title: Self-reported delinquency among Alberta's youth: findings from a survey of 2,001 junior and senior high school students.
abstract: This article draws on data from a 1999 survey on youth victimization, crime and delinquency in Alberta conducted by the Canadian Research Institute for Law and the Family in collaboration with researchers from the University of Alberta. The survey included 2,001 youth attending Grades 7 to 12 in public and Catholic schools in selected urban and rural areas in the province. Analyses focus on self-reported past-year delinquency. Statistically significant results were found for relationships between extent of delinquency and gender, grade level, psychosocial problems (as measured by conduct, hyperactivity, and emotional problems), and extent of past-year victimization. For low/moderate delinquency, females were comparable to males, and even reported slightly higher rates for low/moderate violence-related delinquency. Younger students were more likely to indicate engaging in violence-related delinquency, while older students were more likely to report property-related delinquent acts. Overall, Grade 9 students had the highest rates of delinquency. For personal characteristics, a high score on conduct problems was most strongly correlated with moderate/high delinquency. The relationship between high levels of delinquency and victimization was stronger for violence-related delinquency than for property-related delinquency.
authors.affiliation: Canadian Research Institute for Law and the Family, c/o Faculty of Law, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive N.W., Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2N 1N4. jtgomes@ucalgary.ca
authors.forename: Jeanette T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Gomes
authors.forename: Lorne D
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Bertrand
authors.forename: Joanne J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Paetsch
authors.forename: Joseph P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Hornick
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D019548:Crime Victims; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007604:Juvenile Delinquency / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D011584:Psychology; D012650:Self Disclosure; D013334:Students / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires