Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-8bhkd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-15T23:23:14.377Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Delinquency in context; neighbourhood and gender interactions among adolescents

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 April 2011

Marjan Drukker*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, School of Mental Health and Neuroscience (MHeNS), Maastricht University, Maastricht (The Netherlands) Youth Health Care Division, Public Health Service South Limburg, Geleen, (The Netherlands
Charles D Kaplan
Affiliation:
Center for Drug and Social Policy Research, Graduate School of Social Work, University of Houston, Houston Texas (USA)
Frans J. M. Feron
Affiliation:
Youth Health Care Division, Public Health Service South Limburg, Geleen, (The Netherlands Department of Social Medicine, Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Maastricht University, Maastricht (The Netherlands)
Jim Van Os
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, School of Mental Health and Neuroscience (MHeNS), Maastricht University, Maastricht (The Netherlands) Division of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, London (United Kingdom)
Andries Korebrits
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Neuropsychology, South Limburg Mental Health Research and Teaching Network, Maastricht University Hospital, Maastricht (The Netherlands) Department of Forensic Psychiatry, Faculty of Law, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen (The Netherlands) St Joseph Foundation, Institute for Juvenile Justice, Cadier en Keer (The Netherlands)
*
Address for correspondence: Dr. M. Drukker, Department of Psychiatry, School of Mental Health and Neuroscience (MHeNS), Maastricht University, PO BOX 616 (location Vijverdal), 6200 MD Maastricht (The Netherlands). Fax: +31-43-3688689 E-mail: [email protected]

Summary

Aim – Delinquency among adolescents and antecedent conduct disorder among children has been recognized as a growing public mental health problem in contemporary societies. The contribution of the neighbourhood environment to delinquent behaviour was examined in a cohort of Dutch adolescents (aged approximately 11 years at baseline; n=394). Methods – Multilevel regression analyses estimated associations between baseline neighbourhood socioeconomic status and social capital, and delinquent behaviour two years later controlling for individual-level variables. Results – A significant interaction effect was found between neighbourhood environment variables and gender in models of delinquency, indicating that associations between neighbourhood environment variables and delinquency were apparent, for the most part, in girls only. However, higher level of neighbourhood informal social control was associated with increased delinquency rates in boys. Conclusion – In girls there is a longitudinal association between neighbourhood characteristics and delinquency, suggesting complex gender differences in the way the wider social environment impacts on behavioural outcomes.

