Social bonds, self-control, and perceived costs : an empirical investigation on Chinese juvenile delinquency

Abstract

Background: Juvenile delinquency is an emerging social problem in China. In the effort to clarify the growing problem of juvenile delinquency in China, investigating the etiology of this phenomenon from criminological theories is imperative. Unfortunately, most juvenile delinquency studies have been carried out in Western countries; theoretical-grounded research on Chinese adolescents’delinquent conduct is rarely explored but is much needed. The study made a pioneering effort to explore the mechanism of criminal situations—how social bonds and low self-control interacting with considerations of perceived costs affect juveniles’ delinquent behavior—in a rarely examined Chinese sample of adolescents.

Methods: Data were collected using a cross-sectional survey design. Two different groups of Chinese adolescents were examined, with one group of 780 incarcerated offenders with delinquent records and the other group of 1,264 school students. Overall, participants ranged from age 14 to 18 (M=15.87, SD=1.02). Most participants were from village and town (58.5% and 31.8%), held rural Hukou (70.6%), and had a high school education (54.1%). Structural equation modeling (SEM) was performed to examine the measurement structure as well as interrelationships between social bonds, low self-control, perceived costs and delinquency. Group differences between offenders and students were further tested.

Results: SEM results showed social bonds, low self-control and perceived costs significantly predicted delinquency. The result indicates that individuals are less likely to perform delinquent acts when they have strong bonds to conventional society, a high level of self-control and increased perceived costs of delinquency (e.g., formal sanctions, parental disapproval, peer disrespect). Instead of merely having a direct effect, perceived costs mediated the relationship between low self-control and delinquency in both offenders and students. Perceived costs mediated the relationship between social bonds and delinquency only in students but not in offenders. This result indicates that adolescents who have a high level of perceived cost can partiality reduce negative influence of weakened social bonds and lessened self-control, which in turn decreases the likelihood of delinquent engagement. Furthermore, significant group differences between offenders and students were observed. Offenders generally exhibited weaker social bonds, lower levels of self-control, fewer perceived costs and higher level of delinquent participation compared to their student counterparts. Based on multi-group SEMs, low self-control proved to be a stronger predictor of delinquency in offenders than in students.

Discussion: Social bonds, self-control and perceived costs are influential factors in understanding juvenile delinquency in the Chinese context that is undergoing rapid social and cultural change. The individual, social and situational factors should be considered in making crime prevention policies. Situational crime prevention can be implemented to increase youths’ awareness of the risks of being caught. Moreover, preventative youth services can be more effective if more attention is paid to strengthening adolescents’ social bonds, developing their self-control and raising their risk perceptions, so that their propensity to delinquent participation may be potentially prevented or reduced.