Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

A Developmental-Ecological Model of the Relation of Family Functioning to Patterns of Delinquency

  • Published:
Journal of Quantitative Criminology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Person-centered approaches to understanding delinquent and criminal careershave identified several distinct pathways or patterns of delinquent behavior(Gorman-Smith et al., 1998; LeBlanc and Kaspy, in press; Loeber et al.,1991; Loeber et al., 1993). In addition, research suggests that there maybe etiological variations that correspond to these different pathways(Gorman-Smith et al., 1998). That is, there may be different configurationsof risk factors associated with different types of delinquent and criminaloffending. If this is so, understanding these relations can have importantimplications for intervention and prevention. However, there have been fewstudies that examine how the configuration of risk factors may vary inrelation to different delinquency pathways. The current study brings aperson-centered analysis to examine how patterns of family functioningrelate to patterns of offending. In addition, this study contextualizesthese relations by examining how these relations vary as a function ofcommunity setting. This study expands upon previous research that hasidentified four basic patterns of delinquent behavior among a sample ofminority male adolescents living in poor urban neighborhoods (Gorman-Smithet al., 1998).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

REFERENCES

  • Achenbach, T. M. (1991). Integrative Guide for the 1991 CBCL/4-18, YSR, and TRF profiles. Department of Psychiatry, University of Vermont, Burlington, VI.

    Google Scholar 

  • Attar, B., Guerra, N., and Tolan, P. H. (1994). Neighborhood disadvantage, stressful life events, and adjustment in urban elementary-school children. J. Clin. Child Psychol. 23: 391–400.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baumrind, D. (1991). Parenting styles and adolescent development. In Brooks-Gunn, J., Lerner, R., and Petersen, A. C. (eds.), The Encyclopedia of Adolescence, Garland, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Breunlin, D. C., Schwartz, R. C., and MacKune-Karrer, B. M. (1992). Metaframeworks: Transcending the Models of Family Therapy. Jossey-Bass Publishers, San Francisco, CA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The Ecology of Human Development: Experiments by Nature and Design. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bronfenbrenner, U. (1988). Interacting systems in human development. Research paradigms: present and future. In Bolger, N., Caspi, A., Downey, G., and Moorehouse, M. (eds.), Persons in Context: Developmental Processes, Cambridge University Press, New York, NY, pp. 25–49.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brooks-Gunn, J., Duncan, G. J., and Aber, J. L. (1997). Neighborhood Poverty, Russell Sage Foundation, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brooks-Gunn, J., Duncan, G. J., Klebenov, P. K., and Sealand, N. S. (1993). Do neighborhoods influence child and adolescent development? Am. J. of Sociol. 99: 353–395.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bursik, R. J. (1988). Social disorganization and theories of crime and delinquency: problems and prospects. Criminology 26: 519–551.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bursik, R. J., and Grasmick, H. (1993). Neighborhoods and Crime: The Dimensions of Effective Community Control, Lexington, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Byrne, J., and Sampson, R. J. (1986). Key issues in the social ecology of crime. In Byrne, J. and Sampson, R. J. (eds.), The Sociology of Crime, Springer-Verlag, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Capaldi, D. N., and Patterson, G. R. (1996). Can violent offenders be distinguished from frequent offenders: Prediction from childhood to adolescence. J. Res. Crime and Delinq. 33(2): 206–231.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chase-Lansdale, P. L., and Gordon, R. A. (1996). Economic hardship and the development of five-and six-year-olds: Neighborhood and regional perspectives. Child. Dev. 67(6):3338–3367.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crane, J. (1991). The epidemic theory of ghettos and neighborhood effects on dropping out and teenage childbearing. Am. J. of Sociol. 96: 1226–1259.

    Google Scholar 

  • Duncan, G. J., and Brooks-Gunn, J. (eds.) (1997). Consequences of Growing Up Poor, Russell Sage Foundation, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dunford, F. W., and Elliott, D. S. (1984). Identifying career offenders using self reported data. J. Res. in Crime and Delinq. 2: 33–56.

