Educational Social Climates and Delinquency in Iceland: An Integrated Perspective

Abstract

This study tests the viability of an educational social climate model in explaining delinquency in Iceland. The model represents an integration of the conceptual ideas found in the educational environment literature and the literature on delinquency and the schools. The model specifies the relationships among perceptions of the school's social climate, school out comes, association with delinquent peers (differential association) and four types of delinquency. Using survey data from a sample (N = 578) of adolescents in Reykjavik, Iceland, the path analysis findings from this study offer modest support for the model School outcomes and differential association have the strongest direct effect on all types of delinquency. Perceptions of the school's social climate mainly have an effect on delin quency through their relationship with school outcomes and differential association.