International Self-Report Delinquency Study Research Articles

A multilevel analysis of the cross-level interaction between drug use and a school-based culture of antisocial cognition as it relates to juvenile offending

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to determine whether a cross-level interaction exists between an aggregate-level school-based culture of moral neutralisation and individual-level drug use in relation to concomitant criminal offending. A sample of 36,809 12-to-15-year-old youth (18,053 boys 18,717 girls, 39 sex unidentified) from the Second International Self-Reported Delinquency Study (ISRD2) served as participants in a multilevel analysis. Consistent with the research hypothesis, a culture of moral neutralisation, but not a pattern of school disorganisation, interacted with drug use to increase the likelihood of a youth’s concurrent involvement in criminal offending. These results suggest that a school culture built on the rationalisations, callous disregard, and low moral agency found in moral neutralisation will experience higher levels of criminal offending than a school culture low in these attributes, in part, because the school culture interacts with individual-level drug use.

Comparing Rural and Urban Juvenile Delinquency in Slovenia: Testing for Situational Action Theory

ABSTRACT The paper employs Situational Action Theory (SAT) to examine juvenile delinquency in rural and urban Slovenia, an area previously unexplored to analyze rural/urban differences. Utilizing data from the Slovenian International Self-Report Delinquency (ISRD4) study, responses from 988 urban and 913 rural Slovenian youths aged 15–17 are examined. OLS regressions reveal differences in delinquency patterns between rural and urban areas, with SAT concepts like morality, self-control, criminal propensity, and criminogenic exposure being significant predictors, validating the theory as a useful theoretical framework in Slovenia. The effects appear stronger in rural contexts. The paper concludes with a discussion on limitations, future research directions, and policy recommendations.

Criminal Behavior of Young People: Preliminary Results of the Fourth International Self-Reported Delinquency Study (ISRD4) in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Criminal Behavior of Young People: Preliminary Results of the Fourth International Self-Reported Delinquency Study (ISRD4) in Bosnia and Herzegovina

School Honor Cultures and Violence: The Role of Cultural Orientation and Dispersion

We examine whether adolescents attending schools with honor-oriented cultures are more likely to engage in violence, net of their own honor attitudes. Studies typically estimate a culture’s strength by averaging the residents’ attitudes, but this cannot adequately account for variation among residents. Recent research in cultural sociology suggests that a culture’s orientation and dispersion are influential. Using data from the Second International Self-Reported Delinquency Study (ISRD-2), we disentangle the honor orientation and homogeneity of school cultures and examine their additive and multiplicative effects on violent offending. We find that adolescents who attend schools with stronger honor-oriented cultures are more likely to engage in violence, irrespective of their own honor attitudes. This relationship is stronger in schools with greater homogeneity. These results suggest that accounting for the honor orientation of school cultures as well as their level of dispersion is important for understanding cultural processes.

Moderation of the Antisocial Cognition-Offending Relationship by Neighborhood Disorder: A Multilevel Analysis of Adolescents from Eight Western European Countries

In an effort to gauge the effect of perceived neighborhood disorder on the antisocial cognition–delinquency relationship, this study subjected data from the Second International Self-Reported Delinquency study (ISRD2) to multilevel analysis. The sample for this study was composed of 20,700 participants (10,219 males and 10,474 females) from 502 public schools in eight Western European countries. The public school the child was attending served as the clustering variable and participants rated their neighborhoods on measures of physical and psychological disorder. Averaging these ratings across all participants attending a particular school, the mean ratings became the Level 2 variable (neighborhood disorder) in a multilevel analysis. A model composed of control variables, offending variety, moral neutralization, and cognitive impulsivity at Level 1 and neighborhood disorder at Level 2 produced a significant cross-level interaction in which the slope of the moral neutralization–delinquency regression line was significantly steeper when neighborhood disorder was high rather than when it was low. There was no effect for cognitive impulsivity, however, when it was assessed in conjunction with moral neutralization. Taken as a whole, these findings suggest that significantly more offending occurs when an individual-level variable, moral neutralization, and a group-level variable, neighborhood disorder, are both elevated.

