Thorolfur Thorlindsson

Routine activities in social context: A closer look at the role of opportunity in deviant behavior

Present versions of the routine activity approach to deviant behavior do not account for the social context of situational motivation and opportunity. Using concepts from social bonding and differential association theories, we argue that the patterning of routine activities is guided in part by the same factors that cause deviant behavior, namely differential social relations. We extend the routine activity approach by arguing that the effect of routine activities on deviant behavior is contingent on peoples differential social relations. Based on cross-sectional survey data from a nationally representative sample of Icelandic adolescents, our findings support these claims. First, there is a considerable decrease in the effect of our routine activities indicator (unstructured peer interaction in the absence of authority figures) on both violent behavior and property offending when we control for differential social relations, namely bonding with conventional agents and associations with deviant peers. Second, the findings indicate that differential social relations play a critical role in moderating the effects of routine activities on deviance.

Modeling Durkheim on the micro level : A study of youth suicidality

Durkheims classic theory of suicide deals with central and recurrent themes of sociological inquiry, such as the nature of social order deviance, and individual well-being. In this study, family integration and parental regulation are operationalized as independent constructs and tested in relation to anomie, suicidal suggestion, and suicidality. The authors find that integration and regulation can be meaningfully distinguished on both the theoretical and empirical levels. The findings support the primacy of integration, while accommodating the independent role of regulation. Youths who are strongly integrated into their families are less likely to succumb to anomie and suicidality, but parental regulation does not appear to have such an effect. However family integration and parental regulation have independent effects on suicidal suggestion

Sport participation and perceived health status: A study of adolescents

Although it is a well-accepted notion that sport participation enhances health, the precise nature of the relationship has been unclear. Based on a national survey of Icelandic adolescents, this study evaluates the direct and indirect effects of sport participation on perceived health status. It is shown that sport participation has a substantial direct effect on perceived health, controlling for other health related behaviours, psychological distress and disease status. Sport participation also affects perceived health indirectly through distress and smoking, but does not seem to operate through alcohol consumption. The meaning of these results and their implications for future research are discussed.

Relative Deprivation and Adolescent Outcomes in Iceland: A Multilevel Test

The theory of relative deprivation emphasizes that social comparisons contextualize how people experience impoverishment. An important application of this theory argues that relative deprivation that stems from unfavorable social comparisons can result in anger, normlessness and an increased likelihood of deviant behavior. We test this theory in a new societal setting – Iceland. Specifically, we test the proposition that the effects of economic deprivation on individual outcomes are contingent on the standard of living enjoyed by the persons reference groups. Using multilevel data on 5,491 Icelandic adolescents in 83 school-communities, we find consistent support for the theory. We show that the effects of economic deprivation on adolescent anger, normlessness, delinquency, violence and subjective relative family status are weak in school-communities where economic deprivation is common, while the effects are significantly stronger in school-communities where economic deprivation is rare.

Substance use prevention for adolescents: the Icelandic Model

Data from the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and other Drugs have shown that adolescent substance use is a growing problem in western and particularly Eastern European countries. This paper describes the development, implementation and results of the Icelandic Model of Adolescent Substance Use Prevention. The Icelandic Model is a theoretically grounded, evidence-based approach to community adolescent substance use prevention that has grown out of collaboration between policy makers, behavioural scientists, field-based practitioners and community residents in Iceland. The intervention focuses on reducing known risk factors for substance use, while strengthening a broad range of parental, school and community protective factors. Annual cross-sectional surveys demonstrate the impact of the intervention on substance use among the population of 14- to 16-year-old Icelandic adolescents. The annual data from two cohorts of over 7000 adolescents (>81% response rate) show that the proportions of those who reported being drunk during the last 30 days, smoking one cigarette or more per day and having tried hashish once all declined steadily from 1997 to 2007. The proportions of adolescents who reported spending time with their parents and that their parents knew with whom they were spending their time increased substantially. Other community protective factors also showed positive changes. Although these data suggest that this adolescent substance use prevention approach successfully strengthened a broad range of parental, school and community protective factors, the evidence of its impact on reducing substance use needs to be considered in light of the correlational data on which these observations are based.

