Adolescent male offenders: A grounded theory study of cognition, emotion, and delinquent crime contexts

Abstract

Perspectives of adolescent offenders were examined, especially how they define, interpret, and in some cases justify their delinquent behaviors. Grounded theory methodology was used to examine the cognitive, affective, moral, sociocultural, and situational components that influence how and why adolescents commit crimes. A total of 24 adolescent males were interviewed. A theory of delinquent crime contexts emerged. This article focuses on three of these crime contexts: the emotion-driven violent assault, the belief-driven violent assault, and the mixed-motive mixed-crime contexts. © 2000 American Association for Correctional Psychology.