@article{ref1,
title="Moral disengagement as a mediator of the co-offending-delinquency relationship in serious juvenile offenders",
journal="Law and human behavior",
year="2020",
author="Walters, Glenn D.",
volume="44",
number="5",
pages="437-448",
abstract="OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to determine whether moral disengagement (MD) mediated the relationship between co-offending and future delinquency once age, race, gang affiliation, unsupervised routine activities, and perceived peer delinquency were controlled.   HYPOTHESES: It was predicted that the temporal relationship between co-offending and future offending would be mediated by MD but not by cognitive impulsivity (CI), and that the MD-mediated effect would be significantly stronger than the CI-mediated effect.   METHOD: Participants were 1,162 serious delinquent male youth from the Pathways to Desistance study. A fixed-sample panel longitudinal design was implemented and a path analysis with two parallel mediators (MD and CI) and one dependent variable (delinquency) was performed.   RESULTS: Consistent with predictions, a path analysis determined that MD but not CI mediated the relationship between co-offending and future self-reported delinquency. In addition, the indirect effect for MD was significantly stronger than the indirect effect for CI.   CONCLUSIONS: It is surmised that co-offending may provide youth with the opportunity to observe, model, and learn criminal attitudes and behaviors from other offenders, which then augments MD and sets the stage for a rise in delinquency. Policies and programs designed to disrupt co-offending and reduce MD are discussed in terms of delinquency prevention and desistance. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).  Keywords: Juvenile justice <p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0147-7307",
doi="10.1037/lhb0000425",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/lhb0000425"
}