NCJ Number
244965
Journal
British Journal of Criminology Volume: 53 Issue: 3 Dated: May 2013 Pages: 456-481
Date Published
May 2013
Length
26 pages
Annotation
This study examined the gap in registered crime between the children of immigrants and the children of native Swedes.
Abstract
The authors examine the gap in registered crime between the children of immigrants and the children of native Swedes. The authors follow all individuals who completed compulsory schooling during the period 1990-93 in the Stockholm Metropolitan area (N = 63,462) up to their 30s and analyze how family of origin and neighborhood segregation during adolescence, subsequent to arriving in Sweden, influence the gap in recorded crimes. For males, the authors are able to explain between half and three-quarters of the gap in crime by reference to parental socio-economic resources and neighborhood segregation. For females, the authors can explain even more, sometimes the entire gap. In addition, the authors tentatively examine the role of co-nationality or culture by comparing the crime rates of randomly chosen pairs of individuals originating from the same country. The authors find only a small correlation in the crime of individuals who share the same origin, indicating that culture is unlikely to be a strong cause of crime among immigrants. (Published Abstract)