NCJ Number
152271
Editor(s)
J Junger-Tas,
G J Terlouw,
M W Klein
Date Published
1994
Length
449 pages
Annotation
This volume presents the first results of the International Self-Report Delinquency (ISRD) Study in 13 individual countries.
Abstract
One of the editors first discusses some of the methodological and theoretical issues in the ISRD Study. The survey instrument used in the study addressed five groups of variables: prevalence and frequency of delinquent behavior, circumstances of the act, social reactions to delinquency, social background variables, and some theoretical variables. Four studies -- Switzerland, England, Portugal, and The Netherlands -- are based on national random samples; and one -- Spain -- on a large, stratified urban sample. Two studies are based on city samples: Mannheim (Germany) and Belfast (Northern Ireland); one is based on a stratified sample (Athens, Greece). Three other cites used school samples: Omaha (Nebraska, U.S.A.), Helsinki (Finland), and the Italian cities. One city has a mixed approach (Liege, Belgium). Two additional studies have been included: a cohort study in a New Zealand city and some preliminary results of a survey done in East and West Germany. A chapter that summarizes results from the studies concludes that there is apparently a similarity in rates of delinquent behavior in the participating countries, as well as in the characteristics of the offenses that are most often committed. An exception is drug use, which does not seem to have penetrated as deeply in the youth culture in southern Europe as is the case in western Europe and in the United States. Chapter references and the questionnaire