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Effects of Delinquency on Alcohol use Among Juveniles in Europe: Results from the ISRD-2 Study

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Abstract

The existence of a correlation between the use of alcohol and juvenile delinquency has long been acknowledged. In order to evaluate the strength and the characteristics of this association in various cultural contexts, we analysed data collected as part of the International Self-Report Delinquency Study- 2 (ISRD-2). The sample consisted of of young people (N = 57,771) of both sexes, aged between 12 and 16 years, in 25 European countries. After estimating the prevalence of alcohol consumption among young people involved in property offences and violent offences, we assessed the degree to which these types of delinquency were associated with the use of alcohol in the 25 countries. In addition, we attempted to ascertain the influence of belonging to various types of deviant groups on alcohol use. To this end, we used a Mokken Scale Analysis. With this method, we constructed a scale of “gangness” and correlated the scores with alcohol use among juveniles. The results yielded by the present study indicate that alcohol use and delinquency are closely related with one another. In particular, we observed that alcohol consumption seems to be strongly influenced by involvement in delinquent activities. The nature and characteristics of these relationships suggest that the associations between alcohol use and delinquency are reciprocal rather than one-directional. Consequently, alcohol use constitutes a risk factor for criminal behaviour. Likewise, involvement in delinquency increase the risk of alcohol consumption and, especially, of alcohol abuse.

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Notes

  1. Ireland, Sweden, Denmark, Icelandland, Norway, Finland, Austria, Germany, Holland, Switzerland, Belgium, France, Spain, Italy, Cyprus, Portugal, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Poland, Russia, Lithuania, Slovenia, Hungary, Armenia, Czech Republic, Estonia.

  2. The Eurogang Network uses the following six questions: 1) Do you have a group of friends? 2) How long has this group existed (> 3 months)? 3) Does this group spend a lot of time together in public places? 4) Is doing illegal things accepted by your group? 5) Do people in your group actually do illegal things together? 6) Do you consider your group of friend to be a gang?

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Acknowledgments

This study was carried out with the cooperation of the AAA-Prevent Research Group (European Commission-Effective Environmental Strategies for the Prevention of Alcohol Abuse among Adolescents in Europe): Majone Steketee, Harrie Jonkman, Claire Aussems & Jessica van den Toorn, Verwey-Jonker Institute, The Netherlands; Herbert Scheithauer & Kristin Göbel, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany; Renate Soellner & Astrid Bräker, University of Hildesheim, Germany; Anna Markina & Kristjan Kask, University of Tartu, Estonia; Uberto Gatti, Alfredo Verde & Gabriele Rocca, University of Genoa, Italy; Jiri Burianek & Zuzana Podana, Charles University, Czech Republic; Nicole Vettenburg & Hans Berten, Ghent University, Belgium.

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Gatti, U., Soellner, R., Schadee, H.M.A. et al. Effects of Delinquency on Alcohol use Among Juveniles in Europe: Results from the ISRD-2 Study. Eur J Crim Policy Res 19, 153–170 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10610-013-9202-x

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