Are there multiple paths to delinquency

TLDR: Huizinga et al. as mentioned in this paper conducted a longitudinal study on the causes and correlates of delinquency, drug use, and other social problems in the United States and found that delinquency is the result of a series of events common to all delinquents.

Abstract: Criminological research and theory generally proceed with the orientation, if not the assumption, that delinquency is the result of some series of events common to all delinquents. While some attention has been given to the concepts of typologies, multiple pathways, and different developmental sequences leading to different outcomes, rarely have these concepts been pursued empirically. This paper uses * This research was supported by grants from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, U.S. Department of Justice (Grant No. 86-JN-CX-0006) and the National Institute of Drug Abuse (Grant No. RO-DA-05183). Points of view or opinions expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of these agencies. We are indebted to Linda P. Cunningham, Meg Dyer, Amanda Elliott, Linda K. Kuhn, Judy Armstrong Laurie, Deantha Ashby Menon,-Judy D. Perry, and Silvia Portillo, the dedicated research staff, without whom the data could never have been collected, nor the data so meticulously prepared for analysis. ** David Huizinga is a Research Associate at the Institute of Behavioral Science at the University of Colorado. Over the past several years, he has been involved in research on social problems and currently is Co-principle Investigator of the National Youth Survey and Principle Investigator of the Denver Youth Survey, which are longitudinal studies of the causes and correlates of delinquency, drug use, and other social problems. Recent publications have appeared in Criminology,Justice Quarterly,Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, and Social Science Research. He also recently co-authored Multiple Problem Youth (with Delbert Elliott and Scott Menard). Finn-aage Esbensen is a Research Associate at the Institute of Behavioral Science at the University of Colorado. He is currently an Investigator on the Denver Youth Survey, a longitudinal survey on the causes and correlates of delinquency, drug use, and other social problems. Recent publications have appeared injustice Quarterly, Quality and Quantity, and the American Journal of Police. He recently co-authored Criminology: Explaining Crime and Its Context (with Stephen E. Brown and Gilbert Geis). Anne Wylie Weiher is a Research Associate at the Institute of Behavioral Science at the University of Colorado. She is currently involved in a longitudinal research project examining the causes and correlates of delinquency, drug use, and other social problems. Prior research focused on psychological aspects of cancer. Recent publications have appeared in Journal of Personality and Social Psychology and Medical Anthropology.

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Are ere Multiple Paths to Delinquency
David Huizinga
Finn-Aage Esbensen
Anne Wylie Weiher
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0091-4169/91/8201-0083
THEJOURNAL
OF
CRIMINAL
LAW
&
CRIMINOLOGY
Vol.
82,
No.
I
Copyright
@
1991
by
Northwestern
University, School
of
Law
Printed
in
U.S.A.
ARE
THERE
MULTIPLE
PATHS
TO
DELINQUENCY?*
DENVER YOUTH
SURVEY**
DAVID
HUIZINGA
FINN-AAGE
ESBENSEN
ANNE
WYLIE
WEIHER
ABSTRACT
Criminological
research
and
theory
generally
proceed
with
the
orientation,
if
not
the
assumption,
that
delinquency
is
the
result
of
some
series
of
events
common
to
all
delinquents.
While
some
atten-
tion
has
been
given to
the concepts
of
typologies,
multiple
pathways,
and
different
developmental
sequences
leading
to
different
outcomes,
rarely have
these
concepts
been pursued
empirically.
This
paper
uses
*
This
research
was
supported
by
grants from
the
Office
of
Juvenile
Justice
and
Delinquency
Prevention,
U.S.
Department
of
Justice (Grant
No.
86-JN-CX-0006)
and
the
National
Institute
of
Drug
Abuse
(Grant
No.
RO-DA-05183).
Points
of
view
or
opinions
expressed
in
this
paper
are those
of
the
authors
and do
not
necessarily
represent
the
official
position
or
policies
of
these
agencies.
We
are
indebted
to
Linda
P.
Cunningham,
Meg
Dyer,
Amanda
Elliott,
Linda
K.
Kuhn,
Judy
Armstrong
Laurie, Deantha
Ashby
Menon,-Judy
D.
Perry,
and
Silvia
Portillo,
the
dedicated research
staff, without
whom
the data
could
never
have
been
collected,
nor
the data
so
meticulously
prepared
for
analysis.
