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European nations are undergoing increasing cultural and religious pluralization. Yet, we know little about how crime victimization relates to religion. Different theories suggest that religion might protect from or, on the contrary, be a risk factor for victimization. Drawing on a youth survey (ISRD–3), we examine Finland and Switzerland, two nations with different histories with respect to religious pluralism. We did not observe associations suggesting that membership in minority religions would protect from victimization. The risk of hate crime victimization was elevated among Finnish Muslim youths, while in Switzerland, there appears to be a more general association between ‘other’ religious identification and victimization risk. We conclude by discussing avenues for future research.

Differences in the crime involvement of immigrants and the native population have been a major topic in criminology for decades. This interest stems from the fact that immigrants are overrepresented in the crime statistics of many European countries. Our study compares delinquency among native and immigrant youth in Finland. The analysis is based on the 2012 sweep of the Finnish Self-Report Delinquency Study ( N = 8914). The results show that several forms of delinquency were more prevalent among immigrants than among native youth. Multivariate analyses indicate that routine activities and parental control were related to the immigrant youths’ higher risk of active delinquency. After adjusting for a wide range of background variables, the immigrants’ higher risk of delinquency decreased, but remained significant.

There is a distinct lack of knowledge about how the rise of private security relates to young people in adversarial encounters. Prior studies suggest that the policing of young people by police is a common occurrence and social biases exist. However, policing of young people by private security guards has gained much less attention. Drawing on a large-scale youth survey (N = 5826), this article examines the extent and social biases of adversarial contacts between private security guards and youths. The findings showed that 29% of 15- to 16-year-old Finnish youths reported adversarial security guard contact in a year. The open-ended responses indicated that young people were typically suspected of shoplifting, being a nuisance or drinking alcohol. Social biases were examined using the differential selection hypothesis, which suggests that some groups are disproportionately targeted. Multivariate analysis showed that, as expected, delinquency and alcohol use were associated with adversarial contacts. However, when these were controlled, living in a city, living in a non-nuclear family and low educational aspirations increased the likelihood of security guard interventions. The article compares the findings with prior studies of police control of youth. Similar results are that the probability for an individual to be selected is partly defined through his/her social status. However, results diverge concerning the gender effect. Our findings indicated that both boys and girls were equally likely to be targeted. The article places the findings with reference to the persistence of the labelling theoretical effects and discusses the transformations of policing connected to young people.

Background Individuals with high psychopathy scores are capable of providing valid self-reports on their own personality traits, but there have been no empirical studies of the effect of psychopathic features on responding to sensitive survey questions about specific behaviours. Aims The aim of this study is to investigate any relationship between facets of psychopathy and participants' willingness to report antisocial acts in youth delinquency surveys, controlling for demographic variables known to be associated with response integrity. Methods In a nationally representative sample of 4,855 Finnish mainstream adolescents aged 15–16, honesty of responding was assessed through direct response integrity questions related to violence, property crime and drug use. Psychopathy was measured with the Antisocial Process Screening Device – Self Report (APSD-SR). Results Callous–unemotional traits and, to a lesser degree, narcissistic features were associated with a dishonest response style, although the effect size was modest. Conclusions Although psychopathy does not seem to influence the capability and willingness to report personality traits accurately, it may be associated with endorsing dishonest responses to questions about specific behaviours that have possible repercussions. Our findings suggest that previously observed associations between adolescents' self-reported delinquent behaviour and psychopathic traits may be underestimations of the strength of the effects. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

This introductory chapter presents a brief background to the third round of the International Self-Report Delinquency Study (ISRD3), an internationally collaborative study of delinquency among 7th, 8th, and 9th graders. The three core objectives of the ISRD are: (1) to measure the prevalence and incidence of offending and victimization; (2) to test theories about correlates of offending and victimization; and (3) to develop policy-relevant recommendations. It briefly discusses the first pioneering efforts of ISRD1 (1991–1992), the efforts of ISRD2 (2006–2008) to further maximize standardization and to extend the number of participating countries, and the inclusion of additional measures and countries by ISRD3 (2012–present). It provides the context for the presentation of the first results of the emerging international dataset consisting of survey results in 27 countries (n = 62,636).