Familial and Religious Influences on Adolescent Alcohol Use: A Multi-Level Study of Students and School Communities

A multi-level Durkheimian theory of familial and religious influences on adolescent alcohol use is developed and tested with hierarchical linear modeling of data from Icelandic schools and students. On the individual level, traditional family structure, parental monitoring, parental support, religious participation, and perceptions of divine support and social constraint are associated with less adolescent alcohol use. Individual parents knowing other parents (intergenerational closure) is not associated with less alcohol use among their children, but all students drink less in schools where such intergenerational closure is high. The religiosity of individual parents is not significantly related to their childrens alcohol use, but female students drink significantly less in schools where religious parents are more prevalent. The results are generally consistent with the proposed theoretical model.

Adolescent Violence, Social Control, and the Subculture of Delinquency: Factors Related to Violent Behavior and Nonviolent Delinquency

This study examines whether violence, rather than being an isolated subculture in itself, is a part of a general subculture of delinquency. It also examines the relationship of variables adapted from social control theories to violent behavior and non-violent delinquency. Using Icelandic data, the study supports the notion that violence is a part of a general subculture of delinquency. It finds a strong relationship between violent behavior on one hand and illegal activities, alcohol use, and smoking on the other. Furthermore, it finds that violent behavior is positively related both to violent behavior and to nonviolent delinquency among friends. The findings also support the argument that social control affects violence in a similar way as other forms of delinquency. Factors drawn from social control are significantly related to violence, and correlation patterns are similar to that of non-violent delinquency.

Individual and Community Processes of Social Closure A Study of Adolescent Academic Achievement and Alcohol Use

While the concept of social capital has rekindled interest in fundamental issues of social inquiry, concerns have been raised regarding its definition and application in increasingly diverse topics. We address these concerns by revisiting Colemans and Bourdieus original ideas of the role of family and school in adolescent outcomes. Multi-level modelling reveals that controlling for individual background, parental relations and adolescent activities, school levels of intergenerational closure and cultural activities are predictive of higher maths grades, while school levels of intergenerational closure, supervised activities and sports participation are predictive of less alcohol use. The results support the general thrust of social capital theory and suggest further theoretical elaborations.

The neighborhood effects of disrupted family processes on adolescent substance use.

In the current paper, we argue that the neighborhood-level of disrupted family processes (weak social ties to parents and coercive family interaction) should have a contextual effect on adolescent substance use (cigarette smoking, heavy drinking, and lifetime cannabis use), because adolescents living in neighborhoods in which disrupted family processes are prevalent should be more likely to associate with deviant (substance using) peers. We use nested data on 5491 Icelandic adolescents aged 15 and 16 years in 83 neighborhoods to examine the neighborhood-contextual effects of disrupted family processes on adolescent substance use (cigarette smoking, heavy drinking, and lifetime cannabis use), that is, whether neighborhoods in which disrupted family processes are common have more adolescent substance use, even after partialling out the individual-level effects of disrupted family processes on substance use. As predicted, we find that the neighborhood-levels of disrupted family processes have significant, contextual effects on all the indicators of substance use, and that association with substance using peers mediates a part of these contextual effects. The findings illustrate the limitation of an individual-level approach to adolescent substance use.

Sport, and use of anabolic androgenic steroids among Icelandic high school students: a critical test of three perspectives

BackgroundThis study investigates the use of anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) among a national representative sample of high school students in Iceland. We test several hypotheses drawn from three perspectives. The first perspective focuses on the use of AAS as an individual phenomenon motivated by the desire to succeed in sport. The second perspective views the use of AAS as shaped by norms and values embedded in social relationships of formally organized sport. The third perspective suggests that factors outside sport, which have been shown to correlate with the use of other substances, predict the use of AAS.MethodWe use logistic regression and predicted probabilities to analyze data from a national representative survey of 11031 Icelandic high school students.ResultsOur results indicated that the use of AAS is not significantly related to participation in formally organized sports. However, it positively relates to fitness and physical training in informal contexts. We found a relatively strong relationship between the use of AAS and the use of illicit substances and a moderate relationship between AAS use and alcohol and tobacco consumption. We also found a significant negative relationship between AAS use and school integration and school achievement, and a significant positive relationship between AAS use and school anomie. The relation between AAS use and family-related variables was weaker. Finally, we found that the relationship between sport participation, physical exercise, and AAS use varies across levels of anomie and integration.ConclusionOur findings suggest that the use of AAS and especially illegal substances should be considered more as a social and a health problem rather than a sport specific issue. We found that high school students participating in fitness and informal training outside of formally organized sport clubs are the main risk group and should be the target of prevention efforts. However, this should not be done at the expense of general risk factors that affect AAS and other substances used by the general population. Finally, we suggest that prevention efforts should target both groups and individuals.