THE SOCIAL VERSUS SOLITARY NATURE OF DELINQUENT INVOLVEMENTS

The findings of the present study indicate that many of the delinquencies committed by the respondents within the previous year were not committed with accomplices. There was considerable variation in the proportion of solitary, mixed and social participants in the eighteen delinquent acts surveyed. The proportion of those always engaging in the act alone ranged from 11 per cent. (drinking) to 78 per cent. (forcing one's sexual attentions on a girl); the proportion of those always engaging in the act with an accomplice was more homogeneous ranging from 9 per cent (minor theft) to 36 per cent. (drinking). It was found that there was little variation in age, race, father's education and frequency of delinquent involvement in the solitary, mixed and social groups. Additional studies using a wider sampling of activities and respondents seem warranted; work is now under way to examine personality differences among social, mixed and solitary participants in delinquent activities.