Template-type: ReDif-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Traag Tanja 
Author-Name: Marie Olivier 
Author-Name: Velden Rolf van der
Author-workplace-name: ROA rm
Title: Social Bonding, Early School Leaving, and Delinquency
Abstract: In this paper we investigate how successful social bonding theory is at predicting juveniledelinquency and school dropout behaviour. We adopt a simple dynamic approach whichassumes that past involvement in risky behaviour reduces individual restraints forfuture participation in risky behaviour. We use a ten years education panel followingDutch adolescents who participated in a survey in their first year of high school in 1999.This information was matched to annual information on police arrests based on registrydata. Our results show that school performance (as measured by test scores) is the keysocial bond element preventing young people from engaging in risk behaviour. We alsofind that involvement in past risky behaviour increases the likelihood of future misstepsand that the protective influence of school performance is mitigated.
Keywords: labour market entry and occupational careers; 
Series: Research Memoranda
Creation-Date: 2010
Number: 014
File-URL: http://digitalarchive.maastrichtuniversity.nl/fedora/objects/guid:496f2c9c-186f-4e07-8300-4b1585a4db72/datastreams/ASSET1/content
File-Format: application/pdf
File-Size: 351879
Handle: RePEc:unm:umaror:2010014