Abstract

The purpose of this study is to see if there is a relationship between juvenile delinquency and dominating and avoiding conflict styles. Since there is a negative correlation between cooperativeness and juvenile delinquency and a negative correlation between cooperativeness and dominating and avoiding conflict styles, this study is designed to see if there is positive correlation between juvenile delinquency and dominating and avoiding conflict styles and a negative correlation between juvenile delinquency and obliging, integrating, and compromising conflict styles. The results indicate that there is a positive correlation between juvenile delinquency and an avoiding conflict style and a negative correlation between juvenile delinquency and obliging, integrating, and compromising conflict styles.

The Relationship Between Conflict Styles and Delinquent Behavior

A juvenile delinquent can be defined as someone under the age of eighteen who has committed a legal offense (Wilson, Nathan, O’Leary, & Clark, 1996). Those under the age of twenty-one accounts for 30% of police arrests in the U.S and teenagers account for 27% of violent crimes such as theft and burglary. Research has shown that those with an early onset of conduct problems in childhood, such as academic failure and involvement with deviant peers, are more likely to engage in life-long criminality rather than those who had a late onset of conduct problems. Individuals classified as late onset have conduct problems that begin around the time of puberty and usually arise from spending time with peers who engage in delinquent acts. Those classified as early onset have subtle cognitive deficits in language, memory, and self-regulation. As early as the age of three, these youths can be identified by their different temperament, marked by emotional negativity and restlessness. Poor parenting is thought to contribute to these children becoming juvenile delinquents (Berk, 2000).

Many studies have been designed to study the causes of juvenile delinquency. Much of this research has focused on personality and it’s relation to juvenile delinquency. Personality traits such as impulsivity thrill seeking, lack of control, negative emotionality, and alienation of feelings have all been associated with juvenile delinquency. One of the more powerful predictors for juvenile delinquency is being low on the trait of cooperativeness (Ruchkin, Koposov, Eisemann, & Hagglof, 2001). Research has found that those low in the trait of cooperativeness have ineffective and inappropriate conflict styles (Volkema & Bergmann, 1995). Since those who are low in cooperativeness are more prone to commit delinquent acts and those low in cooperativeness are more likely to have inappropriate conflict styles, it can be believed that individuals who have ineffective and inappropriate conflict styles will also be more prone to commit delinquent acts.

Those low in cooperativeness exhibit deficits in empathy, are hostile, aggressive, and have hateful attitudes. They are also egoistic and immature (Ruchkin et al., 2001). Those who are high in cooperativeness tend to be happier, have more friends, have greater self-esteem, and report more prosocial behavior. Low cooperativeness has also been found to predict bullying. Bullying can be defined as repeated negative actions by a more powerful person against someone who cannot effectively defend themselves. It can be physical or verbal abuse (Rigby & Cox, 1997). Those low in cooperativeness are more likely to be perceived negatively by peers. They are more likely to use coercive-aggressive solutions to solve problems and they are less likely to comply with adult authority (Olsen, 1989).

Conflict style refers to a patterned response to a conflict with the repeated use of the same tactics to resolve it. Conflict occurs when an individual perceives another to be interfering or obstructing a need or goal (Corcoran & Mallinckrodt, 2000). Those who manage conflict appropriately are perceived as competent communicators and capable leaders while those who manage conflict inappropriately are more likely to have trouble reaching goals, maintaining positive relationships, and solving problems (Gross & Guerrero, 2000). There are five main approaches to conflict which are dominating, obliging, avoiding, integrating, and compromising. Individuals with a dominating style are more concerned with meeting their needs than the needs of the other person while those with obliging styles are concerned for others but have a low concern for themselves and are quick to give into the demands of others. Individuals with avoiding styles avoid engaging in discussion about conflict with others and those with an integrating style try to resolve conflicts by seeking a solution that maximally meets the needs of all people involved in the conflict. Individuals with a compromising style try to resolve conflict by seeking a midpoint between their position and the other’s position (Corcoran & Mallinckrodt, 2001).

Hypothesis:

It is hypothesized that juvenile delinquents will have dominating and avoiding conflict styles. Since previous research has found that individuals low in cooperativeness tend to have dominating and avoiding conflict styles and those low in cooperativeness tend to commit delinquent acts, the research is predicting a positive correlation between juvenile delinquency and dominating and avoiding conflict styles and a negative correlation between juvenile delinquency and obliging, integrating, and compromising conflict styles.

Method

Participants:

The participants in this study are thirty adolescent boys, ranging in ages fourteen to seventeen. All are residents at a minimum-security detention center in Western New York. Most of the residents come from the New York City and Buffalo area and come from a variety of ethnic backgrounds such as African-American, Latino, and Caucasian. All participants attend the high school at the detention center.

