This study examines the factors associated with juvenile delinquency in Jamaican adolescents; secondly, the
researchers seek to compare Jamaican and African-American delinquents. The factors being examined are
education, unemployment, frustration, self-esteem, parent-child attachment, and exposure to violence.
Participants included 116 Jamaican and 100 African-American adolescents ages 14-18. The delinquent
participants were selected from several remand centres in Jamaica and the Division of Delinquency
Prevention Program in America, while the non-delinquent participants were selected from several local
inner-city high schools. All participants completed the HARE Self-Esteem Scale, the Family Relationship
Scale, The Violent Victimization Survey, The Rosenzweig Picture-Frustration Study, and a demographic
questionnaire. Chi square, Analysis of variance, and Logistic regression were used to analyze the data. Significant differences were found between and within delinquent and non-delinquent Jamaicans and African-Americans.