This foun-dation, coupled with children's exposureto certain risk and protective factors,influences the likelihood of childrenbecoming delinquent at a young age.However, the identification of thesemultiple risk and protective factors hasproven to be a difficult task. Althoughno magic solutions exist for preventingor correcting child delinquency, identify-ing risk and protective factors remainsessential to developing interventions toprevent child delinquency from escalat-ing into chronic criminality.

According to the Study Group on VeryYoung Offenders, a group of 39 expertson child delinquency and child psy-chopathology convened by the Officeof Juvenile Justice and DelinquencyPrevention (OJJDP), risk factors forchild delinquency operate in severaldomains: the individual child, thechild's family, the child's peer group,the child's school, the child's neighbor-hood, and the media. Most profession-als agree that no single risk factor leadsa young child to delinquency. Rather,

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the likelihood of early juvenile offendingincreases as the number of risk factorsand risk factor domains increases.

Although some risk factors are commonto many child delinquents, the patternsand particular combination of risk fac-tors vary from child to child. Profes-sionals have learned a great deal aboutwhich risk and protective factors arerelevant for screening and intervention.For example, most professionals agreethat early on in a child's life, the mostimportant risks stem from individualfactors (e.g., birth complications, hyper-activity, sensation seeking, temperamen-tal difficulties) and family factors (e.g.,parental antisocial or criminal behavior,substance abuse, and poor child-rearingpractices). As the child grows older andbecomes integrated into society, newrisk factors related to peer influences,the school, and the community beginto play a larger role.

Although focusing on risk factors isimportant, examining protective factorsthat reduce the risk of delinquency isas important for identifying interven-tions that are likely to work. For exam-ple, some common protective factorsagainst child delinquency and disrup-tive behavior are female gender, proso-cial behavior (such as empathy) duringthe preschool years, and good cognitiveperformance (for example, appropriatelanguage development and good aca-demic performance). The proportion ofprotective factors to risk factors has asignificant influence on child delinquen-cy, and protective factors may offset theinfluence of children's exposure to mul-tiple risk factors.

This Bulletin is based on four chaptersfrom the Study Group's final report,Child Delinquents: Development, Inter-vention, and Service Needs (Loeber andFarrington, 2001): "Individual Risk andProtective Factors," "Family Risk andProtective Factors," "Peer Factors andInterventions," and "School and Com-munity Risk Factors and Interventions."

Child Delinquency Research: An OverviewHistorically, delinquency studies have focused on later adolescence, the time whendelinquency usually peaks. This was particularly true in the 1990s, when most re-searchers studied chronic juvenile offenders because they committed a dispropor-tionately large amount of crime. Research conducted during this period by OJJDP'sStudy Group on Serious and Violent Juvenile Offenders concluded that youth re-ferred to juvenile court for their first delinquent offense before age 13 are far morelikely to become chronic offenders than youth first referred to court at a later age.To better understand the implications of this finding, OJJDP convened the StudyGroup on Very Young Offenders in 1998. Its charge was to analyze existing data andto address key issues that had not previously been studied in the literature. Consist-ing of 16 primary study group members and 23 coauthors who are experts on childdelinquency and psychopathology, the Study Group found evidence that someyoung children engage in very serious antisocial behavior and that, in some cases,this behavior foreshadows early delinquency. The Study Group also identified sev-eral important risk factors that, when combined, may be related to the onset of earlyoffending. The Study Group report concluded with a review of preventive and reme-dial interventions relevant to child delinquency.

The Child Delinquency Bulletin Series is drawn from the Study Group's final report,which was completed in 2001 under grant number 95-JD-FX-0018 and subsequent-ly published by Sage Publications as Child Delinquents: Development, Intervention,and Service Needs (edited by Rolf Loeber and David P. Farrington). OJJDP encour-ages parents, educators, and the juvenile justice community to use this informationto address the needs of young offenders by planning and implementing more effec-tive interventions.

The risk factors for child delinquencydiscussed in this Bulletin are categorizedinto four groups: (1) individual, (2) fami-ly, (3) peer, and (4) school and commu-nity. A greater understanding of theserisk and protective factors could serveas the basis for future social policiesdesigned to prevent and control delin-quency (see Burns et al., in press, anoth-er OJJDP Bulletin in this series).

Individual Risk FactorsChildren's behavior is the result ofgenetic, social, and environmental fac-tors. In relation to child delinquency,the Study Group defined individual riskand protective factors as an individual'sgenetic, emotional, cognitive, physical,and social characteristics. These fac-tors are frequently interrelated, yetthe underlying mechanism of how thisoccurs is not fully understood.

