Familial influences on the moral reasoning of adolescent first-time offenders

161 Pages·2002·3.9 MB·English

by  Giunta, Stephen Alphonse

FAMILIALINFLUENCESONTHEMORALREASONING
OFADOLESCENTFIRST-TIMEOFFENDERS
By
STEPHENALPHONSEGIUNTA
ADISSERTATIONPRESENTEDTOTHEGRADUATESCHOOL
OFTHEUNIVERSITYOFFLORIDAINPARTIALFULFILLMENT
OFTHEREQUIREMENTSFORTHEDEGREEOF
DOCTOROFPHILOSOPHY
UNIVERSITYOFFLORIDA
2002
Copyright2002
by
StephenA.Giunta
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Iwouldliketoextendmydeepestappreciationtothemanyindividualswhose
encouragementandsupportcontributedtothecompletionofthisdissertation.Special
thanksgotomycommitteechairperson.Dr.EllenAmatea.whoseexpertise,patience,
andeditorialguidancewereinvaluabletomyprofessionalgrowth.Inturn.Iextendmy
gratitudetoDr.HarryDaniels.Hisappreciationformyclinicalapproachoftenservedas
ananchorintimesofdoubt.1alsowishtothankmycolleaguesattheUniversityof
MinnesotaDuluth,Drs.BudMcClure,SandyWoolum,andRobertLloyd.Theirhelpful
suggestionsandwarmsupportwereincalculablethroughthefinalmonthsofthis
endeavor.
Myheartfeltthanksalsogototheotherprofessionalswho,whilebehindthe
scene,playedaninstrumentalroleinmakingmyadjustmenttoacademiaasmoothone:
Ms.CandySpires,whopointedthewayattheUniversityofFlorida,andMs.PatCashin,
herDuluthiancounterpart.Iwouldalsoliketothankmyresearchassistant,Mrs.
ElizabethHolte,whoseexpertisewithanumbertwopencilandbubblesheetissurely
unmatchedwithintheworldofacademia.
Myspecialthanksgotomyfamilyandfriends.FirstIthankmyfather,Joseph
Giunta,nowdeceased,whoseexistentialviewoflifewasaconstantsourceofadmiration
andinspiration.Then,ofcourse,aremychildren,Joseph,Stephen,andFrancis,who
deservespecialthanksfortheirlove,support,andendurancethroughalongprocessthat
ofteninvolvedtheirsacrifice.Asthefamily'smoralexemplar,mybrother-in-law,Frank
lannotti.deservesspecialthanks.However,ever>'familymember,includingthe"Littlest
Joey."hascontributedpositivelyinboththeprocessandtheoutcome.Iamparticularly
gratefultoAdrianeIsenberg.JD.withwhomIsharedallthetrialsandtribulationsofthis
endeavor.FinalthanksgototheAlachuaCountySheriffsOfficefortheextraordinary
latitudetheyprovidedtomeduringthedatacollectionstageoftheprocess.
TABLEOFCONTENTS
page
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS iii
LISTOFTABLES vii
ABSTRACT viii
CHAPTER
1 INTRODUCTION 1
ScopeoftheProblem 3
TheoreticalFramework 12
NeedForTheStudy 22
PurposeofTheStudy 23
ResearchQuestions 23
DefinitionOfTerms 23
OrganizationoftheStudy 26
2 REVIEWOFTHELITERATURE 27
ChallengesFacingtheJuvenileJusticeSystem 27
TheContinuumofDelinquency 34
AssessmentandScreeningofDelinquents 38
TheoriesofDelinquency 44
TheCorrelatesofDelinquency 53
TheoryandMethodsofAssessmentofMoralReasoning 57
TheoryandAssessmentofFamilyFunctioning 77
PromisingInterventionOutcomes 80
Summary 86
3 METHODOLOGY 88
StatementofPurpose 88
Hypotheses 88
DelineationofRelevantVariables 89
Population 91
Subjects 92
DataCollectionProcedures 94
Instrumentation 96
DataAnalyticProcedures 102
4 DATAANALYSISANDRESULTS 103
AnalysisProcedures 103
RegressionAnalysisResults 114
HypothesisTesting 115
Summary 11^
5 DISCUSSION 119
ComparisonofSamplewithNormGroups 120
AssociationsAmongPredictorVariables 123
Limitations 125
Implications 130
RecommendationsforFutureResearch 132
APPENDIX DEMOGRAPHICQUESTIONNAIRE 134
REFERENCES 136
BIOGRAPHICALSKETCH 150
.
LISTOFTABLES
Table page
LOrangeCounty.CaliforniaProbationDepartment'sAssessmentFactors 42
2.OJJDPRiskAssessmentModel 44
3.DelinquencyTheoryProcess—Outcome 52
4.Familial/ParentalFactorsAssociatedwithEnhancingMoralDevelopment 63
5.Kohlberg'sStagesofMoralDevelopment 69
6.Neo-KohlbergianStagesofMoralDevelopment 74
7.BeaversModelofFamilyFunctioning(Health/CompetenceDimension) 78
8.DescriptionofRegressionPredictorandDependentVariable 104
9.DescriptiveStatisticsofContinuousVariables 106
10.SamplePopulation'sFamilyLevelofFunctioning 109
11 MasterCorrelationMatrix 110
12.SamplePopulationbyGenderandAge Ill
13.SamplePopulationbyGenderandEthnicity 112