Religijos-viktimizacijos modulio link tarptautinio jaunimo delinkvencijos ir viktimizacijos tyrimo (ISRD) kontekste: mokymasis iš praeities pavyzdžių

The concept of postsecular society highlights the increasing relevance of religion in social, cultural, and political affairs. Given this trend, criminology should pay increasing attention to how religion is linked to victimization and offending. Since the religion–crime studies have traditionally focused on offending, the research lacunae are biggest in the study of victimization. The inclusion of religion is particularly relevant in international surveys in religiously heterogeneous communities. In this article, we aim to develop a survey module suggestion for use in the context of the International Self-Report Delinquency Study (ISRD). We first examine the current content of the ISRD-4 sweep. To locate lacunae in it, we move to review how international surveys have tackled the dimension of religion, including the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study, the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs (ESPAD), the European Social Survey (ESS), the World Values Survey (WVS), and the International Crime Victim Survey (ICVS). Building on these state-of-the-art examples, we propose a new ISRD module (Appendix) for studying the religion–victimization link in international crime surveys with limited space. In conclusion, we argue that criminology would benefit from increasing attention to religion and other cultural variables alongside traditional socioeconomic, structural, and individual factors.

Profiles of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and psychosocial adjustment in South Korea: Comparison between probation and non-probation youth

BackgroundAdverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are risk factors affecting adolescent psychosocial adjustment. Youth involved in the juvenile justice system are more likely to have ACEs, but few studies have investigated this topic outside the western context. ObjectiveThis study aims to (1) compare latent profiles of ACEs among probation and non-probation youth in South Korea and (2) examine which profiles pose the greatest risk of maladaptive psychosocial adjustment (offline risk-taking, online risk-taking, school adjustment, and happiness). Participants and settingSouth Korean data adopting survey questions from the Fourth International Self-Report Delinquency Study was analyzed. Adolescents with complete information on regression covariates were included (non-probation: 1846/probation: 368). MethodsLatent profile analysis was utilized to identify distinctive patterns of ACEs. Multiple linear regression and logistic regression were performed to predict the maladjustment experiences of each latent subgroup. ResultsFour ACE profiles emerged for probation and non-probation samples. Three profiles were common (i.e., emotional/physical abuse, emotional neglect, high maltreatment/domestic violence) and one profile was unique (high maltreatment with family dysfunction for the probation sample; moderate maltreatment for the non-probation sample). In the probation sample, compared to the emotional neglect group, the other three profiles showed poorer adjustment in at least one domain. In the non-probation sample, profiles with high emotional/physical abuse and high maltreatment/family dysfunction had poorer outcomes than the emotional neglect group. ConclusionsThese findings indicate the need for a comprehensive approach toward adolescents and their family environments for preventing delinquency and promoting positive youth adjustment.

Self-control, peers, and adolescent substance use: an international analysis

Background Adolescent substance use continues to be a global concern. Research has shown that two consistent predictors of this behavior are self-control and peer substance use. The objective of this study was to determine if these two variables interact to affect the frequency of substance use among young people. Methods The analysis utilized three years of data from the Second International Self-Report Delinquency study (2005-2007) (ISRD-2), which gathered information from youth, ages 12-17, residing in 30 nations (n = 72,206). Illicit substance use included cannabis, ecstasy, stimulants, and other substances. A zero-inflated negative binomial model that adjusts for selection effects was estimated to predict the frequency of substance use. Results The results showed that adolescents with low self-control who associated with substance using peers tended to be the most frequent substance users. Yet, youth with higher levels of selfcontrol were likely to report no or low frequency use regardless of the number of their friends who used illicit substances. Conclusions Self-control affects substance use among adolescents and can attenuate the influence of peer substance use. Research using longitudinal data is needed to disentangle changes in self-control, peer substance use, and one’s own substance use.

