Marital Instability and Juvenile Delinquency Among the Nez Perces¹

This study is concerned with the causes of juvenile delinquency among the Nez Perce Indians of Idaho. Marital instability is examined in the past and present for its relationship to contemporary juvenile delinquency. Additional factors considered include the loss of aboriginal communal discipline, the loss of patrilocality, and the continuation of inappropriate aboriginal male and female roles into the present.