Parent and Child Perceptions of Collective Efficacy as Predictors of Delinquency

Abstract Juvenile delinquency has a negative effect on victims, communities and the individual who commits a delinquent act. However, exposure to the juvenile justice system can be a traumatic event that results in further delinquency—highlighting a need to develop community-based interventions to prevent delinquency. Collective efficacy theory is a commonly used framework to prevent juvenile delinquency. Although community-level interventions have been developed based on collective efficacy, research suggests that they are limited in their effectiveness. This may be due to limitations in our conceptualisation of collective efficacy, and our limited understanding of how perceptions of collective efficacy differ between youths and parents. The present study utilises data from the Fragile Families Child Wellbeing Study to test parent and youth perceptions of collective efficacy as predictors of self-reported juvenile delinquency. The results indicate that—although collective efficacy is typically associated with lower levels of juvenile delinquency in neighbourhoods—neither parents’ nor youths’ perceptions of collective efficacy are strong predictors of self-reported juvenile delinquency. The findings suggest that focusing on youth, family and neighbourhood characteristics may maximise the effectiveness of interventions aimed at preventing juvenile delinquency.