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Article
Social Correlates of Delinquency for Youth in Need of Mental Health Services: Examining the Scope Conditions of Criminological Theories
Justice Quarterly (2012)
  • Matthew Vogel, University of Missouri-St. Louis
  • Steven F. Messner
Abstract
While both traditional criminological inquiry and mental health research have identified internal and external constellations of risk factors associated with juvenile offending, interdisciplinary discourse has been limited. This paper takes a step in bridging the gap between criminological literature and work in the field of children’s mental health by evaluating the combined effects of social and mental health predictors on juvenile delinquency in a sample of youth with diagnosed clinical disorders. Results of multivariate analyses indicate that both traditional social risk factors as well as indicators of the nature and severity of youths’ mental health disorders contribute to delinquency. Moreover, the influence of one well-established risk factor, self-control, on delinquency is moderated by the presence of oppositional defiant disorder. The results of this study suggest that researchers and practitioners should consider the cumulative influence of social risk factors and psychological impairment in the etiology of delinquency.
Publication Date
January, 2012
DOI
10.1080/07418825.2011.582879
Citation Information
Matthew Vogel and Steven F. Messner. "Social Correlates of Delinquency for Youth in Need of Mental Health Services: Examining the Scope Conditions of Criminological Theories" Justice Quarterly Vol. 29 Iss. 4 (2012) p. 546 - 572
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/matthew-vogel/18/