ADOLESCENT MALTREATMENT AND DELINQUENCY - THE QUESTION OF INTERVENINGPROCESSES

A substantial body of research indicates that adolescent maltreatment, like child maltreatment, is associated with elevated levels of delinq uency. Criminologists typically account for this relationship by invok ing one of three dominant frameworks in criminological theory: ''Socia l control'' theorists contend that adolescent maltreatment disrupts im portant delinquency-inhibiting ties; ''social learning'' theorists emp hasize the deviant values and patterns of behavior that are learned fr om those that administer maltreatment; whereas ''social-psychological strain'' theorists emphasize the criminogenic emotions likely to arise among maltreated adolescents, such as anger and resentment. This stud y uses national survey data to assess the relative merits of these com peting explanations. The results provide limited support for all three explanations. The findings are discussed in terms of the need for a m ore general and complex understanding of the adolescent maltreatment-d elinquency relationship.