Psychosocial factors of risk and protection associated with juvenile cyberbullying victimization: results from an international multi-city study (International Self-Report Delinquency Study 3, ISRD3)

The growing use of technologies makes it easy for children and young people to access or produce offensive content, giving rise to a new form of bullying: cyberbullying. Several individual and environmental protection and risk factors are involved with cyberbullying victimization. The present study aims to provide some empirical data that can help in understanding cyberbullying and in the formulation of programmes for its prevention. For this purpose, the data of the ISRD3 (International Self-Report Delinquency Study 3) survey were used. Data show that, for strategies of prevention and intervention to be effective, they should consider multiple systems, such as the family, peers, school and community.

Situational Peer Effects on Delinquency1

We examine the situational effects of delinquent friends and unstructured socializing on the commission of thirteen types of offenses. We use the method of situational decomposition to disentangle the effects of situational influence from historical effects and confounding variables. Analyses are based on the Second International Self-Reported Delinquency Study (N = 73,000). They show that situational effects account for a substantial portion of the relationships between: (1) delinquency and the delinquency of friends; and (2) delinquency and unstructured socializing. The evidence suggests that situational conformity and opportunity are important in explaining why adolescents commit delinquency. Adolescents are much more likely to engage in offenses when they are socializing with friends, particularly when they are present when those friends are engaged in delinquency.

Cyberbullying victimization among adolescencts: results of the International self-report delinquency study 3

ABSTRACT The study is based on a wide international research study, the International Self-Report Delinquency Study 3 (ISRD-3), with the aim of understanding if there is a relationship between having lived traumatic intrafamily experiences and potentially being a victim of cyberbullying. The data have been collected by a questionnaire ISRD-3 administered to a 20 European country sample of 57.463 students from 7th to 9th grade. Results show a statistically significant relationship between traumatic intrafamilial experiences such as a serious illness of one of the parents, episodes of violence suffered and assisted, separation or divorce of the parents, and being victimized in adolescence of cyberbullying.

Does national moral context make a difference? A comparative test of Situational Action Theory

ABSTRACT This study examines whether Situational Action Theory (SAT) can explain variation in delinquent offending between countries grouped along shared moral values. Thirteen countries were categorised in terms of “contextual morality” according to results from the World Values Survey. Then, survey data from a cross-section of 12 to 16-year-old youths in the International Self-Report Delinquency Study (ISRD3) were employed to test hypotheses that SAT operates differently between countries in “low contextual morality” and “high contextual morality” clusters. Multivariate analyses reveal that SAT is a generalisable theory of offending, since criminal propensity, self-control and personal morality operate in both low and high contextual morality country clusters. While exposure to criminogenic influence is the most salient, it is significantly higher in the “high contextual morality” cluster, suggesting that delinquent behaviour is more frequent when there is inconsistency between personal morality and the broader moral context. We conclude with implications for theory and policy.

Problems of cross-cultural criminology no more! Testing two central tenets of Self-Control Theory across 28 nations

PurposeThe current investigation tested two tenets from self-control theory regarding its cross-national validity and applicability, namely the extent to which (1) parenting behaviors (closeness and monitoring) were associated with low self-control, and (2) the extent to which opportunities (two competing operationalizations: routine activities or peer deviance) and low self-control independently (and synergistically) predicted deviant behaviors. MethodsData were collected as part of the Second International Self-Report Delinquency Study (ISRD-2) from 28 cultures, from seventh, eighth, and ninth grade adolescents (N = 66,859), and analyzed using hierarchical linear modeling. Country level variables included years in school, size of the prison population, unemployment rate, and life expectancy. Results(1) Low self-control significantly varied at both the individual- and country-levels; both closeness and monitoring negatively predicted low self-control. At the country level, more years in school and a greater prison population were positively associated with low self-control, while life expectancy was negatively associated. (2) Deviance significantly varied at the individual and country levels. Low self-control and opportunities (peer deviance and routine activities) uniquely explained variance in deviance. ConclusionsFindings provide support for the cross-cultural application of self-control theory.

The association between child maltreatment and juvenile delinquency in the context of Situational Action Theory: Crime propensity and criminogenic exposure as mediators in a sample of European youth?

