An article written by Ph.D. student Jacob Erickson, professor of sociology Andy Hochstetler and assistant professor of sociology Shawn Dorius is forthcoming in the journal Deviant Behavior. The article identifies categorical latent classes in relation to levels of agreement with various street code attitudes and values and then tracks transitions in and out of these classes across adolescence.
According to Erickson, “We provide evidence that being a consistently strong adherent to the code of the street predicts crime, even after controlling for prior crime commission and strong adherence to street code values at any one time during adolescence.”
The research opens up the possibility for future research on class transivity and stability, and will provide insights into adolescent criminality.