Fights among Adolescents from the Ethnic Majority and from Immigrant Groups

Abstract

Fighting among adolescents was tested for association with alcohol/drug use and out-of-home activities without adult control (such as ‘hanging out’ on the streets). A survey was used to collect data from the majority of 13 to 15-year-olds in a Norwegian town ( N> 1400). Structural equation modelling resulted in a high regression weight for the latent variable of participation in out-of-home activities (beta = 0.54), supporting routine activities theory, and only a moderate regression weight for the latent variable of alcohol consumption (beta = 0.19). An assumption that the two exogenous variables would demonstrate an interaction effect was not supported by the data. However, subgroup analyses suggested that routine activities theory should not be applied to the exclusion of subcultural theories. As one might expect, differences between boys’ and girls’ experience of fighting could only partially be explained by the variables investigated. More significant, however, was that participation in the out-of-home activities investigated appeared not to be associated with fighting among girls from non-Western immigrant groups – a finding that questions routine activities theory. The article concludes that routine activities theory has merits as far as the investigation of general tendencies in delinquent behaviour is concerned, but it should not replace investigations of subcultural differences.