Having Money and Delinquent Involvement

Abstract

Prevailing studies of the link between social class and delinquency typically assume that parental SES is an adequate measure of the affluence or deprivation juveniles experience. This approach has thus masked the possibility that the economic resources youths control may vary independently of parental standing and exert a causal impact on delinquent involvement. Based on a self-report study of a sample drawn from a midwestern city in which the material resources of adolescents were measured, our analysis supported the conclusion that having money is positively related to participation in nonviolent delinquent conduct. Theoretically, this suggests that economic resources may provide juveniles with the power needed to escape parental controls and to have access to the opportunities to engage in enjoyable unlawful activities. Finally, the data revealed that results differ according to the type of self-report scale employed.