Intelligence and Adolescent Theft

Recently, Hirschi and Hindelang (1977) presented compelling arguments against the contemporary textbook position rejecting intelligence as an important cause of criminal behavior. They proposed a causal model in which IQ is linked to delinquency by a set of school-related variables. Costner's multiple indicator procedure was used to examine this model and the environmental influence argument against prior findings of a significant relationship between intelligence and delinquency. A model with teacher appeal intervening between intelligence and adolescent theft is supported, while the absence of differential bias discredits the environmental argument.