A social-behavioral analysis of skill deficits in delinquent and nondelinquent adolescent boys.

Abstract

Delinquent behavior is conceptualized as a manifestation of situation-specific social-behavioral skill deficits. The research was in two phases. In Phase 1, a measure consisting of 44 behavioral role-playing and problem-solving itemsthe Adolescent Problems Inventory (API)-was empirically developed, along with an item-specific criterion-referenced raters' manual. The inventory was designed to identify strengths and weaknesses in the personal and interpersonal skills repertoires of adolescent boys. Phase 2 was concerned with the validation of the API. In an initial validation study, the API responses of institutionalized delinquent boys were rated as less competent than the responses of either of two nondelirxquent groups of teenage boys ("good citizens" and "leaders") from a public high school. Analyses of the inventory's characteristics showed it to be reliable, to be composed of items with little or no cluster structure, and to have extraordinary discriminant power. A second validation study compared the API responses of two groups: institutionalized delinquent boys who had frequent behavioral problems within the institution and institutionalized delinquent boys who had few acting-out problems within the institution. The former group was judged to respond less skillfully. A third validation study replicated previous group differences between delinquents and carefully matched nondelinquents. The study also showed that the type of directions given ("What would you do?" vs. "What is the best thing to do?") and test format (free response vs. multiple choice) significantly affected performance. It is suggested that researchers using a social skills conceptualization of personality do more thorough assessment studies of behavior pathologies before embarking on the development of large-scale social skills training programs.It has been suggested that some Individ-male adolescent delinquents (Sarason & Ganuals behave maladaptively simply because zer, 1971). they lack the requisite skills to do better Unfortunately, nearly all skill-training (e.g., McFall, 1976). In recent years, this studies to date have been treatment oriented; skill-deficit conception of deviance has been that is, they have been concerned either with reflected in numerous experimental skill-evaluating the general therapeutic utility of training programs aimed at treating such skill-training programs or with assessing the clinical populations as nonassertive college specific contributions of various training cornstudents (McFall & Twentyman, 1973), shy ponents, such as instructions, modeling, remales (Twentyman & McFall, 1975), alco-hearsal, or feedback. Meanwhile, many funholies (Sobell & Sobell, 1973), psychiatric damental questions concerning the underlying inpatients (Goldsmith & McFall, 1975), and assumptions, concepts, and methods of the

Testing a Social-Cognitive Model of Intimate Abusiveness Among Substance-Dependent Males

“…Recently, Holtzworth-Munroe (1992b) proposed that the problem of intimate abusiveness may be explained using McFall's (1982) socialcognitive model, an explanatory model which has been used extensively in other areas of social skills research. Previously, McFall's model has been used to identify social skills deficits in populations including depressed college males (Fisher-Beckfield & McFall, 1982), psychiatric inpatients (Goldsmith & McFall, 1975), delinquent adolescent boys (Freedman, Rosenthal, Donahoe, Schlundt, & McFall, 1987;Holtzworth-Munroe, 1992b), rapists (Lipton, McDonel, & McFall, 1987;McDonel & McFall, 1991), and aggressive boys (Dodge & Coie, 1987). According to the model, "social skills are ... the specific abilities that enable a person to perform competently at particular social tasks" (McFall, 1982, p. 23).…”

Social skills training with young adolescents: group and individual approaches in a school setting

“…There is limited evidence that both male and female delinquent populations may suffer from deficits in social skills/social competence (Freedman et al, 1978;Spence, 1981; Gaffney and McFall, 1981); however it is not established that such deficits may be a determinant of delinquency.…”

Narrative Theory Applied to the Autobiographies of Three Life-Course Offenders

“…Results revealed that where high levels of aggression were shown in 8 year olds, aggression remained stable at 19 and 30 years of age, including acts of criminality (e.g., r = .30, p < .001, n = 190, MMPIS; and r = .29, p < .001, n = 193, self-report). Impulsivity is viewed as an absence of information processing between impulse and action (Ross & Fabiano, 1985), exhibiting a lack of self-control (Gottfredson & Hirschi, 1990) resulting from social skills deficits (Freedman, Rosenthal, Donahoe, Schlundt, & McFall, 1978).…”