Influence of Childhood Adversity on Students’ Delinquent Activities: Interplay with Neighborhood Context and Delinquent Peer Association

Abstract

Juvenile delinquency is often linked with various proximal family and environmental factors during a child’s upbringing. Richard Jessor’s problem behavior theory (PBT) emphasizes that a combined interplay of these factors may explain this phenomenon appropriately. This study employed the PBT framework to investigate the impact of family on students’ delinquency, considering the influence of neighborhood and delinquent peer association. A model was developed for analyzing the variables by structural equation modeling (SEM). Data were collected through interviews with 1026 students aged between 12 and 18 years from a child development center and eight educational institutes in Bangladesh. The findings revealed that family-level factors (adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and family deprivation) can significantly predict students’ delinquency directly and through the moderation effect of neighborhood-level variables (neighborhood social capital and neighborhood disorganization). Delinquent peer association exhibited a significant mediating role in the model. It could directly predict delinquency as well. The research has notable theoretical and practical implications for understanding the complex dynamics of family, neighborhood, and delinquent peer association in explaining students’ delinquency.

Preschool Aggression and Victimization: A Short-Term Longitudinal Analysis of the Immediate Social Environment

“…Past research has shown that neighbourhood cohesion and community belonging are both important factors in relation to youth violence, reducing rates of aggression and victimization, or buffering their effects. [98][99][100][101] In the current study, we anticipated that community cohesion, defined as the interconnectedness and mutual support among neighbours, would decrease the likelihood of being nominated as an aggressor or victim. Contrary to our expectations, we found no associations between community cohesion and the likelihood of being identified as aggressor by peers.…”

Socioeconomic and Cultural Factors and Juvenile Delinquency in Pakistan: A Critical Analysis of Structural Theories

“…There is a close interplay between cultural factors and juvenile delinquency in Pakistan which means that the society's norms, values, and level of tolerance determine the nature and prosperity of the youth's delinquent behavior. It is revealed by studies of Khan and Tang (2023), and Aziz et al (2017) how cultural norms create beliefs and behaviors of Pakistani youth. These studies focus on the issue of how teens tend to follow different cultural norms depending on which of the roles they usually identify with.…”

“…Akhtar, Shah, Zubair, and Javed (2019) take Faisalabad as an example, which consists of research on educational levels and juvenile delinquents, and underline the role of school as a protective factor. Further on, both Murtaza et al (2021) and Khan and Tang (2023) present the case studies conducted in both Punjab and District Faisalabad, and their studies offer an in-depth analysis of what led to adolescent criminal behavior in these specific areas. Such studies expand the insights in to the nature of existing factors underlying offending behavior among adolescents in Pakistan, thus they could be employed to guide the devising of specific intervention programs that are compatible with the socio-economic and cultural vibe of every locality…”