**
David
Huizinga
is
a
Research
Associate
at the
Institute
of
Behavioral
Science
at the
University
of
Colorado.
Over the
past
several
years,
he
has
been
involved
in
research
on
social
problems
and currently
is
Co-principle
Investigator
of
the
National
Youth Survey
and
Principle
Investigator
of
the
Denver
Youth
Survey,
which
are
longitudinal
studies
of
the
causes
and
correlates
of
delinquency,
drug
use,
and
other
social
problems.
Recent
publications
have
appeared
in
Criminology,Justice
Quarterly,Journal
of
Research
in
Crime
and
Delinquency,
and
Social
Science
Research.
He
also
recently
co-authored
Multiple
Problem
Youth
(with
Delbert
Elliott
and
Scott
Menard).
Finn-aage
Esbensen
is
a
Research
Associate
at
the Institute
of
Behavioral
Science
at
the
University
of
Colorado. He
is
currently
an
Investigator
on
the
Denver
Youth
Survey,
a longitudinal
survey
on the
causes
and
correlates
of
delinquency,
drug
use,
and
other
social
problems.
Recent
publications
have
appeared
injustice
Quarterly,
Quality
and
Quan-
tity,
and the
American
Journal
of
Police.
He
recently
co-authored
Criminology:
Explaining
Crime
and
Its
Context
(with
Stephen
E.
Brown
and
Gilbert
Geis).
Anne
Wylie
Weiher
is
a
Research
Associate
at
the Institute
of
Behavioral Science
at
the
University
of
Colorado.
She
is
currently
involved in
a
longitudinal
research
project
examining
the
causes
and
correlates
of
delinquency,
drug
use,
and
other
social
problems.
Prior
research
focused
on
psychological
aspects
of
cancer. Recent
publica-
tions
have
appeared
in
Journal
of
Personality
and
Social
Psychology
and
Medical
Anthropology.

DENVER
YOUTH
SURVEY
a
typological
approach
to
make
a
preliminary examination
of
the
exist-
ence
of
multiple
paths
leading
to
delinquency.
Data
from
the
first
two
annual
surveys
of
the
Denver
Youth
Survey
provide the
basis
for
the
analyses.
The
results
support
the
notion
that
there
is
typological di-
versity
in
the backgrounds
of
youth
who
become
delinquent,
a
diver-
sity
which,
perhaps, should
not
be
ignored.
I.
INTRODUCTION
The
idea
that
there
are
multiple
pathways
to
delinquency
is
not
new.
Many
researchers
have
expressed the
notion
that
the
underly-
ing
causes
leading
to
participation
in
delinquent
behavior
may
be
different
for
different
individuals
or
for
different
types
of
individu-
als.
Gibbons,
I
for
example,
referred
to
the
existence
of
separate
eti-
ological
accounts
for
different
offenders
and,
perhaps,
for
different
types
of
offenses.
Loeber and
Le
Blanc
2
described
different
devel-
opmental
sequences
leading
to
delinquency,
and
Elliott,
Ageton,
and
Canter,
3
in
their
theoretical
formulation,
used
the
terminology
of
multiple
etiologies
or
multiple paths.
Similarly,
Farrington,
Oh-
lin,
and
Wilson
4
discussed
the role
of
different
causal
patterns
and
individual
differences
leading
to
delinquency.
More
akin
to
the
ap-
proach used
in
this
paper,
Huizinga
5
and
Brennan
and
Huizinga
6
relied
upon
dynamic
typologies
to
describe
the relationship
across
time
between
kinds
of
individuals,
patterns
of
delinquent
behavior
and
patterns
of
theoretically
postulated
causal
variables.
To
some
extent,
the notions
that
the
causes
of
any
one
behavioral
act
are
complex
and
that
no
one
theoretical
orientation
is
likely
to explain
the
delinquent
acts
of
all
individuals
underlie
the
concept
of
multi-
ple
paths.
On the
other
hand,
the
belief
remains
that
these
acts
are
not
so
dependent
on
such
unique
factors
and
situations
that
gener-
alizations
to
certain groups
or
types
of
individuals
are
impossible.
