Underlying motivations for rule-violation among juvenile delinquents: A lab-in-the-field experiment

Arbeitspapier

This paper reports on a lab-in-the-field experiment that investigates differences in rule-violating behavior between the inmates of juvenile detention centers and regular adolescents from primary schools of similar age in response to three specific contexts: (i) when they interact with ingroup and outgroup members, (ii) when they are exposed to an unfair economic situation and (iii) when the rule-violating behavior is exposed to others. Our results show substantial similarities between the delinquents and non-problematic adolescents. Even though the juvenile delinquents violate rules more, we find no evidence of ingroup favoritism. Moreover, both groups care similarly about their social image and do not violate rules substantially more after the unfair treatment. Our findings thus show that juvenile delinquents are not inherently different from non-problematic adolescents and highlight the importance of social values for successful resocialization.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: IES Working Paper ; No. 18/2018

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Field Experiments ; Analysis of Education ; Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
• Subject: delinquency ; adolescence ; rule-violation ; experiment ; random allocation game

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Cingl, Lubomir ; Korbel, Vaclav
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Charles University in Prague, Institute of Economic Studies (IES)
• (where): Prague
• (when): 2018

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/203196
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:44 AM CET