Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Cross-National Variation in Socioeconomic Status and Delinquency: A Comparative Study of Adolescents from 26 European Countries

Cross-National Variation in Socioeconomic Status and Delinquency: A Comparative Study of... Abstract This research examined cross-national differences in the association between social class and delinquency. The poverty hypothesis expects socioeconomic disadvantage to exert a causal influence on delinquent behavior. This expectation implies that the individual-level association between family SES and delinquent offending will be attenuated at increased levels of collective social protection. The social selection perspective also assumes a negative relationship between SES and delinquency but explains it away as a spurious consequence of intergenerational transmission of antisocial propensity. In light of comparative research on social stratification, the selection perspective suggests that the association between low parental SES and offspring criminality may be stronger in advanced welfare states due to reduced influence of ascribed characteristics on socioeconomic attainment in these countries. Survey data from 26 European countries (n=78,703) were used to evaluate the validity of these conflicting hypotheses. In support of the selection perspective, results showed that class differences in delinquent offending are larger in more advanced welfare states. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Comparative Sociology Brill

Cross-National Variation in Socioeconomic Status and Delinquency: A Comparative Study of Adolescents from 26 European Countries

Loading next page...
 
/lp/brill/cross-national-variation-in-socioeconomic-status-and-delinquency-a-c0mnS9ps37

References (80)

Publisher
Brill
Copyright
© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
ISSN
1569-1322
eISSN
1569-1330
DOI
10.1163/15691330-12341280
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Abstract This research examined cross-national differences in the association between social class and delinquency. The poverty hypothesis expects socioeconomic disadvantage to exert a causal influence on delinquent behavior. This expectation implies that the individual-level association between family SES and delinquent offending will be attenuated at increased levels of collective social protection. The social selection perspective also assumes a negative relationship between SES and delinquency but explains it away as a spurious consequence of intergenerational transmission of antisocial propensity. In light of comparative research on social stratification, the selection perspective suggests that the association between low parental SES and offspring criminality may be stronger in advanced welfare states due to reduced influence of ascribed characteristics on socioeconomic attainment in these countries. Survey data from 26 European countries (n=78,703) were used to evaluate the validity of these conflicting hypotheses. In support of the selection perspective, results showed that class differences in delinquent offending are larger in more advanced welfare states.

Journal

Comparative SociologyBrill

Published: Jan 1, 2013

Keywords: cross-national comparison; delinquency; socioeconomic status; social selection; Europe

There are no references for this article.