Family processes and deviance: A comparison of apprentices and nonapprentices

The current investigation examined whether apprentices differed from nonapprentices (Gymnasium and teacher's college students) in rates of deviant behavior. Questionnaire data were collected on more than 4,000 Swiss adolescents (mean age = 18.0, SD = 1.1) between the ages of 16 and 19. The following important findings were made: (a) Male nonapprentices were less deviant than male apprentices; no differences were found for females; (b) nonapprentices perceived more connectedness with and greater peer disapproval from parents than apprentices; nonapprenticeship males, in particular, reported greater maternal monitoring and supervision than apprentice males. At the same time, no differences were found in the affective quality of parent-adolescent relations for males or females by educational track; and finally, (c) a model-free USREL comparison of developmental processes by educational track indicated great similarity between apprentices and nonapprentices. Results from the investigation suggest that background variables may account for some variability in adolescent deviant behaviors.