This book presents the first comprehensive analysis of the second
International Self-Report Delinquency study (ISRD-2). An earlier volume,
Juvenile Delinquency in Europe and Beyond (Springer, 2010) focused
mainly on the findings with regard to delinquency, victimization and
substance use in each of the individual participating ISRD-2 countries.
The Many Faces of Youth Crime is based on analysis of the merged data
set and has a number of unique features: The analyses are based on an
unusually large number of respondents (about 67,000 7th, 8th and 9th
graders) collected by researchers from 31 countries; It includes
reports on the characteristics, experiences and behaviour of first and
second generation migrant youth from a variety of cultures; It is one
of the first large-scale international studies asking 12-16 year olds
about their victimization experiences (bullying, assault, robbery,
theft); It describes both intriguing differences between young people
from different countries and country clusters in the nature and extent
of delinquency, victimization and substance use, as well as remarkable
cross-national uniformities in delinquency, victimization, and substance
use patterns; A careful comparative analysis of the social responses to
offending and victimization adds to our limited knowledge on this
important issue; Detailed chapters on the family, school,
neighbourhood, lifestyle and peers provide a rich comparative
description of these institutions and their impact on delinquency; It
tests a number of theoretical perspectives (social control,
self-control, social disorganization, routine activities/opportunity
theory) on a large international sample from a variety of national
contexts; It combines a theoretical focus with a thoughtful
consideration of the policy implications of the findings; An extensive
discussion of the ISRD methodology of 'flexible standardization' details
the challenges of comparative research. The book consists of 12
chapters, which also may be read individually by those interested in
particular special topics (for instance, the last chapter should be of
special interest to policy makers). The material is presented in such a
way that it is accessible to more advanced students, researchers and
scholars in a variety of fields, such as criminology, sociology,
deviance, social work, comparative methodology, youth studies, substance
use studies, and victimology.
