NCJ Number
199307
Journal
British Journal of Criminology Volume: 43 Issue: 1 Dated: Winter 2003 Pages: 22-40
Date Published
2003
Length
19 pages
Annotation
This study tested the association between level of "civicness" (socio-political commitment, solidarity, and mutual trust) and level of juvenile delinquency among the regions of Italy.
Abstract
The study hypothesized that those regions with high levels of civic involvement would be more effective in the positive socialization of its youth, thus preventing delinquent behavior. In 1970 Italy was divided into 20 administrative regions. Putnam and his colleagues assessed the civic traditions of these regions with data collected during the 1970's and 1980's. More recently, a team of Italian researchers (Regione Emilia-Romagna, 1997) used data collected between 1993 and 1997 to reassess, within the framework of a broader study, the civicness of each of the Italian regions. The current study used the assessments of civic community provided by these two research teams. The variables regarding juvenile delinquency for each of the regions were constructed on the basis of data on charges against minors that led to penal action in the period 1992-95, 1980-83, and 1974-77. For each year considered, the data were scaled in relation to the population of minors (14-to 17 years-old) who resided in the various regions in the same years. Data from a victimization survey conducted in 1997 (Barbagli, 1998a) served as dependent variables in order to confirm hypotheses by using a different indicator of delinquency. Study findings generally supported the hypothesis. Significant negative correlations were observed at three different time periods (1970's, 1980's, and 1990's) between civicness and official records of robbery and attempted murder by minors and murders committed by both minors and adults. The victimization data confirmed the significant negative correlations between civicness and violent crimes and also revealed a significant negative correlation between civicness and theft. Analyses that included socio-economic predictors showed that they overlapped significantly with civicness, thus indicating that the predominance of one over the other could not be determined. The study concluded that the development of environments in which socio-political commitment, solidarity, and mutual trust abound may facilitate the social integration of children and prevent the development of criminal behavior. 4 tables, 2 figures, and 30 references