Community Structure, Social Disorganization, and Adolescent Property Crime: A Multilevel Study of Icelandic School Communities.

The present study applies social disorganization theory to examine the community context of social control and adolescent delinquency in Iceland. Application of this theory has been limited outside of United States and Britain. In addition to clarifying the cross-cultural validity of this approach, the study contributes to research on the mechanisms through which community structure influences adolescent delinquency, focusing on interlocking networks, adolescent normlessness, and unstructured peer activity. Multi-level analysis of 6402 adolescents in 68 communities (schools) reveals a contextual influence of community social instability (residential instability and family disruption) on adolescent property crime, an effect moderated by the community socioeconomic status. Moreover, both interlocking networks and adolescent normlessness help to account for a part of these effects. Finally, interlocking networks moderate the influence of unstructured peer activity on property crime, underscoring the contingent effects of routine activity patterns on opportunity and motivation for offending. These findings are strengthened by the fact that we are able to control for prior community rates of offending. In conclusion, the study lends support the cross-cultural validity of social disorganization theory, while underscoring that its theoretical implications are sensitive to societal context. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]