The Interethnic Generalizability of Social Control Theory: An Empirical Test

Abstract

Social control theory is used to model the self-reported delinquency in a sample of 788 Surinamese, Moroccan, Turkish, and Dutch boys (all living in the Netherlands). Four hypotheses are tested: (a) social bonding variables predict variations in general delinquent involvement among Turkish, Surinamese, Moroccan, and Dutch male youths; (b) social bonding variables predict variations in a variety of types of delinquency involvement and deviance among Turkish, Moroccan, Surinamese, and Dutch male youths; (c) delinquent friends play the same role in the causation of general delinquency among Turkish, Moroccan, Surinamese, and Dutch male youths; and (d) the dimensions of the social bond are interrelated in the same way among all four ethnic groups. The multivariate analyses support the key propositions. The variables most consistently related to delinquency among the four samples are beliefs in conventional values, virtual (family) supervision, (school) conflict, and participation in unconventional leisure activities.