    Google Scholar 

  • Elliott, D., and Tolan, P. H. (1998). Youth violence, prevention, intervention and social policy: An overview. In Flannery, D., and Hoff, R. (eds.), Youth Violence: A Volume in the Psychiatric Clinics of North America, American Psychiatric Association, Washington, DC.

    Google Scholar 

  • Elliott, D., Wilson, W., Huizinga, D., Sampson, R., Elliott, A., and Ranking, D. (1996). The effects of neighborhood disadvantage on adolescent development. J. Res. in Crime and Delinq. 33: 389–426.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ensminger, M. E., Lamkin, R. P., and Jacobson, N. (1996). School leaving: A longitudinal perspective including neighborhood effects. Child Development 67(5): 2400–2416.

    Google Scholar 

  • Farrington, D. P. (1994). Childhood, adolescent, and adult features of violent males. In Huesmann, L. R. (ed.), Aggressive Behavior: Current Perspectives, Plenum Press, New York, pp. 215–240.

    Google Scholar 

  • Florsheim, P., Tolan, P. H., and Gorman-Smith, D. (1996). Family process and risk for externalizing behavior problems among African-American and Hispanic boys. J. Consult. Clin. Psychol. 64: 1222–1230.

    Google Scholar 

  • Florsheim, P., Tolan, P. H., and Gorman-Smith, D. (1998). Family relationships, parenting practices, the availability of male family members, and the behavior of inner-city boys in single-mother and two-parent families. Child Develop. 69: 1437–1447.

    Google Scholar 

  • Furstenberg, F. (1993). How families manage risk and opportunity in dangerous neighborhoods. In Wilson, W. J. (ed.), Sociology and the Public Agenda, Sage, Newbury Park, CA: pp. 231–258.

    Google Scholar 

  • Garbarino, J., Dubrow, N., Kostelny, K., and Pardo, C. (1992). Children in Anger, Erlbaum Associates, San Francisco, CA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Garbarino, J., and Sherman, D. (1980). High-risk neighborhoods and high-risk families: The human ecology of maltreatment. Child Dev. 51: 188–198.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gonzales, N. A., Cauce, A. M., Friedman, R. J., and Mason, C. A. (1996). Family, peer, and neighborhood influences on academic achievement among African-American adolescents: One-year prospective effects. Am. J. Comm. Psychol. 24(3): 365–387.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gorman-Smith, D., Tolan, P. H., and Henry, D. (1999). The relation of community and family to risk among urban poor adolescents. In Cohen, P., Robins, L., and Slomkowski, C. (eds.), Where and When: Influence of Historical Time and Place on Aspects of Psychopathology, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Hillsdale, NJ.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gorman-Smith, D., Tolan, P. H., Loeber, R., and Henry, D. B. (1998). Relation of family problems to patterns of delinquent involvement among urban youth. J. Ab. Child Psychol. 26: 319–333.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gorman-Smith, D., Tolan, P. H., Zelli, A., and Huesmann, L. R. (1996). The relation of family functioning to violence among inner-city minority youths. J. Fam. Psychol. 10: 115–129.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hays, W. L. (1988). Statistics, Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, Inc., Orlando, FL.

    Google Scholar 

  • Henggler, S. W., Melton, G. B., and Smith, L. A. (1992). Family preservation using multisystemic therapy. An effective alternative to incarcerating serious juvenile offenders. J. Consult. and Clin. Psychol. 60: 953–961.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jarrett, R. L. (1995). Growing up poor: The family experiences of socially mobile youth in low-income African-American neighborhoods. J. Adoles. Res. 10: 111–135.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kellam, S. G. (1990). Developmental epidemiological framework for family research on depression and aggression. In Paterson, G. R. (ed.), Depression and Aggression in Family Interaction, Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ, pp. 11–48.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lamborn, S. D., Mounts, N. S., Steinberg, L., and Dornbusch, S. M. (1991). Patterns of competence and adjustment among adolescents from; authoritative, authoritarian, indulgent, and neglectful families. Child Dev. 62: 1049–1065.

    Google Scholar 

  • LeBlanc, M., and Kaspy, N. (in press). Trajectories of delinquency and problem behavior: Comparison of social and personal control characteristics of adjudicated boys on synchronous and non-synchronous paths.

