Skip to main content
Log in

Comparing Patterns and Predictors of Immigrant Offending Among a Sample of Adjudicated Youth

Journal of Youth and Adolescence Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Research on immigration and crime has only recently started to consider potential heterogeneity in longitudinal patterns of immigrant offending. Guided by segmented assimilation and life course criminology frameworks, this article advances prior research on the immigration-crime nexus in three ways: using a large sample of high-risk adjudicated youth containing first and second generation immigrants; examining longitudinal trajectories of official and self-reported offending; and merging segmented assimilation and life course theories to distinguish between offending patterns. Data come from the Pathways to Desistance study containing detailed offending and socio-demographic background information on 1,354 adolescents (13.6 % female; n = 1,061 native-born; n = 210 second generation immigrants; n = 83 first generation immigrants) as they transition to young adulthood (aged 14–17 at baseline). Over 84 months we observe whether patterns of offending, and the correlates that may distinguish them, operate differently across immigrant generations. Collectively, this study offers the first investigation of whether immigrants, conditioned on being adjudicated, are characterized by persistent offending. Results show that first generation immigrants are less likely to be involved in serious offending and to evidence persistence in offending, and appear to be on a path toward desistance much more quickly than their peers. Further, assimilation and neighborhood disadvantage operate in unique ways across generational status and relate to different offending styles. The findings show that the risk for persistent offending is greatest among those with high levels of assimilation who reside in disadvantaged contexts, particularly among the second generation youth in the sample.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Immigrant generation is often used as a proxy measure of assimilation with the understanding that successive generations will have higher levels of assimilation (see e.g., Morenoff and Astor 2006; Rumbaut et al. 2006).

  2. Some readers might wonder if the lower rates observed for the first generation subsample are merely a result of these individuals being locked up more frequently and, hence, incapacitated (e.g., Piquero et al. 2001). To investigate this possibility, we explored the mean percentage of time over each observational period that each subgroup was out of the community and incapacitated. We considered only stays in settings without access to the community (e.g., jail/prison; see: Mulvey et al. 2007). Initially, the first generation subsample has the highest mean percentage of time out of the community (~49 % of the time spent with no community access, on average) slightly higher compared to second generation (~44 %), native black (~42 %), and native Hispanic (~43 %), and considerably higher than native white (~35 %). However, these gaps diminish even more over time, and after 48 months, the first generation subsample actually has lower rates of incapacitation than all other subgroups, except for native whites, for the remainder of the 84 months follow-up. In other words, these results imply that the lower rates of offending for the first generation subsample are most likely not due to this group being locked up and lacking opportunity to commit crimes.

  3. Our observation here is reminiscent of a special issue of Advances in Criminological Theory, whereby noted theorists considered how the (at the time) emerging developmental perspective could enhance traditional theories of crime and delinquency, which were largely static in their explanation (see Thornberry 1997). With the exception of social disorganization theory, most theories of crime and delinquency do not deal with the role of immigration in general much less the differential criminal involvement across successive generations of immigrants in particular.

  4. The findings reviewed in this paragraph are focused solely within the population of Hispanics and should not be considered as a comparison between immigrants compared to their American-born counterparts more generally.

References

  • Acevedo-Garcia, D., Pan, J., Jun, H.-J., Osypuk, T. L., & Emmons, K. M. (2005). The effect of immigrant generation on smoking. Social Science and Medicine, 61(6), 1223–1242. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2005.01.027.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Alba, R., & Nee, V. (2003). Remaking the American Mainstream: Assimilation and contemporary immigration. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bersani, B. E. (2012). An Examination of first and second generation immigrant offending trajectories. Justice Quarterly, 1–29, doi:10.1080/07418825.2012.659200.

  • Bersani, B. E. (2013). A game of catch-up? The offending experience of second generation immigrants. Crime & Delinquency, (forthcoming).