Type
Original Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Black, T. (1997). The handwriting's on the wall: Cities can win the graffiti war. American City & County 112, 22.Google Scholar
Brock, A.J.L.L., Vermulst, A.A., Gerris, J.R.M. & Abidin, R.R. (1992). NOSI Nijmeegse Ouderlijke Stress Index. Swets en Zeitlinger: Lisse.Google Scholar
Buka, S.L., Brennan, R.T., Rich-Edwards, J.W., Raudenbush, S.W. & Earls, F. (2003). Neighborhood support and the birth weight of urban infants. American Journal of Epidemiology 157, 18.Google Scholar
Canter, R. (1982). Family correlates of male and female delinquency. Criminology 20, 149167.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
CBS (Statistics Netherlands) (2009). StatLine. Retrieved October 2, 2009, from http://statline.cbs.nl/Google Scholar
Chesney-Lind, M., Morash, M. & Irwin, K. (2007). Policing girlhood? Relational aggression and violence prevention. Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice 5, 328345.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coleman, J.S. (1990). The Foundations of Social Theory. Harvard University Press: Cambridge.Google Scholar
Connell, J.P. & Halpern-Felsher, B. (1997). How neighborhoods affect educational outcomes in middle childhood and adolescence: Conceptual issues and an empirical example. In Neighborhood Poverty. Context and Consequences for Children, Vol.1 (ed. Brooks-Gunn, J., Duncan, G.J. and Aber, J.L.), pp. 174199. Russell Sage Foundation: New York.Google Scholar
Derkx, R.M.J. (1998). Regiorapport jeugd en genotmiddelen, resultaten van een onderzoek onder scholieren in de Westelijke Mijnstreek. GGD Westelijke Mijnstreek: Geleen.Google Scholar
Drukker, M., Kaplan, C.D., Feron, F.J.M. & van Os, J. (2003). Children's health-related quality of life, neighbourhood socio-economic deprivation and social capital; a contextual analysis. Social Science and Medicine 57, 825841.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Drukker, M., Kaplan, C.D. & Van Os, J. (2005). Residential instability in socioeconomically deprived neighbourhoods, good or bad? Health and Place 11, 121129.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Drukker, M., Kaplan, C.D. & Van Os, J. (2006). Chapter 5: Social capital and quality of life and mental health in Maastricht, The Netherlands; the neighbourhood matters. In Social Capital and Mental Health (ed. Harpham, T. and McKenzie, K.), pp. 86108. Jessica Kingsley: London.Google Scholar
Drukker, M., Feron, F.J.M. & Van Os, J. (2009). Neighbourhood socioeconomic and social factors and school achievement in boys and girls; a cross-level analysis at neighbourhood-, school- and individual- level. Journal of Early Adolescence 29, 285306.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Duncan, C., Jones, K. & Moon, G. (1999). Smoking and deprivation: are there neighbourhood effects? Social Science and Medicine 48, 497505Google Scholar
Ensminger, M.E., Lamkin, R.P. & Jacobson, N. (1996). School leaving: A longitudinal perspective including neighborhood effects. Child Development 67, 24002416.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Entwisle, D.R., Alexander, K.L. & Olson, L.S. (1994). The gender gap in math: Its possible origins in neighborhood effects. American Sociological Review 59, 822838.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Flouri, E. & Ereky-Stevens, K. (2009). Urban neighbourhood quality and school leaving age: gender differences and some hypotheses. Oxford Review of Education 34, 203216.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ganzeboom, H.B.G., De Graaf, P.M. & Treiman, D.J. (1992). A standard international socio-economic index of occupational status. Social Science Research 21, 156.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Giordano, P.C. & Cernkovich, S.A. (1997). Gender and antisocial behavior. In Handbook of Antisocial Behavior (ed. Stoff, D.M., Breiling, J., and Maser, J.D.), pp. 496510. JohnWiley and Sons: New York.Google Scholar
Gottfredson, M.R. & Hirschi, T. (1990). A General Theory of Crime. Stanford University Press: Polo Alto, CA.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Henggeler, S.W. (1989). Delinquency in Adolescence. Sage Publications: Newbury Park, CA.Google Scholar
Kasarda, J. (1993). Inner-city concentrated poverty and neighborhood distress: 1970–1990. Housing Policy Debate 4, 253302.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kawachi, I., Kennedy, B.P. & Wilkinson, R.G., (1999). The Society and Population Health Reader – Income Inequality and Health. The New Press: New York.Google Scholar
Kroneman, L., Loeber, R. & Hipwell, A.E. (2004). Is neighborhood context differently related to externalizing problems and delinquency for girls compared with boys? Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review 7, 109122.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Landgraf, J.M., Abetz, L. & Ware, J.E. Jr,. (1996). Child Health Questionnaire (CHQ) a Users Manual. The Health Institute, New England Medical Center: Boston, MA.Google Scholar