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Antisocial BehaviorEarly antisocial behavior may be thebest predictor of later delinquency. Anti-social behaviors generally include vari-ous forms of oppositional rule violationand aggression, such as theft, physicalfighting, and vandalism. In fact, earlyaggression appears to be the most signif-icant social behavior characteristic topredict delinquent behavior before age13. In one study, physical aggression inkindergarten was the best and only pre-dictor of later involvement in propertycrimes (Haapasalo and Tremblay, 1994;Tremblay et al., 1994). In contrast, proso-cial behavior (such as helping, sharing,and cooperation), as rated by teachers,appeared to be a protective factor, specif-ically for those who have risk factors forcommitting violent and property crimesbefore age 13.

Studies conducted in Canada, England,New Zealand, Sweden, and the United

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Childhood Risk Factors for Child Delinquencyand Later Violent Juvenile OffendingThe following risk factors are discussed in this Bulletin.

Individual factors

Early antisocial behavior

Emotional factors such as highbehavioral activation and lowbehavioral inhibition

Poor cognitive development

Low intelligence

Hyperactivity

Family factors

Parenting

Maltreatment

Family violence

Divorce

Parental psychopathology

Familial antisocial behaviors

Teenage parenthood

Family structure

Large family size

Peer factors

Association with deviant peers

Peer rejection

School and community factors

Failure to bond to school

Poor academic performance

Low academic aspirations

Living in a poor family

Neighborhood disadvantage

Disorganized neighborhoods

Concentration of delinquentpeer groups

Access to weapons

Source: This list is largely based on R. Loeber and D.P. Farrington, eds. 2001. ChildDelinquents: Development, Intervention, and Service Needs. Thousand Oaks, CA: SagePublications, Inc.

States have confirmed that early anti-social behavior tends to be the bestpredictor of early-onset delinquencyfor boys. For example, in a study byPatterson and colleagues, antisocialbehavior was the best predictor of ageat first arrest when compared with familysocial disadvantage, parental monitoring,and parental discipline. Long-term resultsalso indicated that those with an earlyarrest (before age 13) were most likely tobe chronic offenders by age 18 (Patterson,Crosby, and Vuchinich, 1992; Pattersonet al., 1998). Likewise, the CambridgeStudy in Delinquent Development inLondon, England, showed that one ofthe strongest predictors of a convictionbetween ages 10 and 13 was trouble-some behavior between the ages of 8and 10, as rated by teachers and peers(Farrington, 1986).

In another study, the two best predic-tors of later antisocial behavior weremothers' ratings of their children asdifficult to manage at 3 years of age andparents' ratings of behavior problems at5 years of age (White et al., 1990). Mostchildren whose caregivers perceivedthem as difficult to manage at age 3 didnot become delinquents before age 13.However, most children who becamedelinquents before age 13 had behaviorproblems that had emerged in the firstyears of life.

Emotional FactorsAlthough early aggressive behavior isthe most apparent and best predictor oflater delinquency, other individual fac-tors may contribute to later antisocial

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behaviors. By the end of the third yearof life, children can express the entirerange of human emotions, includinganger, pride, shame, and guilt. Parents,teachers, and even peers affect chil-dren's socialization of emotional expres-sion and help them learn to managenegative emotions constructively. Thus,how children express emotions, espe-cially anger, early in life may contributeto or reduce their risk for delinquency.

Many studies of delinquency havefocused on the concepts of behavioralinhibition and behavioral activation.Behavioral inhibition (in response to anew stimulus or punishment) includesfearfulness, anxiety, timidity, and shyness.Behavioral activation includes noveltyand sensation seeking, impulsivity,hyperactivity, and predatory aggression.The Study Group found evidence thathigh levels of behavioral activation andlow levels of behavioral inhibition arerisk factors for antisocial behavior. Forexample, high levels of daring behaviorat ages 8-10 predicted convictions andself-reported delinquency before age 21,whereas measures of anxiety and guiltdid not (Farrington, 1998). Overall, stud-ies have shown that impulsive, not anx-ious, boys are more likely to commitdelinquent acts at 12 to 13 years of age.More studies are needed to determinewhether emotional characteristics inchildhood are causes of or simply corre-lates of later antisocial behavior.

Cognitive DevelopmentEmotional and cognitive developmentappear to be associated with children'sability to control social behavior withinthe first 2 years of life. Evidence sug-gests that these factors play an impor-tant role in the development of earlydelinquency and may affect the learningof social rules. In addition to traditionalmeasures such as IQ, the Study Groupconsidered cognitive development interms of language development, socialcognition, academic achievement, andneuropsychological function.

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The Terrible TwosThe Study Group identified evidencelinking behavior problems aroundage 3 with delinquency by age 13.Antisocial behaviors, such as angerand physical aggression, can appearduring the first year of life but oftenpeak at the end of the second yearafter birth. Thus, before age 3, mostchildren engage in behavior thatwould be considered antisocial at alater age, including physical aggres-sion. However, most children out-grow early problem behavior. Theones who do not outgrow suchbehavior are of concern here be-cause of the increased risk that theymay become child delinquents.