In Finland, more than one in four young females and almost one in three young males experienced some type of adversarial police contact in a year. The high prevalence of adversarial police contact among contemporary youth highlights the need to study the nature of the contacts and labelling theory’s hypothesis of control bias. Consequently, we develop the theory’s concept of social visibility to examine differential selection. We draw on a nationally representative youth survey to explore police contacts among youths aged 15 to 16 (N = 5826). The open-ended responses suggested that police interventions typically focus on traffic situations or use of alcohol in public places. Also, we used multivariate logistic regression to examine which factors increase the likelihood of adversarial police contact. We found that a variety of delinquency and heavy alcohol use emerge as strong triggers of getting caught by the police. In addition, male gender, living in a city, having a single father, and low educational aspirations increases the likelihood of police contact, controlling for delinquency, and socio-demographic variables. Our findings seem to be consistent with mixed-model hypothesis, which highlights that both, differential involvement and selection, might operate together. We suggest that even in the Nordic conditions, which is characterised by high social equality, social biases seem to exist and some youth are more socially visible to formal social control than others.

We investigated the prevalence of juvenile weapon carrying and psychosocial and personality-related risk factors for carrying different types of weapons in a nationally representative, population-based sample of Finnish adolescents. Specifically, we aimed to investigate psychopathic-like personality features as a risk factor for weapon carrying. The participants were 15-16-year-old adolescents from the Finnish self-report delinquency study (n = 4855). Four different groups were formed based on self-reported weapon carrying: no weapon carrying, carrying knife, gun or other weapon. The associations between psychosocial factors, psychopathic-like features and weapon carrying were examined with multinomial logistic regression analysis. 9 % of the participants had carried a weapon in the past 12 months. Adolescents with a history of delinquency, victimization and antisocial friends were more likely to carry weapons in general; however, delinquency and victimization were most strongly related to gun carrying, while perceived peer delinquency (antisocial friends) was most strongly related to carrying a knife. Better academic performance was associated with a reduced likelihood of carrying a gun and knife, while feeling secure correlated with a reduced likelihood of gun carrying only. Psychopathic-like features were related to a higher likelihood of weapon carrying, even after adjusting for other risk factors. The findings of the study suggest that adolescents carrying a weapon have a large cluster of problems in their lives, which may vary based on the type of weapon carried. Furthermore, psychopathic-like features strongly relate to a higher risk of carrying a weapon.

This study provides a Finnish replication of a recent Swiss experiment (Walser and Killias: J Exp Criminol 8:17–28, 2012) on the supervision mode effects in computerized delinquency surveys in schools. This study supplements the Swiss study by using individual level randomization and two additional outcome variables: meta-questions of response integrity and incidence-counting heuristics. A total of 924 ninth grade students (15–16 years old) in southern Finland were randomly assigned (at the level of individuals) to supervision either by their teachers or by an external research assistant. Students then responded to an online self-report delinquency survey. Chi-square and t tests were used to compare prevalence levels and means. In both last year and lifetime recall periods, only one offence type (unspecified theft) showed significantly different outcomes, with external supervision yielding a higher prevalence figure. For other offences, no supervision effects were found. When females and males were separately examined, limited evidence of gender-specific supervision effects emerged. Thus, females appear to report more thefts in external supervision while males report more violence in teacher supervision. No statistically significant supervision effects were found in questions probing response integrity and counting heuristics. Using teacher supervision in online self-report delinquency surveys does not appear to compromise the validity of the survey results. The findings thus largely corroborate the results of the earlier Swiss test. How supervision condition interacts with respondent characteristics apart from gender calls for further scrutiny.

