中華心理衛生協會

Purpose: Many studies have explored how general risk factors (i.e., impulsivity and adverse social control) influence juvenile delinquency. Few have examined the relation between juvenile delinquency and a maturity gap, the difference in an adolescent's physical and social maturity (Moffitt, 1993). Some adolescents with a maturity gap engage in social mimicry of delinquent peers and become involved in delinquent behaviors. Because an operational definition of maturity gap has yet to be clarified in the literature, this study develops a maturity gap scale with 4 factors: material needs, material restraints, autonomy needs, and autonomy restraints. The goals of this study were to test the validity of the maturity gap scale, determine whether a maturity gap has a unique influence on juvenile delinquency, determine whether a maturity gap is the main contributor to delinquency arising in adolescence, and compare general risk factors and maturity gap factors in 3 groups of adolescents: one who has committed few delinquent acts, one exhibiting early-and one exhibiting late-onset delinquency. Methods: Participants included 287 junior and senior high boys (M age = 17.09 years). The measured variables included impulsivity, social control factors (parenting from father, parenting from mother, attachment to school, and attachment to peers), maturity gap (material needs, material restraints, autonomy needs, autonomy restraints), social mimicry (association with delinquent peers), conduct problems in childhood, and juvenile delinquency. Results: Results confirmed the internal consistency, reliability, and criterion-related validity of the 4 maturity gap factors. Hierarchical regression analysis indicated that a maturity gap predicts juvenile delinquency after controlling for conduct problems in childhood and general risk factors. For those participants who never exhibited conduct problems in childhood, a maturity gap but not general risk factors predicted juvenile delinquency. The 3 groups had a significant difference in material needs, material restrains, and autonomy needs. Conclusions: Findings supported the importance of the concept of maturity gap for juvenile delinquency research. In the past, some researchers have regarded Autonomy Needs as the most important factor in a maturity gap. Results indicated that Material Needs (such as the need for sex, a car, or money) is another important factor. Moffitt considered restraints to be risk factors for delinquency, but this study demonstrated that Material Restraints could prevent youth from engaging in criminal activities. These contradictory results are discussed from the perspective of opportunity theories of crime and cultural differences.