14.FrequencyDistributionofFamiliesbyCountyofResidence 114
15.ResultsoftheRegressionAnalysisforHypothesisSeven 115
16.ResultsofHypothesisTesting 116
AbstractofDissertationPresentedtotheGraduateSchool
oftheUniversityofFloridainPartialFulfillmentofthe
RequirementsfortheDegreeofDoctorofPhilosophy
FAMILIALINFLUENCESONTHEMORALREASONING
OFADOLESCENTFIRST-TIMEOFFENDERS
By
StephenAlphonseGiunta
August2002
Chairperson:EllenAmatea.Ph.D.
MajorDepartment:CounselorEducation
Thisstudyexaminedtheinfluenceofthreefamilialvariablesandthree
demographicvariablesonthelevelofmoralreasoningofadolescentfirst-timeoffenders.
Morespecifically,thisresearchsoughttodeterminethedegreeofrelationshipbetween
thefirst-timeoffendingadolescent'slevelofmoralreasoningandthefollowingfamilial
variables:(a)thelevelofmoralreasoningdemonstratedbyher/hisparents,(b)the
reportedparentingstyleutilizedbyher/hisparents,and(c)thereportedleveloffamily
functioning.Similarly,theextentoftherelationshipwasexaminedbetweenthe
adolescent'slevelofmoralreasoningandthefollowingdemographiccharacteristics:(a)
adolescent'sage.(b)adolescent'sgender,and(c)thefamily'ssocio-economicstatus.In
addition,thisstudyassessedthecombinedstrengthofthesevariablesinpredictingthe
levelofmoralreasoningoftheseadolescents.Itwashopedthatthisresearchmightresult
intheidentificationofsalientcharacterisficsdifferentiatingfirst-timeadolescent
offenderseligibletoparticipateinadolescentcrimepreventionanddiversionprograms.
Thestudysampleconsistedof103adolescentsandtheirfamiliesdrawnfrom14
countieswithinthestateofFloridaandfromavarietyofdifferentlocales.Allofthe
familieshadadolescentsinvolvedinFlorida'sjuvenilejusticesystemasfirst-time
offenders.EachoftheadolescentscompletedtheDefiningIssuesTest,theBeaver's
Self-ReportFamilyInventory;andtheParentalAuthorityQuestionnaire.Parents
completedtheDefiningIssuesTestandademographicquestionnaire.
Aregressionanalysiswasusedtoevaluatethecontributionsofthesixvariablesin
predictingtheadolescent'slevelofmoralreasoningasmeasuredbytheDefiningIssues
Test(DIT).Althoughthissampleoffirst-timeoffendingadolescentsdemonstrateda
significantlylowerlevelofmoralreasoningascomparedwithadolescentsofthesame
ageinthegeneralnormgroup,therewerenosignificantassociationsfoundbetweenthe
adolescents'moralreasoninglevelandthesixvariables.Therewere,however,
statisticallysignificantassociationsbetweenmothers'andfathers'authoritativeparenting
styleandtheleveloffamilyhealthreported.Discussionoftheseresults,thestudy's
limitations,andsuggestionsforfutureresearchwerethenpresented.
INCTHRAOPDTUECTRI1ON
Criminalactscommittedbyjuvenilesareincreasinginfrequenc).TlieUnited
StatesDepartmentofJustice(OfficeofJuvenileJusticeandDelinquencyPrevention,
1999)reportsthatournation'sjuvenilecourtsprocessednearly1.8millionactsof
delinquencvin1996.Thisrepresentsa3%increaseinthenumberofcasesprocessedin
1996ascomparedto1995anda49%increasefromthoseprocessedin1987.Controlling
forchangesinthesizeofthejuvenilepopulation,between1987and1996thetotal
delinquencycaseraleper1.000juvenilesincreased34%.from46.2to61.8casesper
1.000juveniles.Particularlyalarining.thecaseratefordelinquentactscommittedagainst
anotherpersonincreasedby80%duringthistimeperiod.
Thisgrowthinthenumberofdelinquentactshasresultedinthecourts
increasinglyrelyingonindependentalternativesentencing/intervention(diversion)
programstoconservecourtresourcesforthemostseriouscases.Aplethoraofdiversion
prograinshavenowbeendevelopedandimpleinentedtomeetthisneed.Asa
consequence,theoverwhelmingmajorityoffirst-timeoffendingjuveniles(67.5%in
Florida)participateindiversionprogramsinlieuoftradifionaljuvenilecourt(Florida
DepartmentofJuvenileJustice.1998;Fo.x.Minor.&Pelkey.1994).
Iheseprograms,despitetheirpopularity,arenotwithouttheircritics.Three
significantcriticismshavebeenleveledatdiversionprograms.First,inanycriticsseethe
contentanddesignoftheseprograinsasinconsistentandcapricious(Braithwaite.1989;
Cragg.1992;Llmbrcit.1985).Theinterventionphilosophiesrangefromthosethatignore
I