  • Loeber, R. (1988). Natural histories of conduct problems, delinquency, and associated substance use: Evidence for developmental progressions. In Lahey, B. B., and Kazdin, A. E. (eds.), Advances in Clinical Child Psychology, Vol. 11, Plenum, New York, pp. 73–124.

    Google Scholar 

  • Loeber, R., and Dishion, T. (1983). Early predictors of male delinquency: A review. Psychol. Bull. 94: 68–99.

    Google Scholar 

  • Loeber, R., and Farrington, D. P. (1998). Serious and Violent Juvenile Offenders: Risk Factors and Successful Interventions, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Washington, DC.

    Google Scholar 

  • Loeber, R., and Stouthamer-Loeber, M. (1986). Family factors as correlates and predictors of juvenile conduct problems and delinquency. In Tonry, M., and Morris, N. (eds.), Crime and Justice, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL, pp. 29–149.

    Google Scholar 

  • Loeber, R., Stouthamer-Loeber, M., Van Kammen, W. B., and Farrington, D. P. (1991). Initiation, escalation and desistance in juvenile offending and their correlates. J. Crim. Law and Criminol. 82: 36–82.

    Google Scholar 

  • Loeber, R., Wung, P., Keenan, K., Giroux, B., Stouthamer-Loeber, M., Van Kammen, W. B., and Maughan, B. (1993). Developmental pathways in disruptive child behavior. Develop. and Psychopath. 5: 101–133.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maccoby, E., and Martin, J. (1983). Socialization in the context of the family: Parent-child interaction. In Hetherington, E. M. (ed.), Mussen, P. H. (Series ed.), Handbook of Child Psychology Vol. 4, Socialization, Personality, and Social Development, Wiley, New York, pp. 1–101.

    Google Scholar 

  • MacQueen, J. B. (1967). Some methods for classification and analysis of multivariate observations. Proc. 5th Berkeley Symp. on Math. Stats. Vol. 1: pp. 281–297.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mason, C. A., Cauce, A. M., Gonzalez, N., and Hiraga, Y. (1996). Neither too sweet nor too sour: Problem peers, maternal control, and problem behavior in African-American adolescents. Child Dev. 67: 2115–2130.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCord, J. (1980). Patterns of deviance. In Sells, S. B., Crandall, R., Roff, M., Strauss, J. S., and Pollins, W. (eds.), Human Functioning in Longitudinal Perspectives, Williams and Wilkens, Baltimore, MD, pp. 157–162.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCord, J. (1991). Family relationships, juvenile delinquency, and adult criminality. Criminology, 29: 297–417.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCord, J. (1996). Family as crucible for violence: comment on Gorman-Smith et al. J. Fam. Psychol. 10: 147–152.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nichols, M. P., and Schwartz, R. C. (1991). Family Therapy: Concepts and Methods, Simon and Schuster, Inc., Needham Heights, MA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Patterson, G. R. (1982). A Macrosocial Analysis of the Contribution of Siblings to Antisocial Process in the Family. Paper presented at the conference of the Development of Antisocial and Prosocial Behavior, Voss, Norway.

  • Patterson, G. R., Reid, J. B., and Dishion, T. J. (1992). Antisocial Boys: A Social Interactional Approach, Vol. 4, Castalia, Eugene, OR.

    Google Scholar 

  • Patterson, G. R., and Stouthamer-Loeber, M. (1984). The correlation of family management practices and delinquency. Childhood Dev. 55: 1299–1307.

    Google Scholar 

  • Redding, S. (1997). Urban myth: The family in hard times. In Walberg, H. J., Reyes, O., and Wiessberg, R. (eds.), Children and Youth: Interdisciplinary Perspectives, Sage Publications Ltd., Thousand Oaks, CA, pp. 92–115.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sampson, R. J. (1997). The enbeddedness of child and adolescent development: A communitylevel perspective on urban violence. In McCord, J. (ed.), Violence and Childhood in the Inner City, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 31–77.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sampson, R., Castellano, T., and Laub, J. (1981). Analysis of national crime survey data to serious delinquent behavior. Juvenile Criminal Behavior and Its Relation to Neighborhood Characteristics, Vol. 5, U.S. Government Publishing Office, Washington, DC.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sampson, R. J., and Laub, J. H. (1994). Urban poverty and the family context of delinquency: A new look at the structure and process in a classic study. Child. Dev. 65(2): 523–539.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sampson, R., Raudenbush, S., Earls, F. (1997). Neighborhood and violent crime: A multilevel study of collective efficacy. Science 277: 918–924.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shaw, C. R., and McKay, H. D. (1942). Juvenile Delinquency and Urban Areas, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sullivan, M. L. (1989). Getting Paid: Youth, Crime and Work in the Inner City, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.

