Abstract
This chapter looks at the self-reported offending behaviour of school children in the Republic of Ireland. The findings are derived from the administration of international self-reported delinquency (ISRD2) questionnaire to a sample of students mostly aged 13–15 years (n = 1,570) in their first, second and third years of secondary school across a number of cities and towns.
In order to accurately interpret the findings, it is important to highlight the local context and economic conditions. The Republic of Ireland’s official population is 4,234,925 as measured by the 2006 census. The latest figures revealed that 28% of the population was made up of children aged 18 or younger (CSO, 2002). The Irish economy has undergone a transformation within recent years and has moved from a primary dependence on agriculture to a dependence on trade, industry and investment. Over the last decade, there has been a dramatic reversal of fortune for the Irish economy, from a situation of high levels of unemployment and emigration to a position of almost full employment (see Fahey et al., 2007). Furthermore, a considerable number of people in the Irish labour market are now foreign nationals (NESC, 2005).
This research would not have been possible without the financial support of the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, which is gratefully acknowledged. Particular thanks are due to Brendan Callaghan, Principal Officer at the Department for his encouragement during the research process.
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Notes
- 1.
Children are defined as being under the age of 18 years as set out by the UN in the Convention on the Rights of the Child
- 2.
Children and their parents live on an income, which is 60% or less of the average household income (Combat Poverty Agency, 2006).
- 3.
Children live on an income of 60% or less of the average household income and also experience deprivation of basic necessities (Combat Poverty Agency, 2006).
- 4.
This does not include greater areas of the city for the large city and for medium city.
- 5.
This includes the population of the town and greater areas of the town.
- 6.
Figures were taken from the 2002 Census released by the Central Statistics Office.
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Breen, J., Manning, U., O’Donnell, I., O’Mahony, D., Seymour, M. (2010). Ireland. In: Junger-Tas, J., Marshall, I., Enzmann, D., Killias, M., Steketee, M., Gruszczynska, B. (eds) Juvenile Delinquency in Europe and Beyond. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-95982-5_8
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