Poor cognitive development and behav-ior problems during early childhoodcould explain the association betweenacademic achievement and delinquency.For example, numerous studies haveshown that delinquents' verbal IQs tendto be lower than their nonverbal IQs(e.g., Moffitt, 1993). Delinquents alsohave lower mean global IQs and lowerschool achievement rates comparedwith nondelinquents (e.g., Fergussonand Horwood, 1995; Maguin and Loeber,1996).

Mild neuropsychological deficits pres-ent at birth can snowball into seriousbehavior problems by affecting aninfant's temperament (Moffitt, 1993).These deficits can affect children'scontrol of behaviors such as language,aggression, oppositional behavior, at-tention, and hyperactivity. Basic cogni-tive deficits may also be associated withimpaired social cognitive processes,such as failure to attend to appropriatesocial cues (e.g., adults' instructions,peers' social initiations).

HyperactivityStudies have shown that restless,squirmy, and fidgety children are morelikely to be involved in later delinquent

behavior (e.g., Farrington, Loeber, andVan Kammen, 1990; Lynam, 1997). Clin-ical studies of hyperactive childrenhave shown that they also are at highrisk of delinquency (e.g., Loeber et al.,1995). For example, motor restlessness(hyperactive or hyperkinetic behavior),as rated by kindergarten teachers,was a better predictor of delinquencybetween ages 10 and 13 than lack ofprosocial behavior and low anxiety(Tremblay et al., 1994). Another studyconcluded that hyperactivity leads todelinquency only when it occurs withphysical aggression or oppositionalbehavior (Lahey, McBurnett, andLoeber, 2000).

Family Risk FactorsChildren and their families defy narrowdescriptions. Social, environmental, andfamily risk factors tend to cluster, andany number of them can occur togetherwithin the same family. Understandingthe role and influence of each of thesefactors is a difficult task. For example,early child offending may develop throughseveral pathways. For some children,the primary risk factor may be a familyrisk factor such as lack of parental super-vision; for others, it may be an individ-ual risk factor such as a diagnosis ofattention deficit hyperactivity disorder(Cicchetti and Rogosch, 1996).

A Question About Biological FactorsAll behavior, including delinquency, is influenced by biological factors. These fac-tors include not only physical strength but also brain functioning, such as neuro-transmitters that pass signals to the brain. Serotonin receptors, for instance, areneurotransmitters that have been associated with impulsive behavior (Goldman,Lappalainen, and Ozaki, 1996). Other biological factors have also been associatedwith delinquency. Compared to nondelinquents, delinquents tend to have a lowerheart rate and a lower skin response (Raine, 1993), which are measures of autonomicnervous activity. Another line of research has concentrated on hormones, includingtestosterone. However, a high level of testosterone during the elementary schoolyears is not known to predict later delinquency. Currently, research on genes hascome as far as the identification of proteins associated with neurotransmitters, butit is unlikely to shed light on complex processes such as delinquency (Rowe, 2002).In summary, it is far from clear to what extent biological processes determine delin-quency at a young age.

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Studies have shown that inadequatechild-rearing practices, home discord,and child maltreatment are associatedwith early-onset delinquency (e.g.,Derzon and Lipsey, 2000). In addition,the strongest predictors of early-onsetviolence include family size and parentalantisocial history. Early temperamentaldifficulties in the child coupled withparental deficiencies that interfere withproactive parenting are also thought tobe important in the development of early-onset behavior problems.

In looking at the clustering of family riskfactors, one goal is to identify whichcombinations of risk factors promoteearly misbehavior because, more thanlikely, early misbehavior is the result ofan accumulation of a number of factors.The number of risk factors and stres-sors and the length of exposure to themhave a strong impact on child behavior(e.g., Tiet et al., 1998; Williams et al.,1990).

A number of social adversities in fami-lies can affect children's delinquency.These factors include parenting, mal-treatment, family violence, divorce,parental psychopathology, familial anti-social behaviors, teenage parenthood,family structure, and family size.

ParentingInadequate parenting practices areamong the most powerful predictors ofearly antisocial behavior (e.g., Hawkinset al., 1998). Compared with familiesin which the children do not have con-duct problems, families of young chil-dren with conduct problems have beenfound to be eight times more likely toengage in conflicts involving discipline,to engage in half as many positive inter-actions, and, often unintentionally, toreinforce negative child behavior (Gard-ner, 1987; Patterson and Stouthamer-Loeber, 1984). Three specific parentalpractices are particularly associatedwith early conduct problems: (1) a highlevel of parent-child conflict, (2) poormonitoring, and (3) a low level of posi-tive involvement (Wasserman et al.,

1996). In the Pittsburgh Youth Study,the co-occurrence of low levels of moni-toring and high levels of punishmentincreased the risk of delinquency in 7-to 13-year-old boys. Conversely, attach-ments to conventional parents and tosociety's institutions are hypothesizedto protect against developing antisocialbehavior (Hirschi, 1969).