Measures:

Antisocial Behavior Checklist (ABC): This is a 46-item self-report measure questioning the respondent’s frequency of antisocial activities. The ABC asks questions such as “how often have you been expelled from school,” “how often have you lied to your parents,” and “how often have you participated in fights.” Each question is answered using a 4-point scale with 1 = never,

2 = rarely, 3 = sometimes, and 4 = often. This test has test-retest reliability (.91 over four weeks) and internal reliability (coefficient .93) (Ruchkin et al., 2001).

The Rahim Organizational Conflict Inventory – II (ROCI-II): This is a 35-item self-report measure questioning the respondent’s conflict style. Each question is answered using a one to five scale with 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree. The questions form five subscales that measure the conflict styles of dominating, obliging, avoiding, integrating, and compromising. This test has test-retest reliability (.60 to .83 over one week) and internal reliability (coefficient .72 to .77) (Rahim & Magner, 1994).

Procedure:

Parental and personal consent was obtained from each of the participants before the participants are given the Antisocial Behavior Checklist (ABC) and the Rahim Organizational Conflict Inventory – II (ROCI-II). Each questionnaire was administered in private so the presence of others would not affect the individual’s answers to the questionnaires. Results from the ABC and ROCI-II were compared to see if there was a relationship between the two questionnaires.

Results

A Pearson-R statistical test was used to analyze the data. (See Table 1). There was a significant positive correlation between juvenile delinquency and the avoiding conflict style (r = .481 p<.05) while there was a not a significant correlation between juvenile delinquency and the dominating conflict style (r = .187). There was a significant negative correlation between juvenile delinquency and obliging (r = -.652 p<.05), integrating (r = -.460 p<.05), and compromising (r = -.375 p<.05) conflict styles. There was a significant positive correlation between the avoiding conflict style and the dominating conflict style (r = .545 p<.05) and a significant negative correlation between the avoiding conflict style and obliging (r = -.417 p<.05) and integrating (r = -.594 p<.05) conflict styles. There is also a significant positive correlation between the obliging and integrating (r = .481 p<.05) and compromising (r = .689 p<.05) conflict styles. The data supports the research’s hypothesis except there was no significant positive correlation between juvenile delinquency and the dominating conflict style. The results show that juvenile delinquents are more likely to have inappropriate conflict styles, which may contribute to their delinquency.

Discussion

The results of this study show that the majority of the juvenile delinquents used in this study had an avoiding conflict style rather than obliging, integrating, and compromising styles. This suggests that since juvenile delinquents have inappropriate conflict styles that may be one of the causal factors of juvenile delinquency. Having inappropriate conflict styles impairs one’s ability to effectively resolve problems in life, leading only to more problems in an individual’s life (Gross & Guerrero, 2000). If juvenile offenders are taught how to appropriately resolve their conflicts then it may decrease their likelihood of committing delinquent acts in the future.

When these youth offenders are detained, one form of counseling that may be beneficial for their prosocial development would be to have the juveniles work together in small groups on projects. A staff member who could teach them how to appropriately resolve their conflicts could supervise them. When a conflict arises and the youth avoid talking about the conflict and instead fight with each other, the counselor could discuss with them how to appropriately engage in discussion with each other to resolve the conflict. Since compromising, integrating, and obliging conflict styles were negatively correlated with delinquency, these youth could also be taught how to resolve their conflicts using those conflict styles. Also, adolescents that participate in group work show greater gains in affiliation with others than those who do not participate in group work and they report less uncertainty, depression, and anxiety (Viney, Henry, & Campbell, 2001).

Also, the earlier these inappropriate conflict styles are recognized, the greater the likelihood that juvenile delinquency may be prevented. Research has shown that the younger the child, the greater the chance for improvement in behavior (Wilson et al., 1996). When children at a young age are exhibiting inappropriate conflict styles, they should be immediately taught how to appropriately resolve their conflicts so as to avoid future problems.

It is important to note that this study was conducted with a small sample of adolescent boys (n = 30), so results may not be able to be generalized to an entire population. A larger sample would have made the study more effective. Also, since this study only examines the types of conflict styles juvenile delinquents have, future research may want to examine the conditions that causes these conflict styles to be developed.

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Table 1 Conflict styles of juvenile delinquents

Juvenile Delinquency	Juvenile Delinquency	Avoiding	Dominating	Obliging	Integrating	Compromising
Avoiding	.481	1.0
Dominating	.187	.545	1.0
Obliging	-.652	.-417	-.152	1.0
Integrating	-.460	-.594	-.050	.481	1.0
Compromising	-.375	-.274	-.224	.689	.298	1.0

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