Testing the Effects of Social Bond Factors on Delinquency and the Moderating Effects by Gender and Race/ethnicity

The present study examined the effects of social bond factors on delinquency. They were examined in the whole sample and various subgroups of adolescents based on their gender, race/ethnicity, and both gender and race/ethnicity, in order to see how social bond factors might be differently related to delinquency among these subgroups. The findings showed that while some variables, such as delinquent peers, peer attachment, and low school commitment, had significant effects among all subgroups, its strength differed by gender and race/ethnicity. The effects of other variables, such as parental support, family attachment, active and passive involvement, school attachment and commitment, varied across these subgroups. This implied that controlling gender and race/ethnicity in the processes of structuring and testing theoretical models might lead to misrepresenting the actual effects of these variables among subgroups of adolescents by masking or suppressing their effects. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I owe sincere thankfulness to my research advisor, Rachel B. Whaley, who made me believe in myself and guided me through the whole process of Master's research paper writing. I am sure that this research paper would not have been possible without her support, understanding and encouragement I felt when working on it. I would also like to show my gratitude to my parents, all professors who taught Sociology to me, friends, classmates, and colleagues for their help and moral support.