MaltreatmentChild maltreatment or abuse commonlyoccurs with other family risk factorsassociated with early-onset offending.Focusing specifically on the relationshipbetween physical abuse and children'saggression, one study suggests that20 percent of abused children becomedelinquent before reaching adulthood(Lewis, Mallouh, and Webb, 1989). Clearly,most physically abused children do notgo on to become antisocial or violent.However, one study that compared chil-dren without a history of abuse or neg-lect with children who had been abusedor neglected found that the latter groupaccrued more juvenile and adult arrestsby the age of 25 (Widom, 1989). Abusedor neglected children also offendedmore frequently and began doing soat earlier ages.

Family ViolenceEach year, approximately 3.3 millionchildren witness physical and verbalspouse abuse (Jaffe, Wolfe, and Wilson,1990). Witnessing domestic violencehas been linked to increased childbehavior problems, especially forboys and younger children (Reid andCrisafulli, 1990). Little is known aboutthe age range in which children may bemost vulnerable or how long associa-tions persist. In most families, when thewoman is battered, children are alsobattered (McKibben, De Vos, and New-berger, 1989). The co-occurrence ofchild abuse and witnessing domesticviolence affects children's adjustmentmore than twice as much as witness-ing domestic violence alone (Hughes,Parkinson, and Vargo, 1989). Other

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factors that impose additional risk inviolent families include a high incidenceof other behavior problems (e.g., alco-hol abuse and incarceration) in malebatterers. Maternal psychological dis-tress may also expose children to addi-tional indirect risks, such as the motherbeing emotionally unavailable to thechildren (e.g., Zuckerman et al., 1995).

DivorceCompared with boys whose parentsremained married, boys whose parentsdivorced have been found to be morelikely to have continuing problems withantisocial, coercive, and noncompliantbehaviors through age 10 (Hetherington,1989). As with many family factors,establishing the exact effects of divorceon children is difficult because of otherco-occurring risks, such as the lossof a parent, other related negative lifeevents (e.g., predivorce child behaviorproblems, family conflict, decrease infamily income), and a parent's subse-quent remarriage. When these relatedfactors are considered, the impact ofdivorce itself is substantially less.

Parental PsychopathologyHigh rates (as high as 45 percent) ofparental antisocial personality disorderhave been consistently reported forparents of boys (including preadoles-cents) referred for conduct problems(e.g., Lahey et al., 1988). Similar ratesoccurred for parental substance abuseand depression (Robins, 1966). Depressedparents show many parenting deficien-cies associated with increased antisocialbehaviors in children, such as inconsis-tency, irritability, and lack of supervision(Cummings and Davies, 1994). Parentalpsychopathology has been linked toincreased rates of psychiatric disorderamong school-aged children (Costelloet al., 1997). The Pittsburgh Youth Studyfound that the association betweendelinquency and parental anxiety ordepression was stronger in younger thanin older children (Loeber et al., 1998).

Familial Antisocial BehaviorsA long history of research demonstratesthat aggressive behavior and criminal-ity are more prevalent in some familiesthan in others. For example, the Cam-bridge Study in Delinquent Development,which followed 411 families, found thatoffending was strongly concentrated in asmall group of families and that approxi-mately 5 percent of the families account-ed for about half of the juvenile criminalconvictions (West and Farrington, 1977).

Antisocial adults tend to select antiso-cial partners (e.g., Farrington, Barnes,and Lambert, 1996). Overall, antisocialparents show increased levels of familyconflict, exercise poorer supervision,experience more family breakdown, anddirect more hostility toward their chil-dren. In addition, having an antisocialsibling also increases a child's likeli-hood of antisocial behaviors (e.g., Far-rington, 1995). The influences of siblingsare stronger when the siblings are closein age.

Teenage ParenthoodBeing born to a teenage mother hasbeen found to strongly predict offendingin adolescence (Conseur et al., 1997),although much of this effect may stemfrom the mother's own antisocial histo-ry and involvement with antisocial part-ners (Rutter, Gil ler, and Hagell 1998).

Family StructureMany single parents are able to raisetheir children very well. However, chil-dren from single-mother households areat increased risk for poor behavioraloutcome (Pearson et al., 1994; Vaden-Kiernan et al., 1995; McLanahan andBooth, 1989; Sampson, 1987), even con-trolling for the fact that single-motherhouseholds on average have fewer eco-nomic resources. Other factors couldexplain this relationship. Especially ascompared with partnered women, sin-gle mothers report more mental healthproblems (e.g., Guttentag, Salasin, and

Belle, 1980), have higher levels of resi-dential mobility (McLanahan and Booth,1989; McCormick, Workman-Daniels,and Brooks-Gunn, 1996), and have fewerresources to monitor their children'sactivities and whereabouts. Each ofthese factors on its own contributesto increased levels of early childhoodbehavior problems.

