• Korean Journal of Childcare and Education
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.45-63
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• 2010

The purpose of this investigation was to examine the mediating effects of delinquent peers between attachment to parents, low self-control and adolescent deviant behaviors. After specifying a research model based on Gottfredson and Hirschi's general theory of crime and Hirschi's control theory of delinquency, the study analysed the model using structural equation modeling. The data for this investigation came from a sample of 2,448 Korean adolescents. The results showed the both measurement model and structural model had a good fit to the data and all paths of structural model were statistically significant. The main findings were the attachment to parents and low self-control had direct and indirect effects on adolescent deviant behaviors through delinquent peers. The implications for practical intervention and further research in the field of delinquency were discussed.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare Studies
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.377-406
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• 2009

This study used laten class growth analysis to identify discrete developmental patterns of delinquent behaviors in adolescence. This present article also examined associations among these trajectories to determine how the development of delinquent behaviors relates to protective and risk factors, which include parental monitoring, attachment with parent, association with deviant peers, self-control, and negative stigma from others. Four-wave panel data from a Korea Youth Panel Study were used for the latent class growth model analysis. The sample consisted of 3,446 adolescents who were assessed at 4 measurement waves with approximately 1-year interval. Four trajectories of delinquent behaviors emerged: delinquency persistence, delinquency increaser, delinquency decreaser, normative group(almost no delinquent behaviors). Association with deviant peers had the most proximal strong influence on the probability of being in the delinquency increaser and delinquency persistence group compared, noed to the normative group. Parental monitoring, self-efficacy and negative stigma also differentiated the four delinquent behavior trajectories from one another after controllig for socio-demographic variables. The study suggested that there is a significant heterogeneity in the timing and change rate of delinquency progression. Adolescent delinquency prevention and intervention programs will need to consider this heterogeneity and enhance attention to protective and risk factors depending on the subpopulation.