Venla Salmi

Poly-Victimization as a Life Condition: Correlates of Poly-Victimization among Finnish Children

According to criminological literature, victimization tends to cluster among the same adolescents. Recent American studies have shown that the poly-victimized youth are different in terms of their whole victimization profile than those children with fewer or no victimization experiences. In this article poly-victimization is studied among Finnish sixth and ninth graders (n = 13,459) based on the Finnish Child Victim Survey 2008. The article will answer questions with regard to accumulation of victimization and its associations with childrens psycho-social well-being. The study examines the individual and family level background characteristics which are related to poly-victimization. The accumulations of these risk factors are analysed with poly-victimized children compared with less or non-victimized children. According to the analysis, poly-victimization exists among Finnish children and adolescents. In addition, the characteristics indicated as risk factors of victimization seem to accumulate among poly-victims. With cross-sectional data, no causal conclusions can be made, but poly-victimization is related to higher levels of psycho-social problems. The results confirm earlier findings of poly-victimization as a life condition.

The Association between Social Capital and Juvenile Crime The Role of Individual and Structural Factors

Social capital has emerged as a widely used concept both in empirical studies and in theoretical debate in social science. In the field of criminology, several studies have found support for the association between various forms of social capital and criminal behaviour. This study examines the association between social capital and self-reported delinquency when structural and individual-level factors are controlled. Indicators of social capital, family structure, economic situation, self-control, cognitive ability and participation in delinquent behaviour are explored in a nationally representative sample of 15-16-year-old Finnish adolescents (N = 5142). The results of the multivariate analysis indicate that (as indicators of social capital) low parental support, low teacher control and low interpersonal trust are associated with delinquent behaviour when structural and individual-level variables, including self-control, are controlled. Parental control, teacher support and intergenerational closure are associated with delinquency only in bivariate models. It seems that parents’ weak ties connecting the adolescent to the part-time labour market do not protect him or her from the risk of delinquency. Compared with social capital and structural indicators, the level of self-control seems to have a stronger association with the risk of delinquent behaviour. Cognitive ability also emerges as a robust correlate of delinquency. The article concludes by discussing the need to take individual-level propensities into account when examining the effects of social capital.

Crime victimization, exposure to crime news and social trust among adolescents:

Interpersonal trust has recently emerged at the centre of research in social science as an important component of social capital. Earlier, it has been theorized that exposure to media cultivates a suspicious and distrusting ‘mean–world’ outlook on life (cultivation theory). In this article, we aim to bind these separate but obviously interconnected theoretical discussions in a combined empirical analysis, by exploring several potential correlates of social trust. As criminologists, our main interest lies in the possible association between victimization, fear of crime, use of crime news media and trust. We categorize victimization experiences as either persistent or occasional ones. In addition, we add a set of social and structural factors to our analysis. Our cross–sectional survey data consists of a nationally representative sample of 15–16 year–old Finnish adolescents (N = 5142). The results of the multivariate analyses indicate that both victimization and fear of crime are related to lower levels of interpersonal trust. As expected, there is a more robust association between persistent victimization and the level of trust than is the case with occasional victimization. Viewing regularly television crime reality programmes is also robustly related to lower levels of trust, a finding that supports the cultivation theory. Of social interaction variables, social support and supervision by parents and teachers are positively related to trust. Contrary to this, participation in civic life (such as religious and various secular associations) is not related to social trust among Finnish adolescents. This and other results are here discussed applying social capital theory and cultivation theory of media effects.

Brief report: self-reported psychopathic-like features among Finnish community youth: investigation of the factor structure of the Antisocial Personality Screening Device.

The Antisocial Process Screening Device- Self-Report (APSD-SR) is a self-report measure for assessment of psychopathic traits in adolescents. The present study aimed to investigate the factor structure and internal consistency of the APSD-SR in a sample of 4855 Finnish community adolescents. A three-factor structure with factors representing impulsivity (IMP), narcissism (NAR) and callous-unemotional (CU) features was found. Internal consistency indices ranged from moderate to good. The findings provide promising data on applicability of the APSD-SR instrument to Scandinavian youth. Results have implications for researchers and clinicians interested in measuring adolescent psychopathy.

