NCJ Number
177532
Date Published
1999
Length
253 pages
Annotation
Data from 100 years of immigration records, particularly in California, form the basis of this study of migration as a process that sometimes leads to juvenile delinquency beyond the norms of either the home culture or the host culture.
Abstract
The discussion uses data on a variety of immigrant groups from the 19th century to modern times, including European immigrants of the 19th and early 20th centuries, Chinese, Mexicans, Laotians, Koreans, and Molokan Russians. The analysis focuses on the interactions among social cohesion, socioeconomic factors, psychological variables, and demographics; the sociology of law with respect to the effects of misinterpretations and cultural values; subculture norms and gangs; and theoretical and policy implications. The analysis concludes that an immigrant group with a large population of young males has the potential for patterned misunderstandings between immigrant parents and their children. This situation provides conditions for a predictable outbreak of crime within deviant subcultures such as gangs. In addition, youthful immigrant crime often erupts due to the structural relationship between immigrant groups and the host community rather than the cultural differences imported from abroad. The author theorizes that the second-generation issue of youthful crime and gangs in immigrant communities will continue as long as the United States remains a free society with a continuing demand for cheap immigrant labor. Tables, figures, appended case examples, index, and approximately 150 references (Publisher summary modified)