Family SizeThe more children in a family, thegreater the risk of delinquency. TheCambridge Study found that, comparedwith boys who had fewer siblings, boyswho had four or more siblings by theage of 10 were twice as likely to offend,regardless of the parents' socioeconomicstatus (West and Farrington, 1973). Theseassociations may be related to dimin-ished supervision in larger families.

Peer Risk FactorsPeer influences on child delinquencyusually appear developmentally laterthan do individual and family influ-ences. Many children entering school,for example, already show aggressiveand disruptive behaviors. Two majormechanisms associated with peer fac-tors or influences are association withdeviant peers and peer rejection.

Association With DeviantPeersAssociation with deviant peers is relatedto increased co-offending and, in a minor-ity of cases, the joining of gangs. Since a1931 report showing that 80 percent ofChicago juvenile delinquents werearrested with co-offenders, empiricalevidence has supported the theory thatdeviant peer associations contributeto juvenile offending (Shaw and McKay,1931). The unresolved question iswhether deviant peers model and rein-force antisocial behaviors or whetherthe association with deviant peers issimply another manifestation of a child'spredisposition to delinquency. In other

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Sibling InfluencesBased on data from the 1979 NationalLongitudinal Survey of Youth, a num-ber of publications have underscoredthe role played by siblings in influenc-ing delinquent behavior in both thedomains of family and peer influence.For example, compared with teenswith lower rates of offending, teenswith high rates of offending weremore likely to have siblings who alsocommitted delinquent acts at a highrate. Some studies speculate thatolder siblings who are prone to delin-quent behavior may reinforce anti-social behavior in a younger sibling,especially when there is a close, warmrelationship (Rowe and Gulley, 1992).

words, do "birds of a feather flock togeth-er" or does "bad company corrupt"?

The Study Group found that a strong casecould be made that deviant peers influ-ence nondelinquent juveniles to becomedelinquent. For example, according todata from the National Youth Survey ona representative sample of U.S. juvenilesages 11 to 17, the most frequent patternwas a child moving from associationwith nondelinquent peers to associationwith slightly deviant peers, and then onto commission of minor offenses. Morefrequent association with deviant peersand more serious offending followed,leading to the highest level of associa-tion with deviant peers (Elliott andMenard, 1996; Keenan et al., 1995).

Deviant peers influence juveniles whoalready have some history of delinquentbehavior to increase the severity orfrequency of their offending. A few stud-ies of children younger than 14 supportthis hypothesis. For example, in a studyof Iowa juveniles, involvement in thejuvenile justice system was highest forthose who engaged in disruptive behav-ior and associated with deviant peers ata young age (Simons et al., 1994). TheStudy Group concluded that deviant

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peers contribute to serious offendingby child delinquents during the periodof their transition to adolescence.

Although an extreme form of associa-tion with deviant peers, gangs providea ready source of co-offenders. Not sur-prisingly, gang membership reflects thehighest degree of deviant peer influenceon offending. The Rochester Youth De-velopment Study, the Denver Youth Sur-vey, and the Seattle Social DevelopmentProject have all shown that gangs appearto exert a considerable influence on thedelinquent behavior of individual mem-bers. Juveniles are joining gangs atyounger ages, and the role of gangs incrimes committed by youthful offendersappears to be an increasing problem(Howell, 1998). In the case of violence,even after accounting for other riskfactors (such as association with delin-quent peers who are not gang members,family poverty, lack of parental supervi-sion, and negative life events), gangmembership still has the strongest rela-tionship with self-reported violence(Battin et al., 1998).

Peer RejectionThe evidence that peer rejection inchildhood is a risk factor for antisocialbehaviors is relatively new comparedwith evidence about association withdeviant peers. Recent findings haveshown that young aggressive childrenwho are rejected by peers are at signifi-cantly greater risk for later chronicantisocial behaviors than children whoare not rejected, whether or not theywere aggressive early on. For example,one study found that peer rejectionin third grade predicted increasinglygreater antisocial behaviors from sixthgrade onward, even when boys' earlieraggressiveness was accounted for inthe predictions (Coie et al., 1995). Thefrequency of violent offending in adoles-cence was greater for these rejected,aggressive juveniles, and they were morelikely to persist in violent offending inearly adulthood. In the early schoolyears, peer rejection accentuates therelation between early attention and

hyperactivity problems and conductproblems in fourth grade.

One explanation for the role of peerrejection in increasing antisocial be-haviors is that it leads to greater suspi-ciousness of other people's motives ashostile and hence to greater aggressionin response. A second explanation isthat rejection causes children to havefewer positive social options and, conse-quently, to become part of lower statusand deviant peer groups. Rejected,aggressive children are more likely thanothers to be members of deviant peergroups and tend to be peripheral mem-bers of these groups (Bagwell et al.,2000). Their tenuous sense of belongingmay dispose them to engage in moreantisocial activity in an effort to gainstanding in these groups.