The current study investigates the association between physical child maltreatment and juvenile delinquent behavior in the context of the Situational Action Theory (SAT) (Wikström, 2006, 2017, 2020). Self-control, morality and exposure to criminogenic settings are proposed as possible mechanisms explaining the association between physical child maltreatment and adolescent offending. The hypotheses are tested in a subsample of the third wave of the International Self-Report Delinquency Study (ISRD3), a large international non-clinical study on delinquency and victimization among adolescents. The final sample consists of N = 24,956 adolescents aged 12–16 years from nine West European countries. While controlling for dependence due to nested data and several covariates, the models are tested for overall offending and separately for violent and property offending. Results confirm that physical child maltreatment is associated with the main concepts of SAT (lower self-control; lower morality; and more exposure to criminogenic environments), which in turn are associated with juvenile delinquency. The models show partial mediation for overall offending, property offending and violent offending. The findings provide support for the theoretical prowess of SAT and its main concepts: self-control, morality and exposure to criminogenic settings as mediators in the well-established physical child maltreatment/delinquency link. These findings are consistent with the ‘cycle of violence’ perspective and contribute to the theoretical clarification of the mechanisms involved in the child maltreatment/delinquency link. The findings fail to confirm a ‘crime-specific propensity’. The article concludes with a discussion of implications for prevention.

Ambient temperature as a moderator of the reactive criminal thinking – violent offending relationship: a multilevel analysis

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the potential moderating effect of the average annual ambient temperature in 24 European countries on the relationship between criminal thinking (reactive vs proactive) and juvenile offending (violent vs property).Design/methodology/approachThe average annual ambient temperatures found in 24 European countries were correlated with measures of reactive vs proactive criminal thinking and violent vs property offending in 56,518 students (50.4% female) from the second International Self-Reported Delinquency Study. These data were analyzed using a multilevel model comprising three Level 1 (student) predictors – age, sex and family structure – one Level 2 (country) predictor – ambient temperature – and two outcome measures – a reactive: proactive criminal thinking index (RPI) and a violent: property offending index (VPI).FindingsThe RPI and VPI correlated significantly with the Level 1 predictors, and the annual ambient temperatures from these 24 countries (Level 2 predictor) correlated positively with RPI and VPI and moderated the effect of reactive criminal thinking (RCT) on violent offending.Practical implicationsThese findings indicate that ambient temperature correlates with violent/aggressive offending after the effects of property/non-aggressive offending have been controlled and suggest that ambient temperature may moderate the relationship between RCT and violent offending by affecting the decision-making process.Originality/valueThe contribution made by this study to the literature is that it illustrates how a macro-level influence in the form of average annual temperature can impact on micro-level processes in the form of criminal thinking and violent behavior.

Integrating Individual Risk and Social Exposure to Violence: A Multilevel Victimization Perspective.

We test two major hypotheses in this article: (a) macrolevels of school disorganization and individual levels of low self-control will be directly, and positively, linked to victimization and (bi) low self-control will have the largest impact on exposure to victimization (ETV) when it interacts with negative environments consistent with a social enhancement perspective, or (bii) low self-control will have a weaker impact on ETV when it interacts with negative environments consistent with saturation or social push models. The data for the current study were collected as part of the second International Self-Report Delinquency Study (ISRD-II). A total of 49,685 individuals from 30 countries are nested within 1,427 schools. We use multilevel generalized linear regression models with violent victimization (robbery and assault) regressed on demographic, family, school, and neighborhood variables. Multiplicative interaction terms are included in separate models to examine key moderation effects consistent with expectations drawn from the victimization literature. Analyses reveal that low self-control and perceptions of school disorganization are both associated with an increase in the odds of experiencing victimization. Interactions between low self-control and school disorganization are also found to be consistent with saturation/social push models. Our regulation approach offers a foundation for theorizing about ETV and provides a testable model for future research. However, elements of the regulation model are in need of further refinement and testing before the perspective can be moved toward a broader theory of victimization.

