Immigration and crime among youth in Switzerland

The current investigation examined rates and predictors of deviance in a sample of Swiss youth. Data were collected from 3,136 youth; 800 cases were identified as first-generation (35%) or second-generation (65%) immigrant youth. We found that second-generation immigrant male youth were more deviant than Swiss adolescents, second-generation immigrant male youth were also more deviant than first-generation immigrants. Few important differences were found on measures of self-control and measures of perceived sanctions (get caught, shame/guilt, loss of respect) by immigrant status, and the predictive model employed explained between 23% and 51% of the variance in total deviance. Implications for crime and deviance in Switzerland are discussed.