Research on delinquent behavior has traditionally been a core emphasis of Nordic criminological research. Historically, Nordic cooperation in criminology began with the world’s first ever internationally comparative survey of self-reported delinquency, the Nordic Draftee Research program, 1961–64. Youths of the five Nordic nations tend to manifest relatively similar prevalence levels of delinquent behavior, with a partial exception that Danish adolescents have above-average levels of substance use and property offending. During the 1990s, Danish, Finnish and Swedish surveys revealed a consistent rise in the number of law-abiding youths, a trend explained by a coincidence of multiple social changes: diminishing cohort sizes, the rise of the surveillance society, increasingly conservative and anticrime attitudes among youths, and changing routine activities, some of which may have resulted in crime type displacement (from traditional theft to computer-related crime) instead of overall crime reductio...

In recent years, there has been a marked increase in the number of students who are placed in special needs education (SNE) groups within the school system. Consistent with this international trend, the percentage of Finnish students in SNE groups rose from 2.9% to 7.7% from 1995 to 2006. The inclusion of SNE groups in school-based delinquency research has become a salient issue for methodological adequacy. In the Finnish Self-Report Delinquency Study, which is an indicator system with repeated measurements, SNE groups have been included. In this methodological article, we use the Finnish Self-Report Delinquency Study (FSRD) 2001 sweep to analyse the relevance of that inclusion. First, we analyse the contribution of SNE students to the prevalence and incidence estimates of delinquency. Second, we examine how the inclusion or exclusion of SNE students influences observations of the correlates of delinquent behaviour. The results indicate that the population estimates of the overall delinquency prevalence a...

Historical criminology has described the underworld role of Fagin—an adult who forces, seduces or teaches minors to commit crimes for him. In contemporary debates, it is sometimes feared that adolescents cunningly evade criminal law by recruiting younger children to commit offences for them. The present article reports findings from three studies charting the prevalence and correlates of proxy crime among Finnish juvenile offenders. First, a preliminary study is briefly described, pinpointing shoplifting as a typical proxy crime. Second, the prevalence and correlates of proxy shoplifting are described by using a nationally representative community sample (N = 6,279). Of all 15-16-year-old respondents, 7.2 per cent had shoplifted for someone else. Third, a qualitative dataset including convicted property offenders (N = 12) is re-analysed from the point of view of how proxy crime may initiate serious criminal careers. The study suggests that while proxy crime may sometimes play a role at the onset of criminal careers, it is predominantly an inter-adolescent phenomenon, reflecting coercive and altruistic motives.

Social capital has emerged as a widely used concept both in empirical studies and in theoretical debate in social science. In the field of criminology, several studies have found support for the association between various forms of social capital and criminal behaviour. This study examines the association between social capital and self-reported delinquency when structural and individual-level factors are controlled. Indicators of social capital, family structure, economic situation, self-control, cognitive ability and participation in delinquent behaviour are explored in a nationally representative sample of 15-16-year-old Finnish adolescents ( N = 5142). The results of the multivariate analysis indicate that (as indicators of social capital) low parental support, low teacher control and low interpersonal trust are associated with delinquent behaviour when structural and individual-level variables, including self-control, are controlled. Parental control, teacher support and intergenerational closure are associated with delinquency only in bivariate models. It seems that parents’ weak ties connecting the adolescent to the part-time labour market do not protect him or her from the risk of delinquency. Compared with social capital and structural indicators, the level of self-control seems to have a stronger association with the risk of delinquent behaviour. Cognitive ability also emerges as a robust correlate of delinquency. The article concludes by discussing the need to take individual-level propensities into account when examining the effects of social capital.

Background: Depression has previously been found to be closely connected to adolescent delinquency, but little is known about how depression is related to different types of delinquency. Aim To investigate patterns of criminal behaviour according to depression among repeatedly delinquent adolescents. Method The sample was 14- to 16-year-old repeatedly delinquent adolescents (n 3679) taking part in the Finnish School Health Promotion Study, surveyed for versatility and specialization of delinquency in relation to depression. Results Patterns of criminal behaviour differed between depressed and non-depressed delinquent adolescents. The delinquent behaviour of depressed adolescents was more versatile than that of non-depressed adolescents who mainly specialized in one offence type. Non-depressed delinquent boys had most often specialized in violence. Most depressed delinquent boys had committed a variety of offences, but among those who did specialize the specialist category was violent offences. Non-depressed delinquent girls had specialized in shoplifting. Among depressed delinquent girls vandalism was the most typical offence. Conclusion: Differences in the delinquent behaviour of depressed and non-depressed delinquent adolescents suggest the value of including clinical assessment, and treatment for some, in an appropriately comprehensive pattern of management. Language: en

