Investigating the role of alienation in a multicomponent model of juvenile delinquency

Research findings indicate that there are multiple causal pathways to delinquency. A multicomponent model of delinquency was developed to explore systematically the interrelationships of psychosocial variables and their relationships to delinquent behaviour. Most importantly, alienation was tested for its ability to act as a core mediating predictor variable. One hundred and fifty-two adolescents, 78 females and 74 males, completed a battery of questionnaires designed to assess each of the variables in the proposed model. Several salient pathways to delinquency were identified. They include environmental and person-centred factors. Alienation, when operationalized as a general construct, was not found to be a necessary mediating predictor variable. "Societal" alienation, on the other hand, was shown to have important explanatory power. Re-examining the model within a large-scale, time-extended study could inform programmes for the prevention and early intervention of delinquent behaviour.