    Google Scholar 

  • Szapocznik, J., and Coatsworth, J. D. (in press). An ecodevelopmental framework for organizing the influences on drug abuse: A developmental model of risk and protection. In Glantz, M., and Hartel, C. R. (eds.), Drug Abuse: Origins and Interventions, American Psychological Association, Washington, DC.

  • Tolan, P. H. (1998). Research methods in community-based treatment and prevention. In Kendall, P. C., Butcher, J. N., and Holbeck, G. N. (eds.), Handbook of Research Methods in Clinical Psychology, John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York, pp. 403–418.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tolan, P. H., and Gorman-Smith, D. (1997). Families and development of urban children. In Walburg, H. J., Reyes, O., and Weissberg, R. P. (eds.), Urban Children and Youth: Inter-Disciplinary Perspective on Policies and Programs, Vol. 1, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tolan, P. H., Gorman-Smith, D., and Henry, D. (1999). A Model of Community and Neighborhood Risk for Antisocial Behaviors. Unpublished manuscript, University of Illinois at Chicago.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tolan, P. H., Gorman-Smith, D., Huesmann, L. R., and Zelli, A. (1997). Assessing family processes to explain risk for antisocial behavior and depression among urban youth. Psychol. Assess.

  • Tolan, P. H., Guerra, N. G., and Kendall, P. (1995). Introduction to special section on prediction and prevention of antisocial behavior in children and adolescence. J. Consult. Clin. Psychol., 63: 515–517.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tolan, P. H., and Henry, D. (1996). Patterns of psychopathology among urban poor children: Comorbidity and aggression effects. J. Consult. and Clin. Psychol. 64: 1094–1099.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tolan, P. H., Henry, D., Guerra, N. G., Huesmann, L. R., Van Acker, R., and Eron, L. D. (1998). Patterns of psychopathology among urban poor children: 1. Community, age, ethnicity, and gender effects. Manuscript submitted for publication.

  • Tolan, P. H., and Loeber, R. L. (1993). Antisocial behavior. In Tolan, P. H., and Cohler, B. J. (eds.), Handbook of Clinical Research and Clinical Practice with Adolescents, Wiley, New York, pp. 307–331.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tolan, P. H., and Lorion, R. P. (1988). Multivariate approaches to the identification of delinquency-proneness in males. Am. J. Com. Psychol. 16: 547–561.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tolan, P. H., and McKay, M. (1966). Preventing serious antisocial behavior in inner-city children: An empirically based family prevention program. Family Relations 45: 148–155.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wandersman, A., and Nation, M. (1998). Urban neighborhoods and mental health: Psychological contributions to understanding toxicity, resilience and interventions. Am. Psychol. 53(6), 647–654.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, W. J. (1987). The Truly Disadvantaged: The Inner-City, the Underclass, and Public Policy. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wishart, D. (1982). Supplement, CLUSTAN User Manual, Third Edition, Program Library Unit, Edinburgh University, Edinburgh, Scotland.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Juvenile Research, Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois at Chicago, 907 S. Wolcott (M/C 747), Chicago, Illinois, 60612

    Deborah Gorman-Smith, Patrick H. Tolan & David B. Henry

Authors
  1. Deborah Gorman-Smith
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Patrick H. Tolan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. David B. Henry
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Gorman-Smith, D., Tolan, P.H. & Henry, D.B. A Developmental-Ecological Model of the Relation of Family Functioning to Patterns of Delinquency. Journal of Quantitative Criminology 16, 169–198 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007564505850

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007564505850

Keywords

Search

Navigation