Language skills of delinquent and nondelinquent adolescent males

A comparison of language skills between adolescent juvenile delinquent males and matched nondelinquent peers was made using an informal language sample analysis (a modified Clinical Discourse Analysis) and the TOAL-2 measure. Twenty-four institutionalized delinquents and 24 nondelinquents ranging in age from 14.4 to 17.9 years were subjects. Their respective mean full scale intelligence quotients were 99.75 and 101.25 and they had no known verified handicapping conditions. Two one-way ANOVAs showed that there were significant differences for language skills on the dependent measures between the two groups. Differences between the groups also were observed from descriptive statistics for academic performance. Implications for assessment and treatment of "at-risk" populations are addressed.