Quantifying Marginality Across the Globe: An Empirical Assessment of Vigil’s Multiple Marginality Model in Predicting Gang Involvement

Vigil’s multiple marginality (MM) model of gang formation has resulted in hypotheses about why minority youth join gangs, and how these processes play out at multiple levels of analysis and across contexts. However, with a few exceptions, this framework has rarely been tested quantitatively, and especially in countries outside of North America. The current study assesses the MM model using data from the Second International Self-Report Delinquency Study and aggregate country-level data. Results from multilevel analyses reveal some support for the framework, in that at least one measure of each component of the MM model was found to be a significant predictor of gang membership. Controlling for individual and country variables, measures of street socialization exhibited the strongest effects on gang involvement. Yet not all proposed factors were significant predictors across all models. Longitudinal data are necessary to fully support the dynamics of the MM model.

The International Self-Report Delinquency Study (ISRD3) in the Research Areas of the Białystok School of Criminology

On March 24, 2017, the Faculty of Law of the University of Białystok entered into a collaboration agreement with the Central Coordinating Team of the International Self-Report Delinquency Study (ISRD). Te Białystok School of Criminology is currently the only Polish representative participating in ISRD3. Te ISRD study addresses a wide range of issues examined by the Białystok School of Criminology, which launched its research work in 1994. The Białystok School of Criminology conducted its contribution to the ISRD3 research project in June 2017, in Białystok and Rzeszów, two Polish cities, regional capitals of their respective voivodeships. Each of these cities has a population of approximately half a million. The survey was conducted among pupils in their sixth year at a Polish primary (elementary) school (i.e. aged 12+) and in their first or second year at a Polish middle school (the 14+-16+ age group). In addition to the standard content prepared by the ISRD3 CCT, respondents filled in a questionnaire with questions intended to identify local levels of risks such as grooming or sexting. The results of the Polish ISRD3 study will help to diagnose various risks and will be compared to the results obtained in other countries participating in the project. The project’s added value will be the opportunity to develop appropriate preventive and educational programs for the schools in Białystok and Rzeszów which took part in the survey

How Exceptional Is India? A Test of Situational Action Theory

This study explores the generalizability of Situational Action Theory (SAT) in India by testing hypotheses related to the person–environment interaction in explaining offending. Drawing on data from a sample of 872 students between the ages of 14 and 17 from an Indian city collected as part of the International Self-Report Delinquency Study (ISRD3), we tested the hypothesis that Indian youths will report more delinquent acts if they have a higher propensity to commit crime combined with a greater exposure to criminogenic activities. Our findings show unequivocal support for the applicability of SAT in India where youths reported a slight increase in offending behavior if they exercised low self-control or if they were less moralistic (i.e., they were more crime-prone), or when exposed to criminal activities or peers. Consistent with tests of SAT in other contexts, we find that exposure to criminogenic environments increases offending for youth with higher levels of criminal propensity but does not impact youth with lower levels of criminal propensity. We speculate that the overall low rate of delinquent offending coupled with the cultural milieu of Indian youths may explain why criminogenic exposure may be less relevant in light of young people’s strong avoidance of rule-breaking.

An empirical approach to the study of legal socialization in adolescence

Considering research on juvenile delinquency more broadly, few studies have examined the legal socialization process whereby adolescents come to accept legal authority and comply with the law as a result of the interaction with informal and formal socializing agents. Police legitimacy is an important dimension of legal socialization, because the police are the visible face of the legal system and contribute to the internalization of norms and values in society. Therefore, this article aims to analyse police legitimacy perceptions as an element of the legal socialization process in Spain among a subsample of 2041 youths aged from 13 to 18 from the Third International Self-Report Delinquency Study (ISRD-3). The results using structural equation modelling reveal that adolescents who perceive the police as a legitimate institution commit fewer criminal offences. Additionally, police legitimacy perceptions mediate the association of parental monitoring, school attachment and procedural justice of the police with juvenile delinquency. Other explanations for juvenile delinquency are discussed from a legal socialization perspective.