NCJ Number
188505
Journal
Criminal Justice and Behavior Volume: 28 Issue: 3 Dated: June 2001 Pages: 329-366
Date Published
June 2001
Length
38 pages
Annotation
This study examined rates and predictors of deviance in a sample of Swiss youth, with attention to the relationship between immigrant status and delinquency.
Abstract
Data was collected from 4,018 Swiss adolescents who attended schools in a mid-sized city in eastern Switzerland, as part of the International Study of Adolescent Development. Immigrant status was determined by youths' country of birth and parents' country of birth. Lifetime deviance was measured by the 55-item Normative Deviance Scale. Participants also rated a six-factor, 24-item measure that assessed self-control. Perceived sanctions were assessed by a series of 24 items based on previous conceptual and measurement work by Grasmick and Bursick (1990). Deviant behaviors measured ranged from vandalism to assault. A standard data collection protocol was followed at all study locations. A total of 800 cases were identified as first-generation (35 percent) or second-generation (65 percent) immigrant youth. The study found that second-generation immigrant male youth were more deviant than Swiss adolescents, and second-generation immigrant male youth were also more deviant than first-generation immigrants. Few important differences were found on measures of self-control and measures of perceived sanctions (get caught, shame/guilt, loss of respect) by immigrant status, and the predictive model used explained between 23 percent and 51 percent of the variance in total deviance. Implications for crime and deviance in Switzerland are discussed. 6 tables, 1 figure, 46 references, and appended Normative Deviance Scale