Moral disengagement as a mediator of the co-offending-delinquency relationship in serious juvenile offenders.

It is surmised that co-offending may provide youth with the opportunity to observe, model, and learn criminal attitudes and behaviors from other offenders, which then augments MD and sets the stage for a rise in delinquency. Policies and programs designed to disrupt co-offending and reduce MD are discussed in terms of delinquency prevention and desistance. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).