Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The effect of different types of high school transitions on delinquent friendships and delinquency

  • Published:
Journal of Experimental Criminology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Objectives

The role of schools in adolescents’ development and behavior including delinquency is indisputable. Despite the salutary effects of school, the adverse influences of school in the lower academic tracks have also been documented.

Methods

Acknowledging these opposite views on school and limited studies on two types of high school in South Korea, the current study examined the effect of different types of high school transitions (industrial and liberal arts) on juvenile delinquency and peer delinquency via a propensity score matching.

Results

Although the two groups were not significantly different in the first year of high school, they showed differences in delinquency and deviant peer association in the second and third years.

Conclusions

These findings implied the crucial role of peers and schools in delinquency and have important implications for educational policy, which can be applied to other countries.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Anderson, D. M. (2014). In school and out of trouble? The minimum dropout age and juvenile crime. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 96, 318–331.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bowditch, C. (1993). Getting rid of troublemakers: High school disciplinary procedures and the production of dropouts. Social Problems, 40(4), 493–509.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cairns, R. B., & Cairns, B. D. (1994). Lifelines and risks: Pathways of youth in our time. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

  • Felson, R. B., & Staff, J. (2006). Explaining the academic performance-delinquency relationship. Criminology, 44(2), 299–320.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gang, H. (2005). An examination of factors affecting school adaptation among industrial high school students (Master thesis, Woosuk University, Wanju, South Korea). Retrieved from http://www.riss.kr/search/detail/DetailView.do?p_mat_type=be54d9b8bc7cdb09&control_no=79a6f30c635640a1ffe0bdc3ef48d419

  • Gang, S., Jeon, M., & Jang, J. (2005). Comparative analysis of problematic behaviors between academic and industrial type high schools. Korean Education and Employment, 1, 155–186.

    Google Scholar 

  • Garrido, M. M., Kelley, A. S., Paris, J., Roza, K., Meier, D. E., Morrison, R. S., & Aldridge, M. D. (2014). Methods for constructing and assessing propensity scores. Health Services Research, 49(5), 1701–1720.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gottfredson, D. C. (2001). Schools and delinquency. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

  • Gottfredson, M., & Hirschi, T. (1990). A general theory of crime. Stanford University Press.

  • Grasmick, H. G., Tittle, C. R., Bursik, R. J., & Arneklev, B. J. (1993). Testing the core empirical implications of Gottfredson and Hirschi’s general theory of crime. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 30(1), 5–29.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hallinan, M. T., & Kubitschek, W. N. (1999). Curriculum differentiation and high school achievement. Social Psychology of Education, 3(1), 41–62.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Han, Y., & Grogan-Kaylor, A. (2013). Parenting and youth psychosocial well-being in South Korea using fixed-effects models. Journal of Family Issues, 34, 689–715.

  • Heo, S. (2006). A study on the solutions to the juvenile drug abuse. Korean Journal of Youth Studies, 13(3), 1–28.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hill, J. (2004). Reducing bias in treatment effect estimation in observational studies suffering from missing data (Working paper 04–01). New York: Columbia University, Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy (ISERP).

  • Hwang, S. (2006). Low self-control, peer and parental factors influence on adolescent drug use. Korean Journal of Youth Studies, 13(5), 129–154.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hwang, S. H. (2007). A comparative study of substance abuse by Korean and American adolescents. Journal of Korean Criminological Association, 1(1), 73–90.

  • Jung, C.Y., Kim, J. S., Seo, W. S., Na, S.I., & Park, D. Y. (2000). Counter measures against teacher problems with restructuring vocational high schools. Korea Research Institute for Vocational Education and Training

  • Juvonen, J., & Galván, A. (2008). Peer influence in involuntary social groups: Lessons from research on bullying. In M. J. Prinstein & K. A. Dodge (Eds.), Understanding Peer Influence in Children and Adolescents (pp. 225–244). Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kelly, D. H. (1976). Track position, school misconduct, and youth deviance: A test of the interpretive effect of school commitment. Urban Education, 10(4), 379–388.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kim, H. J., & Jang, Y. O. (2011). The mediating effects of the career decision-making self-efficacy on the relation between the social support and the career preparation behavior in the technical high school students. The study of Juveniles, 18(7), 1-32. (in Korean)

  • Kim, H., & Lee, H. (2002). On the basis of the comparisons by students’ gender, school-type, and living area: Analyses on the sexual behaviors among high school students. Korean Journal of Youth Studies, 9(1), 247–272.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kim, J., & Lee, Y. (2019). Does it take a school? Revisiting the influence of first arrest on subsequent delinquency and educational attainment in a tolerant educational background. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 56(2), 254–302.

