Determinants of Disruption

Abstract

With a few exceptions, most of the empirical research on institutional misconduct has focused on adult prison inmates. As a result, little is known about the factors related to misconduct among state-committed delinquents. This article examined the institutional misconduct of 4,684 state-committed delinquents released from a large Southern juvenile correctional system. Males, non-Whites, gang members and/or those with gang-related family members, and those with earlier, more serious, and more extensive delinquent histories were significantly more likely to engage in serious forms of institutional misconduct. These predictors were consistent for the model examining a less serious but disruptive form of institutional misconduct, with the exception that race, sex, and gang membership failed to be significant. The analyses also indicate that the determinants of misconduct for males may differ for state-committed females. This article concludes with suggestions for future research on institutional misconduct involving state-committed delinquents.