Adolescent Stealers' and Nonstealers' Social Problem-Solving Skills

Greening, Leilani, Adolescence

Deficient social problem-solving (SPS) skills have been linked to such problems among minors as aggression (e.g., Dodge & Feldman, 1990), conduct-disorder (Joffe et al., 1990), and substance abuse (Platt, Scura, & Hannon, 1973). However, a relationship between SPS skills and behavioral adjustment has not been consistently supported (e.g., Rickel, Eshelman, & Loigman, 1983; Vitaro, Bouchard, Diotte, & McCaughry, 1988). In the present study, the SPS skills of a specific population, adolescent stealers, were assessed. Although conduct-disordered adolescents have been studied (e.g., Joffe et al., 1990; Slaby & Guerra, 1988), the SPS skills of adolescent stealers have not been evaluated. The apparent poor social judgment of stealers suggests that it would be informative to examine their SPS skills.

METHOD

Subjects

The participants were 22 adolescent males, 11 of whom were adjudicated stealers in a court-ordered treatment program at the county mental health center. The remaining 11 adolescents who did not have a history of stealing, were recruited from the local high school. Their ages ranged from 13 to 16 years (M = 15 years, SD = 8.6 months).

Measures

The Means-Ends Problem Solving (MEPS) test measures the ability to develop a step-by-step plan for solving hypothetical social problems (Platt & Spivack, 1975). The social situations were revised so that they were …

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Publication information: Article title: Adolescent Stealers' and Nonstealers' Social Problem-Solving Skills. Contributors: Greening, Leilani - Author. Journal title: Adolescence. Volume: 32. Issue: 125 Publication date: Spring 1997. Page number: 51+. © 1999 Libra Publishers, Inc. COPYRIGHT 1997 Gale Group.

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