NCJ Number
204365
Journal
International Journal of Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice Volume: 27 Issue: 2 Dated: Fall 2003 Pages: 179-197
Date Published
2003
Length
19 pages
Annotation
This study examined risk factors for engagement in delinquent activities among a large sample of Swiss adolescents.
Abstract
While national data indicate that the crime rate in the United States is declining, crime rates in Europe are on the rise. However, most studies of youth and crime have focused on American youth living in the United States. This research has generally established a relationship between sex, age, and family structure of the deviance engaged in by youth. The current study investigated the extent to which known predictor variables were associated with deviance among Swiss adolescents. Specifically, the research examined the relationship between sex and health-compromising, norm-violating, and delinquent behavior; the relationships among age and health-compromising, norm-violating, and delinquent behavior; the relationship between family structure and health-compromising, norm-violating, and delinquent behavior; and the relationships between all background variables and the three deviance measures. Participants were 4,018 students attending schools in Eastern Switzerland. Measures were included for sex, age, family structure, educational track, deviance, health-risking behavior, norm-violating behavior, and law-violating behavior. Results of statistical analyses revealed that, consistent with prior research, sex, age, and family structure are important variables in the etiology of deviance for Swiss adolescents. Risk factors for engaging in deviant behavior were identified as being male, being in late adolescence, and living in a single-parent home. The fact that these findings are similar to previous research conducted in the United States is telling about the etiology of adolescent deviance and provides hints for how to deal with the deviant behaviors of youth from countries other than the United States. Some limitations of the current study include its reliance on self-reported deviance and its location in a school environment. Tables, notes, references