Some
youth,
for
example,
run
away
from
home
because
of
a
poor
family
environment,
some
run
away
because
they
are
pushed
out
from
their
homes,
others
run
away
for
fun
and
excitement,
and
still
1
Gibbons,
The
Assumption
of
the
Efficacy
of
Middle-Range Explanations:
Typologies,
in
THEORETICAL
METHODS
IN
CRIMINOLOGY
151
(R.
Meier ed.
1985).
2
Loeber
&
Le
Blanc,
Toward
a
Developmental
Criminology,
in
12
CRIME
&
JUST.:
A
REVIEW OF
RES.
375
(M.
Tonry
&
N.
Morris eds.
1990).
3
Elliott,
Ageton
&
Canter,
An
Integrated
Theoretical
Perspective
on
Delinquent
Behavior,
16J.
RES. IN
CRIME
&
DELINQ.
27
(1979).
4
D.
FARRINGTON,
L.
OHLIN
&J.
WILSON,
UNDERSTANDING
AND
CONTROLLING
CRIME:
TOWARDS
A
NEW
RESEARCH
STRATEGY
(1986).
5 D.
Huizinga,
Dynamic
Typologies:
A
Means
of
Exploring
Multivariate
Data
(1979)
(paper
presented
at
the
Classification
Society
Meetings,
Gainesville,
FL).
6
Brennan
&
Huizinga,
The
Social
Psychology
of
Runaways,
3
CLASSIFICATION
SOC'Y
BULL.
(1976).
[Vol.
82

PATHWAYS
TO
DELINQUENCY?
others
run
away
because
they
are
"over-bonded" and
over-pro-
tected
at
home.
7
Similarly,
one
might
anticipate
that
some
youth
steal
for
different
reasons,
that
some
youth engage
in
violent
behav-
ior
for
different
reasons,
and
that
some
youth
use
drugs
for
different
reasons.
Recent
empirical
research
indicates
the
potential
importance
of
examining
multiple
paths.
For
example,
research
reviewed
by
Loeber
8
suggests
that
there
may
be
different
developmental
se-
quences
leading
to
delinquency
among
different
age
groups.
Hill
and
Crawford
9
reported
evidence
of
the
importance
of
different
variables
in
predicting
involvement
in
criminal
behavior
among
black
and
white
women.
Seydlitz'
°
found
that
there
may
be
an age
and
gender
interaction
in
the
relationship
between
parental
attach-
ment
and
delinquency.
Similarly,
Bailey
and HubbardI'
found
evi-
dence
that
factors
influencing
the
initiation
of
marijuana
use
may
vary by
age.
Finally,
Elliott,
Huizinga',
and
Ageton
12
discussed
the
finding
that
a
non-linear interaction
exists
in
pro-social
and
delin-
quent
bonding
leading
to
delinquency.
Although
criminologists
historically
have
been interested
in
the
notion
of
multiple
pathways
leading
to
delinquency,
little
major
the-
oretical
or
empirical
work
exploring
this
possibility
has
been
under-
taken.
In
addition,
where
researchers
have
tested
for
multiple
pathways,
the
pathways
usually
are
not
well
specified
or
are
limited
to
a
few
variables.
This
lack
of
empirical
attention
to
potential
mul-
tiple
pathways
raises
both
theoretical
and
methodological
issues.
Most
theoretical
presentations,
including
those
integrated
mod-
els
that
expand
the
conceptual
base
to
include
a
wider
range
of
the-
oretically
important
variables
in
a
single
model,
seem
to
suggest
that
the
effects
of
the
causal
variables
work
more
or
less
the
same
for
everyone.
These
presentations
of
omnibus models
rarely
attempt
to
consider
the
possibility
that there
may
be
multiple
types
of
offenders
with
different
patterns
of
offending
and
different
developmental
se-
7
T.
BRENNAN,
D.
HUIZINGA
&
D.
ELLIOTr,
THE
SOCIAL
PSYCHOLOGY
OF
RUNAWAYS
(1978)
[hereinafter
T.
BRENNAN,
RUNAWAYS];
D.
FINKELHOR,
G.
HOTALING
&
A.
SEDLAK,
MISSING,
ABDUCTED,
RUNAWAY,
AND
THROWNAWAY
CHILDREN
IN
AMERICA
(monograph
prepared
for
Office
of
Juvenile
Justice
and
Delinquency
Prevention,
1990).
