A LONGITUDINAL ANALYSIS OF THE LINK BETWEEN LEARNING-DISABILITIES ANDJUVENILE-DELINQUENCY IN MEXICAN-AMERICAN SCHOOL-AGE

Students with Learning Disabilities (LD) are a heterogeneous group of children who share the common characteristic of school difficulty and failure. More students in American schools are identified as Learning Disabled than any other type of disability under current federal law. The present study is a longitudinal survey that was designed to (a) te st four hypothesized mediating links within the School Failure Rationa le connecting juvenile delinquency (JD) to LD, and (b) apply the Schoo l Failure Rationale in the context of a low Socioeconomic Status, all- Mexican American group of youngsters (n = 75; mean CA = 12.9; IQ = 88) . A path analysis was conducted to determine significance between juve nile delinquency and the mediating variables of self-esteem, peer deli nquency, school dissatisfaction, and locus of control. Results indicat e that all of the mediating variables except self-esteem played either a direct or indirect role in self-reported delinquency in year one or in year three of this study.