Leventhal, T. & Brooks Gunn, J. (2000). The neighborhoods they live in: The effects of neighborhood residence on child and adolescent outcomes. Psychological Bulletin 126, 309337.Google Scholar
Loeber, R. & Wikstrom, P.-O.H. (1993). Individual pathways to crime in different types of neighborhood. In Integrating Individual and Ecological Aspects of Crime (ed. Farrington, D.P., Sampson, R.J. and Wikstrom, P.H.), pp. 169207. National Council for Crime Prevention: Stockholm.Google Scholar
Mannuzza, S. & Gittelman, R. (1984). The adolescent outcome of hyperactive girls. Psychiatry Research 13, 1929.Google Scholar
McKenzie, K., Whitley, R. & Weich, S. (2002). Social capital and mental health. British Journal of Psychiatry 181, 280283.Google Scholar
Meier, M.H., Slutske, W.S., Arndt, S. & Cadoret, R.J. (2008). Impulsive and callous traits are more strongly associated with delinquent behavior in higher risk neighborhoods among boys and girls. Journal of Abnormal Psychology 117, 377385.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Putnam, R.D. (1993). Making Democracy Work. Civic Traditions in Modern Italy. Princeton University Press: Princeton, NJ.Google Scholar
Ross, C.E., Reynolds, J.R. & Geis, K.J. (2000). The contingent meaning of neighborhood stability for residents’ psychological well-being. American Sociological Review 65, 581597.Google Scholar
Rothman, K.J. & Greenland, S. (1998). Modern Epidemiology. Lippincott-Raven: Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Rutter, M., Giller, H. & Hagell, A. (1998). Antisocial Behavior by Young People. Cambridge University Press: New York.Google Scholar
Sampson, R.J. (1997). Collective regulation of adolescent misbehavior: Validation results from eighty Chicago neighborhoods. Journal of Adolescent Research 12, 227244.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sampson, R.J. & Groves, W.B. (1989). Community structure and crime: Testing social-disorganization theory. American Journal of Sociology 94, 774802.Google Scholar
Sampson, R.J., Raudenbush, S.W. & Earls, F. (1997). Neighborhoods and violent crime: a multilevel study of collective efficacy. Science 277, 918924.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schneiders, J., Drukker, M., Van der Ende, J., Verhulst, F.C., Van Os, J. & Nicolson, N., (2003). Neighbourhood socioeconomic disadvantage and behavioural problems from late childhood into early adolescence. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 57, 699703.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schonberg, M.A. & Shaw, D.S. (2007). Risk factors for boy's conduct problems in poor and lower-middle-class neighborhoods. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology 35, 759772.Google Scholar
Schuck, A.M. & Widom, C. (2005). Understanding the role of neighborhood context in the long-term criminal consequences of child maltreatment. American Journal of Community Psychology 36, 207222.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shaw, C. & Mc Kay, H. (1966). An Ecological Approach to Juvenile Delinquency. Columbia University Press: New York.Google Scholar
Simons, R.L., Miller, M.G. & Aigner, S.M. (1980). Contemporary theories of deviance and female delinquency: an empirical test. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 17, 4253.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, D.A. & Paternoster, R. (1987). The gender gap in theories of deviance: issues and evidence. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 24, 140172.Google Scholar
Snijders, T. & Bosker, R. (1999). Multilevel analysis, an introduction to basic and advanced modeling. SAGE Publications: London.Google Scholar
StataCorp (2004). Stata Statistical Software Version 8.2. Stata Corporation: College Station, TX.Google Scholar
Storvoll, E.E. & Wichstrom, L. (2002). Do the risk factors associated with conduct problems in adolescents vary according to gender? Journal of Adolescence 25, 183202.Google Scholar
Storvoll, E.E., Wichstrom, L. & Pape, H. (2002). Gender differences in the association between conduct problems and other problems among adolescents. Journal of Scandinavian Studies in Criminology & Crime Prevention 3, 194209.Google Scholar
Van Wilsem, J., Wittebrood, K. & De Graaf, N.D. (2006). Socioeconomic Dynamics of neighborhoods and the risk of crime victimization: A multilevel study of improving, declining, and stable areas in the Netherlands. Social Problems 53, 226247.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilson, J.Q. & Herrnstein, R.J. (1985). Crime and Human Nature. Simon and Schuster: New York.Google Scholar
Zalot, A.A., Jones, D.J., Forehand, R. & Brody, G., (2007). Self-regulation and conduct problems among low-income African American youth from single-mother homes: The roles of perceived neighborhood context and child gender. Journal of Black Psychology 33, 239259.Google Scholar
Zoccolillo, M., (1993). Gender and the development of conduct disorder. Development and Psychopathology 5, 6578.CrossRefGoogle Scholar