Citation

Weaver CN. Sociol. Q. 1970; 11(1): 119-125.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1970, Midwest Sociological Society, Publisher Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

There is evidence that the Mexican-American may not have fully accepted the goals and means for achieving goals in the United States culture. The evidence of the other modes of adjustment is reflected in crime rates, delinquency, and in mental illness. .y31n this study it was hypothesized that the maladjustment of the Mexican-American may be manifested in a relatively higher rate of accidents. In contrasting the Spanish-surnamed and non-Spanish-surnamed maintenance employees at the San Antonio Housing Authority, three conclusions were reached: 1) the Spanish-surnamed employees were not found to have contributed more than their expected proportion of on-the-job accidents, 2) while there was an absolute difference favoring the nonSpanish-surnamed group, there was no statistically significant difference between the two groups in accidents which involved a cost in employee hours off the job, and 3) the Spanish-surnamed employees took slightly more hours off as a result of accidents, but the amount of difference was not statistically significant. Contrasting the accident rates of the Spanish-surnamed and non-Spanish-surnamed policemen and firemen, it was found that there was no difference in involvement in accidents or in accident proneness. The inclusion of Negroes in the non-Spanish-surnamed group tends to distort the contrast between the Mexican-Americans and Anglo-Americans. In the maintenance job classification the ethnic group percentage distribution is 20.17 Anglo-American, 51.26 Mexican-American, and 28.57 Negro. It may be that the inclusion of the Negroes substantially changes the accident involvement for Anglo-Americans. Consequently, the comparison between Spanish-surnamed and non-Spanish-surnamed would be different if the Negroes could have been identified and excluded from the comparison. At the time when the research data were collected, during the summer of 1967, 12 police officers and one fireman were Negroes. It was possible to exclude them from the nonSpanish-surnamed group. In this part of the study the comparison of Spanish-surnamed and non-Spanish-surnamed reflects a comparison of Mexican-Americans and Anglo-Americans. This research provides little support for the hypothesis that the alleged adverse cultural adjustment of the Mexican-American causes a disproportionately greater involvement in on-the-job accidents.

KEYWORDS: Juvenile justice; juvenile delinquency