NCJ Number
20083
Journal
Revue internationale de criminologie et de police technique Volume: 25 Issue: 1 Dated: (JANUARY-MARCH 1972) Pages: 2-8
Date Published
1972
Length
7 pages
Annotation
THIS ARTICLE REPORTS ON A STUDY OF 84 ITALIANS ARRESTED BY THE MONTREAL POLICE IN 1967 WHICH AIMED AT CORRELATING THE ACCULTURATION PATTERN OF ITALIAN IMMIGRANTS WITH THE QUALITATIVE DEVELOPMENT OF THEIR CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR.
Abstract
DATA FROM A 101-ITEM QUESTIONNAIRE WAS USED TO ANALYZE THE CORRELATION BETWEEN THE INDIVIDUAL'S CULTURAL PERSONALITY OR DEGREE OF ACCULTURATION AND THE TYPE OF CRIME FOR WHICH HE OR SHE WAS ARRESTED. BASED ON QUESTIONNAIRE RESPONSES, THE 84 ITALIANS IN THE SAMPLE WERE PLACED ON A DE-ITALIANIZATION CONTINUUM, INCLUDING THESE STILL VERY MUCH IN THE ITALIAN CULTURE, THOSE IN THE PROCESS OF ACCULTURATION, AND THOSE COMPLETELY ACCULTURATED INTO CANADIAN SOCIETY. STUDY RESULTS CONFIRM THE HYPOTHESIS THAT THE ITALIAN IMMIGRANT IN MONTREAL MAY COMMIT, IN THE FIRST PHASE OF HIS ACCULTURATION, OFFENSES WHICH ARE A RESULT OF THE CULTURAL CONFLICT AND IGNORANCE OF THE LAWS AND CUSTOMS OF CANADA. THE SECOND PHASE CREATES A SITUATION OF CULTURAL VACUUM OR NON-IDENTITY WHICH MAY RESULT IN THE COMMISSION OF MORE SERIOUS CRIMES. IN THE THIRD AND LAST PHASE, SIGNIFICANT CULTURAL DIFFERENCES DISAPPEAR AND THE TYPE AND LEVEL OF CRIMINALITY BECOMES INDISTINGUISHABLE FROM THAT OF THE GENERAL CANADIAN POPULATION. IT WAS FOUND THAT THE EFFECT OF CHANGE OF CULTURE ON CRIMINALITY DEPENDS ESPECIALLY ON THE AGE OF IMMIGRATION AND THE PLACE OF BIRTH AND IS ENTIRELY INDEPENDENT OF THE DURATION OF STAY IN THE ADOPTED COUNTRY. STUDY RESULTS ALSO SUGGESTED THAT SERIOUS RECIDIVISM AMONG ITALIAN IMMIGRANTS IS RELATED TO REJECTION AND STIGMATIZATION BY THE FAMILY RATHER THAN TO ACCULTURATION. --IN FRENCH