Peer rejection and deviant peers aremediating factors rather than primarycauses of child delinquency. As shownin the diagram (on page 8), early com-munity, family, and individual risk fac-tors can lead to early aggressive anddisruptive behaviors. The already "at-risk" child then enters school, wherepeer risk factors can culminate in pre-adolescent or very early adolescentserious offending. The Study Groupconcluded that three factors combineto account for a juvenile's acceleratedmovement toward more serious offend-ing in early adolescence:

The high-risk juvenile's own anti-social tendencies.

The negative consequences of peerrejection resulting from thesetendencies.

The resulting deviant peerassociations.

The Study Group believes that peerinfluence is an important mediating fac-tor in child delinquency. Research sug-gests that peer influence has an impacton delinquency in two ways: (1) the ini-tial offending of relatively late startersand (2) the escalation of serious offend-ing among very early starters.

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School and CommunityRisk FactorsFew studies have addressed risk factorsthat emerge from young children's social-ization in schools and communities. TheStudy Group focused on a social devel-opment model integrating insights fromcurrent theories that consider the influ-ence of community and schools on childdelinquents (Catalano and Hawkins, 1996;Farrington and Hawkins, 1991; Hawkinsand Weis, 1985). The model proposesthat socialization involves the sameprocesses in producing either prosocialor antisocial behaviors. These processesinclude the following:

Children's opportunity for involve-ment in activities and interactionswith others.

Children's degree of involvementand interaction with others.

Children's ability (skills) to partici-pate in these involvements andinteractions.

Reinforcements received from indi-viduals for children's performancein involvements and interactionswith others.

,,,

School FactorsThe Study Group found that the failureto bond to school during childhood canlead to delinquency. In addition, as stat-ed above, early neurological deficien-cies, when combined with the failureof family, school, and community toprovide adequate socialization, leadto early-onset offending that persiststhroughout life. A specific school riskfactor for delinquency is poor academicperformance. A meta-analysis of morethan 100 studies examined the relation-ship between poor academic perform-ance and delinquency and found thatpoor academic performance is relatedto the prevalence, onset, frequency, andseriousness of delinquency (Maguin andLoeber, 1996). In young children ages 8to 11, academic performance has beenrelated to serious later delinquency(Loeber et al., 1998). Even when indi-vidual intelligence and attention prob-lems are taken into account, academicperformance remains a predictor ofdelinquency.

Children with weak bonds (low commit-ment) to school, low educational aspira-tions, and poor motivation are also at

risk for general offending and for childdelinquency (e.g., Hawkins et al., 1998;Le Blanc, Cote, and Loeber, 1991). It islikely that children who perform poorlyon academic tasks will fail to developstrong bonds to school and will havelower expectations of success. As a re-sult, academic achievement and schoolbonding are, in many ways, interdepend-ent. For example, one study found thatboys who engage in delinquency areless committed to school and are alsomore likely to have "shorter plans" fortheir schooling. These boys describedthemselves as bad students (Le Blancet al., 1991).

Community FactorsNumerous risk factors for young chil-dren's offending lie within the commu-nity domain. For example, findings fromstudies of childhood exposure to familypoverty have been very consistent.Children raised in poor, disadvantagedfamilies are at greater risk for offend-ing than children raised in relativelyaffluent families (e.g., Farrington, 1989,1991, 1998). Disadvantages at the neigh-borhood level are also of primary

importance in the development of anti-social behaviors (Catalano and Hawkins,1996). Disorganized neighborhoods withfew controls may have weak social con-trol networks that allow criminal activityto go unmonitored and even unnoticed(e.g., Elliott et al., 1996; Sampson andLauritsen, 1994). In terms of violentcrimes, one study concluded that socialdisorganization and concentrated povertywithin the community lead to residents'decreased willingness to intervenewhen children are engaging in antisocial/unlawful acts, further contributing toa greater likelihood of violence withinneighborhoods (Sampson, Raudenbush,and Earls, 1997).

Certain residential areas may supportgreater opportunities for antisociallearning. For example, disadvantagedinner-city neighborhoods are often char-acterized by a predominance of delin-quent peer groups and gangs that drawyoung people into crime (Sutherlandand Cressey, 1970). Juveniles livingwithin high-crime neighborhoods areoften exposed to norms favorable tocrime and are at high risk for offending(Developmental Research and Programs,

Development of Early Offending Behavior and Peer Influences

Community

Family

Child

Early Risk Factors

Aggressive andDisruptive Behaviors

Peer Rejection

IncreasedAggressiveness and

Destructiveness

Association WithDeviant Peers

DelinquentActivity

School Entry Early School Years Preadolescence

S °ince : JD .0 and S .M er-,7ohnson. 2001. Peer factozs and iiterventbns. h Serious and Violent Juvenile Offenders: Risk Factors andSuccessful Interventions, edIed by R . Loeber and D 2.Fand Igton.Thousand Oaks, CA :Sage Publtatbns, Inc., pp .191-2 0 9 .

