Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Criminological theories assume a linear (or nonexistent) relationship between SES and deviance. This research challenges that assumption, and extends findings from recent criminological and organizational research to examine whether the relationship between SES and adolescent problem behavior is inverse curvilinear (an inverted “U” shape). The theoretical framework for the research is the “middle-status conformity hypothesis,” which provides that the effects of social control vary by social status, with social control most effective among those in the middle class, who experience the greatest anxiety regarding status slippage or blockage of paths to higher status, and are thus more likely to conform than those of higher or lower social statuses. Using data from the Los Angeles Family and Neighborhood Survey, I employ multilevel statistical models to consider two research questions. First, is the relationship between family-level socioeconomic status and adolescent problem behavior inverse curvilinear? Second, is the relationship between neighborhood-level (dis)advantage and adolescent problem behavior inverse curvilinear? These relationships are examined for two problem behavior outcomes: aggression and substance use. It is expected that, consistent with the middle-status conformity hypothesis, problem behavior will be greatest at the lowest and highest levels of family and neighborhood SES. However, both the expression and the form of delinquency may vary due to differential effects of family and community informal social control processes by class.