An Examination of Delinquency and Victimization Using Social Bonding and Routine Activities

The study examined the relationship between juvenile delinquency and juvenile victimization using an integration of social bond theory and routine activities perspectives. Data were obtained from the Monitoring the Future (MTF) series of surveys given annually to a nationally representative sample of students. The MTF survey is from the 2005 group of surveys given to tenth grade students. The version of the survey was administered to 5,577 tenth grade students. This research examined the link between a student\u27s commitment to school and guardianship. Specifically, it determined the amount of delinquency to which a student is involved and the extent of victimization experienced. Results showed that students who had stronger bonds to school were less likely to be involved in delinquency and were less likely to experience victimization than students who had weaker bonds to school. Current research supported an integration of social bond and routine activities/lifestyle theories and also provided more empirical evidence to support the anecdotal beliefs concerning the relationship between delinquency and victimization