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1 0

Who's in Control at School?Schools play an important role in the socialization of children and the developmentof antisocial behavior. When schools are poorly organized and operated, childrenare less likely to value their education and do well on academic tasks and morelikely to experience peer influences that promote delinquency and opportunities forantisocial behavior (Gottfredson, 2001). For example, schools with fewer teacherresources and large enrollments of students have higher levels of teacher victimiza-tion by pupils. Teacher victimization is also higher in schools with lower cooperationbetween teachers and administrators and with poor rule enforcement. Furthermore,poor rule enforcement within schools has been associated with higher levels ofstudent victimization. Disciplinary problems are also more common in schools withless satisfied teachers (Ostroff, 1992). Although much more research is needed onthe relationship between school organization and processes and children's delin-quency, available evidence suggests that, in addition to those already noted, severalother specific school characteristics may be linked to antisocial behaviors of students,including poor student-teacher relations, norms and values supporting antisocialbehaviors, and poorly defined rules and expectations for appropriate conduct.

1996). In addition, having ready accessto weapons generally increases the riskfor violence (Brewer et al., 1995).

InterventionsAlthough the Study Group's findingsconcerning interventions for child delin-quency will be discussed more fully inTreatment, Services, and InterventionPrograms for Child Delinquents (Burnset al., 2003), the following briefoverview of the issues associated with

intervention focuses on the risk factorsjust discussed. In general, the StudyGroup found that the number of ade-quately designed experimental interven-tions is insufficient to guide policymakersin their efforts to prevent child delin-quency. The lack of interventions tar-geting antisocial behaviors in youngchildren is particularly conspicuous.The Study Group believes focusing onchildren's early years is essential tobetter understand the socialization fail-ures that lead to juvenile delinquency

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and, eventually, criminal behavior inadulthood.

IndividualIf the impulse control necessary toavoid trouble is learned largely duringthe preschool years, the best time tohelp those who have difficulty in acquir-ing this control would be during the"sensitive period" of early childhood. Itis difficult to imagine that later interven-tions would have nearly as much effect.Instead of looking for the onset of ag-gression and antisocial behaviors afterchildren enter school, it is more impor-tant to focus on the preschool years,when clearly much of the developmentof impulse control is taking place (e.g.,Broidy, Nagin, and Tremblay, 1999;Tremblay et al., 1998).

FamilySeveral types of programs providefamily-based interventions. For exam-ple, Olds and colleagues (1998) report-ed on nurses' home visits to unmarriedwomen living in households with lowsocioeconomic status during pregnancyto the end of the second year after birth.These visits subsequently had a posi-tive effect on the 15-year-old children'sreports of arrests, convictions, violations

Violence and the MediaSome studies have shown that anti-social behaviors, such as violence,can be learned by viewing violencein the media. For example, childrenexposed to high levels of televisionviolence at age 8 were found to bemore likely to behave aggressively atthat age and subsequently, up to age30 (Eron and Huesmann, 1987). Inaddition, children of parents whofrequently watched violence on tele-vision and showed aggression werefound to be more likely than otherchildren to exhibit aggression and toprefer violent programs (Huesmannand Miller, 1994).

T3E1T COTET igAIIILLETA

Bad CompanySometimes even the best intentionsgo astray. The fact that antisocialjuveniles are often grouped togetherin intervention programs may, in fact,promote friendships and alliancesamong these juveniles and intensifydelinquent behavior rather than re-duce it (e.g., McCord, 1997; Dishion,McCord, and Poulin, 1999). For exam-ple, group discussions among antiso-cial peers may inadvertently reinforceantisocial attitudes and promote anti-social friendships that may continueoutside group sessions.

of probation, consumption of alcohol,sexual activity, and running away fromhome. Earlier reports (Olds et al., 1997;Olds et al., 1986) had shown that thisintervention also reduced the incidenceof childhood injuries and child abuseand neglect.

Many family-based interventions thatfocus on issues such as spousal vio-lence and divorce conflict disregardchildren completely or deal with themonly in the abstract. Conversely, inter-ventions for reducing aggression inyoung children do not always targetfamily issues, such as domestic violenceor parental psychopathology, that maycontribute to the child's behavior prob-lems. Focused, family-based approaches,such as Parent Management Training(Waiserman and Miller, 1998), havehelped reduce the risk of poor familymanagement practices and physicallyabusive behavior, which can contributeto antisocial behaviors in children.Nevertheless, a lack of sensitivity to co-occurring risk factors has generally ledto interventions that are too narrowlyfocused. As a result, they fail to addressadequately the multiple sources of riskfor children in family life.