The Challenge of Special Needs Education in School-Based Delinquency Research

In recent years, there has been a marked increase in the number of students who are placed in special needs education (SNE) groups within the school system. Consistent with this international trend, the percentage of Finnish students in SNE groups rose from 2.9% to 7.7% from 1995 to 2006. The inclusion of SNE groups in school-based delinquency research has become a salient issue for methodological adequacy. In the Finnish Self-Report Delinquency Study, which is an indicator system with repeated measurements, SNE groups have been included. In this methodological article, we use the Finnish Self-Report Delinquency Study (FSRD) 2001 sweep to analyse the relevance of that inclusion. First, we analyse the contribution of SNE students to the prevalence and incidence estimates of delinquency. Second, we examine how the inclusion or exclusion of SNE students influences observations of the correlates of delinquent behaviour. The results indicate that the population estimates of the overall delinquency prevalence are not seriously compromised by SNE exclusion. In contrast, incidence estimation is highly susceptible to the inclusion or exclusion of SNE groups. Students placed in SNE have higher prevalence of known risk factors of delinquency, such as disadvantaged social and familial backgrounds. Their inclusion in research appears to have relevance for the analysis of risk factors of delinquency.

Are qualitative and quantitative sleep problems associated with delinquency when controlling for psychopathic features and parental supervision

The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between sleep, including both qualitative and quantitative aspects, and delinquent behaviour while controlling for psychopathic features of adolescents and parental supervision at bedtime. We analysed data from a nationally representative sample of 4855 Finnish adolescents (mean age 15.3 years, 51% females). Sleep problems, hours of sleep and delinquency were evaluated via self‐report. Psychopathic features were measured with the Antisocial Process Screening Device – Self‐Report. In negative binomial regressions, gender and sleep‐related variables acted as predictors for both property and violent crime after controlling for psychopathic features and parental supervision at bedtime. The results suggest that both sleep problems (at least three times per week, at least for a year) and an insufficient amount of sleep (less than 7 h) are associated with property crime and violent behaviour, and the relationship is not explained by gender, degree of parental supervision at bedtime or co‐occurring psychopathic features. These results suggest that sleep difficulties and insufficient amount of sleep are associated with delinquent behaviour in adolescents. The significance of addressing sleep‐related problems, both qualitative and quantitative, among adolescents is thus highlighted. Implications for a prevention technique of delinquent behaviour are discussed.

Versatile Delinquents or Specialized Pirates? A Comparison of Correlates of Illegal Downloading and Traditional Juvenile Crime

While illegal downloading of copyrighted content from the Internet is a very common form of law-breaking, it has attracted relatively little attention among criminologists. Using the Finnish Self-Report Delinquency Survey 2012 (n = 4,855), the current study analyses the overlap between traditional juvenile crime and intensity of illegal downloading, and examines the determinants of illegal downloading in light of control theories. Despite the fact that the majority of youths download, the intensity of downloading has a strong positive association with other forms of delinquency. Measures of self-control and parental social control emerge as significant predictors of frequent downloading.

Correlates of immigrant youth crime in Finland

Differences in the crime involvement of immigrants and the native population have been a major topic in criminology for decades. This interest stems from the fact that immigrants are overrepresented in the crime statistics of many European countries. Our study compares delinquency among native and immigrant youth in Finland. The analysis is based on the 2012 sweep of the Finnish Self-Report Delinquency Study (N = 8914). The results show that several forms of delinquency were more prevalent among immigrants than among native youth. Multivariate analyses indicate that routine activities and parental control were related to the immigrant youths’ higher risk of active delinquency. After adjusting for a wide range of background variables, the immigrants’ higher risk of delinquency decreased, but remained significant.

Severe Sleep Problems and Psychopathic Features: A Study of FinnishAdolescents

Objective: This study investigated sleep and psychopathic features in a population-based sample of 4855 Finnish adolescents. Method: Sleep was evaluated by questions about the frequency and persistence of sleep problems and the amount of sleep on school and weekend nights. Psychopathic features were measured with Antisocial Process Screening Device-Self Report (APSD-SR). Results: Frequent and persistent sleep problems was reported by 5% of the adolescents while 3.2% of adolescents had continuous short sleep, 7 hours or less on both school and weekend nights. Higher scores on the APSD-SR measure were associated with both sleep problems and short sleep. Conclusion: We conclude that severe problems of sleep quality and quantity among adolescents may be associated with vulnerability to lack of behavioral control and prosocial behavior.

Intimate partner violence victimization and household financial strain

Most scholars agree that low socio-economic status is associated with an elevated risk for violent victimization as well as offending. Nevertheless, it has been suggested that certain forms of violence—particularly intimate partner violence (IPV)—are more equally distributed in the population, not concentrating on the lower social strata as strongly as other forms of violence. In this paper, we examine the association between financial strain, measured on the household level, and two different types of victimization: IPV and violence committed by a person unknown to the victim. The analysis is based on the 2013 sweep of Finnish National Crime Victim Survey (n = 6,999), a nationally representative survey incorporating a mix of postal and web-based survey methodology. Multivariate analyses indicate that the risk for both kinds of victimization is highest among those who report financial difficulties. Moreover, the association between IPV and financial strain appears stronger when less serious violent incidences are excluded from the analysis.