THE INFLUENCE OF PEER AND EDUCATIONAL VARIABLES ON ARREST STATUS AMONG AT-RISK MALES

In this article, we examine the predictive power of selected social an d academic variables regarding arrest frequency for 11th-grade boys wh o 7 years earlier had been judged to be at risk for developing antisoc ial behavior patterns. Multiple regression analyses indicated that (a) measures of academic and social skills that reflected more skilled an d positive profiles were associated with participants' exhibiting less frequent and less severe forms of antisocial behavior, as shown by ar rest records at 11th grade, and (b) antisocial measures on which parti cipants scored higher were associated with more frequent arrests for m ore serious offenses in Grade I I. We also conducted an analysis of th e residuals to study those persons and their characteristics who were misclassified by the predictive model. Implications of these results f or future research and intervention, particularly within the context o f schooling, are discussed.