Citation

Porterfield AL. Am. J. Sociol. 1943; 49(3): 199-208.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1943, University of Chicago Press)

DOI

10.1086/219369

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This study is based on a statistical comparison of the delinquencies of college students with those of children in the juvenile court. It notes the similarities of their behavior and the differences in outcomes, and it attempts to interpret these similarities and differences. The differential court appearance of the two groups is interpreted as growing out of the friendlessness of the court children and the social unimportance of their families. The differences in the after-careers of the two groups are explained by the increasing segregation and cumulative frustration of the less favored children, as compared with the expanding range of social participation enjoyed by the college students. But the theory leaves ample room for the concept of "white collar criminality."