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This project examines the relationship between sports participation, gang associations, and delinquency among a diverse sample of rural high school girls. It was hypothesized that girls who participated in sports would have less gang involvement and lower rates of individual delinquency. Each of these hypotheses were partially supported by the findings. A number of variations in outcomes and strength of relationships were impacted by race/ethnicity. Results suggest that sports participation was negatively related to gang involvement for all participants, but the weakest relationship was found among White youth. The impact of sport on individual delinquency was not consistent. Findings are discussed in the context of various theoretical constructs (differential association, social control) which underlie the notion of sport-as-deterrent.
The early history of sport suggests that it was viewed not just as a means to develop physical fitness, but also as tool through which humans could enhance moral development. In ancient Greek society, sport was inexorably linked to arete (i.e., personal excellence, goodness, and virtue; Reid, 2002). It is this conceptualization that is at the foundation of the longstanding belief that sport can serve as a deterrent to juvenile delinquency, defined by conduct by minors that does not conform to the legal or moral standards of society (Arnold, 1984; Camp, 1913). However, this wedding of sport and virtue may be difficult for the present-day populous to envision, given the seemingly endless media reports of high school, collegiate, and professional athletes under scrutiny for moral and legal infractions. Contemporary social science research, almost exclusively focused on males residing in urban locations, adds more complexity to these associations with its host of divergent findings; some of which suggest that prosocial, moral, and law-abiding behavioral outcomes result from participation in sport, while others conclude this is not always the case.
Gender has long been an impactful variable in juvenile delinquency. Delinquency rates for males (especially with regard to violent offenses) have always been higher than that for females, and this has significantly influenced the amount of research and policy-related focus that the fonner group has and currently receives. With this historical backdrop, female juvenile delinquency has long been an understudied topic (Chesney-Lind & Shelden, 2014; Moore & Hagedorn, 2001). The 1990s saw a considerable increase in all juvenile...