Thao Le, MPh, MA, Research, National Council on Crime and Delinquency, 1970 Broadway, Suite 500, Oakland, CA 94612, 510.208.0500 ext.340, tle@sf.nccd-crc.org

The literature on delinquency has, for the most part, identified peer delinquency as having the strongest influence in delinquency for adolescents. However, most studies on adolescents and delinquency have primarily focused on Black or Caucasian youths. Whether this finding generalizes to Asian American youths, specifically Chinese or Southeast Asian youths, is less clear. This study explores three potential influences on youth delinquency for Chinese and Southeast Asian youths in Oakland, California. The sample included Cambodian (n=110), Chinese (n=41), Lao/Mien (n=66), and Vietnamese (n=65) youths attending two public schools in Oakland. Youth and primary caretaker were administered a face-to-face interview that lasted about 1 hour each. Correlation analyses revealed a significant positive correlation between age and peer delinquency across all four ethnic groups. Gender, family involvement and attitudes toward school were not significantly correlated across all ethnic groups except for a negative correlation between family involvement and delinquency for Vietnamese youths, and a positive correlation for Cambodian female youth. Structural equation analyses using LISREL 8.52 were then conducted to explore the relative paths of parent, school, and peer related factors on delinquency. The results showed that the path from peer delinquency to youth delinquency was robust and invariant across the four ethnic groups. Parent involvement and attitudes toward school were not significant. The result is consistent with the findings of other studies on Black and Caucasian youths in that peer delinquency in adolescence appears to be the most influential predictor of youth delinquency for Chinese and Southeast Asian youths.

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