A large number (N 50,569) of 14-16 year old Finnish adolescents taking part in the School Health Promotion Study were surveyed for delinquent behaviour in relation to depression. The results indicate a robust association between delinquency and depression. Among girls risk for depression varied between 1.3 and 3.1 according to various antisocial behaviours (the equivalent risk among boys was 1.3-2.5). Depression increased according to the frequency of delinquent behaviour. The results emphasize the importance of comprehensive clinical assessment and treatment of delinquent adolescents.

The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between sleep, including both qualitative and quantitative aspects, and delinquent behaviour while controlling for psychopathic features of adolescents and parental supervision at bedtime. We analysed data from a nationally representative sample of 4855 Finnish adolescents (mean age 15.3 years, 51% females). Sleep problems, hours of sleep and delinquency were evaluated via self-report. Psychopathic features were measured with the Antisocial Process Screening Device - Self-Report. In negative binomial regressions, gender and sleep-related variables acted as predictors for both property and violent crime after controlling for psychopathic features and parental supervision at bedtime. The results suggest that both sleep problems (at least three times per week, at least for a year) and an insufficient amount of sleep (less than 7 h) are associated with property crime and violent behaviour, and the relationship is not explained by gender, degree of parental supervision at bedtime or co-occurring psychopathic features. These results suggest that sleep difficulties and insufficient amount of sleep are associated with delinquent behaviour in adolescents. The significance of addressing sleep-related problems, both qualitative and quantitative, among adolescents is thus highlighted. Implications for a prevention technique of delinquent behaviour are discussed. Language: en

Among lay people as well as among scholars it is sometimes assumed that adolescent work deters juvenile delinquency. In contrast, existing research suggests that there is a positive association between adolescent parttime work and delinquency. This study assesses this claim and examines in a nationally representative sample of 15-16-yearold Finnish adolescents ( n = 4347), the association between work during the school year and self-reported delinquency and victimization, and explore whether the possible associations are general or based on some subcategory of delinquent behaThere viour/victimization. The results of multivariate analyses indicate that intensive weekly working is significantly positively associated with delinquent behaviour. When gender, disposable allowances and various factors suggested by control, strain and differential association theories were controlled for, intensive work (10 hours or more remained a significant predictor of the following types of delinquency: beating up someone, d...

This study examines the association between self-reported delinquent behaviour and psychosomatic symptoms in a nationally representative sample of 15-16-year old Finnish adolescents. Some theorists have suggested that psychosomatic symptoms are related to inability to break culturally given norms. If this is so, delinquents should have less symptoms than non-delinquents. To assess this idea, two hypotheses are formulated: delinquency is associated with decreased symptoms (the 'hydraulic' hypothesis), or delinquency is associated with increased symptoms (the 'stress' hypothesis). In support of the second hypothesis, the results indicate that delinquency and psychosomatic symptoms are positively associated. The effect of delinquency on symptoms is robust in the presence of a number of control variables. The findings are discussed i.a. from the point of view of increasing research interest in the positive effects of delinquency. While positive effects are likely to exist in specific contexts, delinquency as ...

This article examines the prevalence and correlates of shoplifting phases among Finnish adolescents. The data are based on the Finnish Self-Report Delinquency Study (FSRD-96) whose target population consisted of 9th grade (15-16-year-old) students. The identification of phases was based both on behavioural sequences and subjective interpretations. Consequently a shoplifting phase was defined in a relative fashion as a period during which the respondent shoplifted more often than usually. Of the respondents, 23 per cent had experienced at least one such period. The typical (modal) shoplzfting phase began at the age of 13 and ended at the age of 14. It lasted for 26 weeks and amounted to 15 thefts. Among the correlates of phasic shoplifting behaviour were participation in other offences and low level of parental control.