Two types of delinquents and their institutional adjustment

This research tested a typology classifying 326 incarcerated delinquent boys as buoyant or beset, depending on their level of anxiety and depression at intake. Findings reveal that the two types of boys differed in some aspects of life history and personality, that the buoyant type adjusted better to the institution's group-oriented treatment program, and that buoyant and beset boys responded differentially to some components of the treatment. Implications are drawn regarding the usefulness of the typology for guiding differential treatment.