8
Loeber,
Development
and
Risk
Factors
ofJuvenile
Antisocial
Behavior
and
Delinquency,
10
CLINICAL
PSYCHOLOGY
REV.
1
(1990).
9
Hill &
Crawford,
Women,
Race,
and
Crime,
28
CRIMINOLOGY
601
(1990).
10
Seydlitz,
The
Effects
of
Gender,
Age,
and
Parental
Attachment
on
Delinquency:
A
Test
for
Interactions,
10
SOC.
SPECTRUM
209
(1990).
I1
Bailey
&
Hubbard,
Developmental
Variation
in
the
Context
of
Marijuana
Initiation
among
Adolescents,
31
J.
HEALTH
&
SOC.
BEHAV.
58
(1990).
12
D.
ELLIOTT,
D.
HUIZINGA
&
S.
AGETON,
EXPLAINING
DELINQUENCY
AND
DRUG
USE
(1985)
[hereinafer
D.
ELLIOTT,
EXPLAINING
DELINQUENCY].
1991]

DENVER
YOUTH
SURVEY
quences associated
with
the
onset,
maintenance,
or
termination
of
involvement
in
delinquent
behavior.
It
must
be
recognized,
how-
ever,
that
the
development
of
sound
theoretical statements
is
no
simple
task;
it
requires
a
great
deal
of
effort
and
innovative
thought.
The
addition
of
multiple
types
or
pathways
increases
the
order
of
complexity
of
the
theoretical models.
However,
if
multiple
path-
ways
do
exist,
our
explanation
of
delinquent
behavior
is
incomplete
if
they
are
not
taken
into account.
An
important
theoretical
concern
thus
arises.
Is
there
one
underlying
constellation
of
variables
lead-
ing
to
delinquency
that
works
more
or
less
the
same
for
everybody,
or
are
there
subsets
of
individuals,
each
subset
having
a
common
background
and
experience,
for
which
the
variables
work
differ-
ently?
That
is,
are
there
different
pathways to
delinquent
behavior?
One
methodological
issue
raised
by
the
notion
of
multiple
path-
ways
is
how
such
pathways
are
to
be
identified
(presuming
that
they
exist)
using
empirical
data.
Most
of
the
current
data
analysis
strate-
gies
used
in
examining
theories
of
delinquency
are
designed
to con-
sider
either
all
individuals
as
responding
to
theoretical
variables
in
much
the
same
way
or
all
members
of
pre-specified
subgroups
as
re-
sponding
in
the
same
way.
That
is,
current
analytic
procedures
are
not
designed
to
search
for
and
identify
types
of
individuals
with
dif-
ferent
pathways
to
delinquency,
or
to
identify
the
different
covari-
ance
matrices
involving
non-linear
interactions
for
different
unspecified
and
unknown
subgroups.
Thus,
it
is
unclear
what "off-
the-shelf"
or
"canned"
analytical
procedure
can
be
used.
While
it
conceivably
might
be
possible
to
identify
all
the
various
pathways
potentially
specified
in
a
theory,
in
practice,
allowing
for
even
a
few
bisected theoretical
variables
at
a
few
points
in
time
results
in
a
plethora
of
types
of
individuals
and
raises
other
analytic
issues
as
well.
Given
these observations,
the
goal
of
the
current paper
is
to
provide
a
preliminary
examination
of
the
existence
of
multiple
path-
ways
to
delinquency.
Our
approach
is
largely
empirical.
While
we
are
somewhat
favorably
disposed
to
the
idea
of
multiple
pathways,
whether
there
is
one
constellation
of
variables
working
more
or
less
the
same
for
everyone
(i.e.,
one general
syndrome),
or
whether
there
are multiple
syndromes
with
multiple
etiological
paths
leading
to
delinquent
behavior
is
an
empirical issue.
Although
we
rely
on nu-
merical
taxonomy
or
cluster
analytic
methods,
our orientation
is
not
atheoretical.
Our
search
is
structured
in
data reflecting
a
general
developmental
model.
On the
other
hand,
given
the
current
state
of
knowledge
about
multiple
pathways,
we
believe an
emphasis on
tax-
onomic
description
is
in
itself
valuable
and
consistent
with
Cattell's
[Vol.
82