A Test of an Integrative Model Using Social Factors and Personality Traits: Prediction on the Delinquency of South Korean Youth

Abstract

To more fully comprehend juvenile delinquency, it is necessary to take an integrative approach, with consideration of both personality traits of social risk factors. Many scholars argue the necessity and strength of integrative approach on the ground that juvenile delinquency is an outcome of interplay of individual and social factors. The present study examines the general applicability of an integrative model of personal traits and social risk factors to youth delinquency in the South Korean context. The empirical results show that the delinquency predictors in the current South Korean sample are closely aligned to Loeber and Farrington's theoretical propositions and that found in Western nations. Perhaps this is because South Korea has undergone rapid Westernization for the last decades. Because the correlates in this sample and Western theoretical propositions and studies overlap, an integrative model of personality trait and social risk factors is indeed generally applicable to South Korea. This finding also depicts the extent of Westernization in the South Korean society at least among adolescents. Limitations of the present study and directions for the future study are discussed.