With information supplied by a large (n = 3393) sample of high school students from Toronto, this paper tests the assumption that three forms of leisure activity--peer, risky, and self-improving leisure--have a relatively independent impact upon patterns of offending and victimization. Although we find significant support for this proposition, we…

We examine the experience of boredom and its relationship to troublemaking and drug use among rural youth in southwestern New Mexico. We draw on qualitative research with area youth to describe "what" they think about drug use and "how" they situate it within their social circumstances. We then locate youth drug use within…

Parenting style has been extensively analyzed as a contributor to juvenile delinquency in the criminological literature, but no research to date has assessed the prevalence of parenting style changes during adolescence or the influence of such parenting style changes on juvenile delinquency. Drawing from the life course theory, the results show…

Although research has explored the effects of protective factors on fostering resiliency within "individuals," the same level of inquiry has not emerged investigating the causes of why high-risk "organizations" are resilient to serious violent delinquency. One type of organization that seems particularly appropriate for…

In Agnew's general strain theory, repeated strains can generate crime and delinquency by reducing social control and fostering social learning of crime. Using a sample of 615 middle-and high-school students in China, this study examines how social control and social learning variables mediate the effect of repeated strains in school and at…

Impulsivity holds a central place in the explanations of adolescent delinquency. Recent research suggests that neighborhood characteristics, particularly SES (socioeconomic status), perceived supervision, and collective efficacy, moderate the association between impulsivity and delinquency. However, findings to date have been equivocal, and the…

Substance use and delinquency in Thai adolescents are growing public health concerns. Research has linked neighborhood characteristics to these outcomes, with explanations focused on neighborhood disorganization, social cohesion, and social control. This study examines the independent associations of these neighborhood constructs with Thai…

High school delinquency, adolescent behaviors ranging from repeated school misconduct to being arrested, is a critical concern in the United States. Though widely believed that reputation is related to adolescent behavior, few studies have addressed the relationship between adolescent reputation and delinquency. Using the National Educational…

The current article explores the possible selves, or future expectations, of 543 incarcerated juvenile offenders in four Western states in the United States. We argue that juveniles who are able to articulate future expectations and fears and generate concrete strategies for achieving their goals have higher levels of motivational capital (i.e.,…

This study examined the trajectories of sexual risk behaviors among adolescents from ages 15 to 23 and factors associated with those trajectories. The sample was 5,419 adolescents from the 1997 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. Using group-based trajectory modeling, five distinctive trajectory groups were identified. The High group had a high…

This article draws on insights from the sociology of time to examine how scheduling influences social interaction and identity among young people and those who work with them. Drawing on an ethnographic analysis of "Young Night Drifters" and youth outreach social workers in Hong Kong's public housing estates, we create a framework to understand…

The article discusses a research instrument developed and utilized by the Pittsburgh Girls Study that asked young girls (ages 7 and 8) and their caretakers to report on the girls' involvement in a variety of problem behaviors. In this article, the authors evaluate whether comprehension, prevalence, and caretaker-child concordance of problem…

We examined correlates and predictive associations of tattoos and body piercings among 1,462 Colorado students in grades 9 to 12. More boys (19%) than girls (17%) reported tattoos, but more girls (42%) than boys (16%) reported piercings (earlobes not included). Older students reported more body modification. Structural equation models showed that…

The development of general strain theory (GST) has led to a renewed focus on the influence of negative life experiences on antisocial behavior. Although a number of studies have generated an impressive array of support for the theory, several avenues remain open for research. In this article, we examine how a specific noxious stimuli, peer…

This study addresses the link between gang membership and arrest frequency, exploring the Gang x Socioeconomic status interaction on those arrests. Notoriously poor, delinquent, and often well-known to police, America's gang youth should have very high odds of arrest. Yet it is unclear whether mere membership in a gang increases the risk of arrest…