  • Kim, O. S., & Park, E. J. (2012). A comparative study of time use differences between Korean and American high school students. Journal of Korean Home Management Association, 30(4), 119–132.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • KOSIS. (2013). Korean Statistical Information Service, Updated, 2013 http://kosis.kr/eng/database/database_001000.jsp?listid=Z

  • Kreager, D. A. (2007). When it’s good to be “bad”: Violence and adolescent peer acceptance. Criminology, 45(4), 893–923.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, Y., & Kim, J. (2017). An examination of victimization trajectories among a sample of South Korean adolescents: Risk and protective factors. Crime & Delinquency, 63(11), 1434–1457.

  • Lee, Y. S., & Lee, K. (2006). The identity of vocational high school in terms of the external value. The Journal of Vocational Education Research, 26(1), 139–155.

    Google Scholar 

  • Linn, R. L., Baker, E. L., & Betebenner, D. W. (2002). Accountability systems: Implications of requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. Educational Researcher, 31(6), 3–16.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Losen, D. J., Hewitt, D. T., & Kim, C. Y. (2010). The school-to-prison pipeline: Structuring legal reform. New York, NY: University Press.

  • Ministry of Health & Welfare (2006). Report on 2005 National health and nutritional survey. Seoul, South Korea.

  • Moon, H., & Moon, S. (2007). The relationship between the perceived communication with teachers and school life adaptation in adolescents. Korean Journal of Youth Studies, 14(2), 167–186.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nam, J. B. (2009). High school types and juvenile delinquency. Social Science Research, 27(2), 59–91.

    Google Scholar 

  • National Center for Education Statistics. (2014). Institutional retention and graduation rates for undergraduate students. Retrieved from https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_cva.asp

  • OECD (2016), PISA 2015 Results (Volume I): Excellence and equity in education, OECD Publishing, Paris.

  • Oh, M. S. (2010). A comparative study on the time use of Korean students. Korean Journal of Comparative Education, 20(4), 299–330.

  • Rosenbaum, J. E. (1980). Chapter 8: Social implications of educational grouping. Review of research in education, 8(1), 361–401.

  • Salmivalli, C., & Voeten, M. (2004). Connections between attitudes, group norms, and behaviour in bullying situations. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 28(3), 246–258.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Savolainen, J., Hughes, L. A., Mason, W. A., Hurtig, T. M., Ebeling, H., Moilanen, I. K., ... & Taanila, A. M. (2012). Antisocial propensity, adolescent school outcomes, and the risk of criminal conviction. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 22(1), 54-64.

  • Sweeten, G. (2012). Scaling criminal offending. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 28(3), 533–557.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thornberry, T. P., & Krohn, M. D. (2005). Applying interactional theory to the explanation of continuity and change in antisocial behavior. In D. P. Farrington (Ed.), Integrated Developmental & Life-Course Theories of Offending (pp. 183–209). Transition Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Houtte, M., & Stevens, P. A. (2008). Sense of futility: The missing link between track position and self-reported school misconduct. Youth & Society, 40(2), 245–264.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Warr, M. (2002). Companions in crime: The social aspects of criminal conduct. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.

  • Warr, M. (2005). Making delinquent friends: Adult supervision and children’s affiliations. Criminology, 43(1), 77–106.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, 35487-0320, USA

    Jihoon Kim

  2. School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences, The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX, 75080, USA

    Yeungjeom Lee

Authors
  1. Jihoon Kim
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Yeungjeom Lee
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yeungjeom Lee.

Additional information

Publisher's note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Appendix

Appendix

Table 3 Alternative propensity score matching specifications
Full size table

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Kim, J., Lee, Y. The effect of different types of high school transitions on delinquent friendships and delinquency. J Exp Criminol 19, 237–256 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11292-021-09489-4

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11292-021-09489-4

Keyword

Search

Navigation