PeersInterventions to reduce antisocial be-haviors associated with peer influence

should focus on reducing contact withdeviant peers for juveniles predisposedto antisocial behaviors and on promot-ing the development of prosocial skills(e.g., skills for resolving peer conflicts)(Hawkins and Weis, 1985). Studies haveshown that peer relations training (incombination with parent training) reduc-es children's involvement with deviantpeers during preadolescence, thus help-ing to protect them from subsequentinvolvement in delinquent activities.

SchoolSeveral types of school programs haveshown promise as interventions forreducing aggressive behavior in theclassroom. For example, evaluations ofthe Good Behavior Game showed thatproactive behavior management canpositively affect the long-term behav-ior of the most aggressive elementaryschool children (Murphy, Hutchinson,and Bailey, 1983; Kellam and Rebok,1992; Kellam et al., 1994). The SeattleSocial Development Project has alsodemonstrated effectiveness in reducingdisruptive behavior in children (Hawkinset al., 1992; Hawkins, Von Cleve, andCatalano, 1991; Hawkins et al., 1999;O'Donnell et al., 1995). Numerousschools have also developed socialcompetence curriculums to promotenorms against aggressive, violent, andother antisocial behaviors (e.g., Green-berg, 1997). Other efforts include con-flict resolution and violence preventioncurriculums, bullying prevention pro-grams, multicomponent classroom pro-grams to improve academic achievementand reduce antisocial behaviors, after-school recreation programs, and men-toring programs.

CommunityBecause most studies have not specifi-cally focused on child delinquency, sur-prisingly little is known about communityrisk factors for child delinquency. Severalcommunity approaches for preventingand reducing juvenile crime have beendeveloped in recent years (e.g., Brewer

10

et al., 1995; National Crime PreventionCouncil, 1994). Most take a comprehen-sive approach to addressing behavioracross several risk domains, but theireffect on child delinquency remainsto be demonstrated. Multicomponentinstruction programs have been devel-oped in several big cities, and theseprograms will be discussed in Treatment,Services, and Intervention Programs forChild Delinquents (Burns et al., 2003).

SummaryThe Study Group stresses that the focuson risk factors that appear at a youngage is the key to preventing child delin-quency and its escalation into chroniccriminality. By intervening early, youngchildren will be less likely to succumbto the accumulating risks that ariselater in childhood and adolescenceand less likely to incur the negativesocial and personal consequences ofseveral years of disruptive and delin-quent behaviors.

Child delinquency usually stems from acombination of factors that varies fromchild to child. No single risk factor issufficient to explain it. To develop effec-tive methods for preventing child delin-quency and its escalation into seriousand violent juvenile offending, interven-tion methods must account for thewide range of individual, family, peer,school, and community risk factors.Some effective intervention programsthat focus on reducing persistent dis-ruptive behavior in young childrenhave reduced later serious, violent, andchronic offending. Some interventionsfocus on parent behaviors that increasethe risk of persistent disruptive behav-ior in children. Peer relations trainingand school/classroom programs havealso shown some promise. Still, manygaps exist in our knowledge about thedevelopment of child delinquency, therisk and protective factors that con-tribute to it, and effective preventionand intervention methods. Addressingthese gaps offers an exceptional oppor-tunity to reduce overall crime levels

OM COPY AVARLAIELIE

and to decrease future expendituresof tax dollars.

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This Bulletin was prepared under grant num-ber 95-JD-FX-0018 from the Office of JuvenileJustice and Delinquency Prevention, U.S. De-partment of Justice.

Points of view or opinions expressed in thisdocument are those of the authors and do notnecessarily represent the official position orpolicies of OJJDP or the U.S. Department ofJustice.

The Office of Juvenile Justice and DelinquencyPrevention is a component of the Office ofJustice Programs, which also includes theBureau of Justice Assistance, the Bureau ofJustice Statistics, the National Institute ofJustice, and the Office for Victims of Crime.

AcknowledgmentsGail A. Wasserman, Ph.D., is Professorof Clinical Psychology in Child Psy-chiatry, Columbia University. KateKeenan, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor,Department of Psychiatry, University ofChicago. Richard E. Tremblay, Ph.D., isProfessor, Department of Psychology,University of Montreal. John D. Coie,Ph.D., is Professor, Department ofPsychology, Duke University. Todd I.Herrenkohl, Ph.D., is Assistant Profes-sor, Social Welfare Department at theUniversity of Washington. Rolf Loeber,Ph.D., is Professor of Psychiatry, Psy-chology, and Epidemiology, Universityof Pittsburgh, PA; Professor of Develop-mental Psychopathology, Free Univer-sity, Amsterdam, Netherlands; andDirector of the Pittsburgh Youth Study.David Petechuk is a freelance healthsciences writer.

Photo on page 4 2002 Corbis Images;photos on pages 7 and 9 © 1999-2002Getty Images, Inc.

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