  • Blumstein, A., Cohen, J., Roth, J. A., & Visher, C. A. (1986). Criminal careers and “career criminals”. National academy of sciences panel on research on criminal careers (Vol. 1). Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bucerius, S. M. (2011). Immigrants and crime. In M. Tonry (Ed.), The Oxford handbook of crime and criminal justice (pp. 385–419). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bui, H. N. (2009). Parent—child conflicts, school troubles, and differences in delinquency across immigration generations. Crime & Delinquency, 55(3), 412–441. doi:10.1177/0011128707306122.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Butcher, K. F., & Piehl, A. M. (1998). Cross-city evidence on the relationship between immigration and crime. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 17(3), 457–493. doi:10.1002/(sici)1520-6688(199822)17:3<457:aid-pam4>3.0.co;2-f.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cernkovich, S. A., Giordano, P. C., & Pugh, M. D. (1985). Chronic offenders: The missing cases in self-report delinquency research. The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 76(3), 705–732. doi:10.2307/1143519.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chavez, L. R. (2008). The Latino threat: Constructing immigrants, citizens, and the nation. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crutchfield, R. D., Matsueda, R. L., & Drakulich, K. (2006). Race, labor markets, and neighborhood violence. In R. D. Peterson, L. J. Krivo, & J. Hagan (Eds.), The many colors of crime (pp. 199–220). New York: NYU Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cuéllar, I., Arnold, B., & Maldonado, R. (1995). Acculturation rating scale for Mexican Americans-II: A revision of the original ARSMA scale. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 17(3), 275–304. doi:10.1177/07399863950173001.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cuéllar, I., Nyberg, B., Maldonado, R. E., & Roberts, R. E. (1997). Ethnic identity and acculturation in a young adult Mexican-origin population. Journal of Community Psychology, 25(6), 535–549. doi:10.1002/(sici)1520-6629(199711)25:6<535:aid-jcop4>3.0.co;2-o.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Decker, S., Wright, R., & Logie, R. (1993). Perceptual deterrence among active residential burglars: A research note. Criminology, 31(1), 135–147. doi:10.1111/j.1745-9125.1993.tb01125.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dinovitzer, R., Hagan, J., & Levi, R. (2009). Immigration and youthful illegalities in a global edge city. Social Forces, 88(1), 337–372. doi:10.1353/sof.0.0229.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DiPietro, S. M., & Bursik, R. J. (2012). Studies of the new immigration. The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 641(1), 247–267. doi:10.1177/0002716211431687.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DiPietro, S. M., & McGloin, J. M. (2012). Differential susceptibility? Immigrant youth and peer influence. Criminology, 50(3), 711–742. doi:10.1111/j.1745-9125.2012.00273.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elder, G. H. (1998). The life course as developmental theory. Child Development, 69(1), 1–12. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.1998.tb06128.x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Elder, G. H., Johnson, M. K., & Crosnoe, R. (2003). The emergence and development of life course theory. In J. T. Mortimer & M. J. Shanahan (Eds.), Handbook of the life course (pp. 3–19). Berlin: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Elliott, D. S., Huizinga, D., & Morse, B. (1986). Self-reported violent offending: A descriptive analysis of juvenile violent offenders and their offending careers. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 1(4), 472–514. doi:10.1177/088626086001004006.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fenelon, A. (2013). Revisiting the Hispanic mortality advantage in the United States: The role of smoking. Social Science and Medicine, 82, 1–9. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2012.12.028.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Fortuny, K., & Chaudry, A. (2011). Children of immigrants: Growing national and state diversity. Brief 1. Washington, DC: The Urban Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Georgiades, K., Boyle, M., & Fife, K. (2013). Emotional and behavioral problems among adolescent students: The role of immigrant, racial/ethnic congruence and belongingness in schools. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 42(9), 1473–1492. doi:10.1007/s10964-012-9868-2.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gordon-Larsen, P., Harris, K. M., Ward, D. S., & Popkin, B. M. (2003). Acculturation and overweight-related behaviors among Hispanic immigrants to the US: The national longitudinal study of adolescent health. Social Science and Medicine, 57(11), 2023–2034. doi:10.1016/S0277-9536(03)00072-8.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gottfredson, M. R. (2004). Crime, immigration, and public policy. Report prepared for the Merage Foundation for the American Dream.

  • Hagan, J. (1997). Crime and capitalization: Toward a developmental theory of street crime in America. In T. P. Thornberry (Ed.), Developmental theories of crime and delinquency: Advances in criminological theory (Vol. 7). New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hagan, J., Levi, R., & Dinovitzer, R. (2008). The symbolic violence of the crime-immigration nexus: Migrant mythologies in the Americas. Criminology & Public Policy, 7(1), 95–112. doi:10.1111/j.1745-9133.2008.00493.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hagan, J., & Palloni, A. (1999). Immigration and crime in the United States. In J. Smith & B. Edmonston (Eds.), The immigration debate: Studies on the economic, demographic, and fiscal effects of immigration. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Haller, W., Portes, A., & Lynch, S. M. (2011). Dreams fulfilled, dreams shattered: Determinants of segmented assimilation in the second generation. Social Forces, 89(3), 733–762. doi:10.1353/sof.2011.0003.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harker, K. (2001). Immigrant generation, assimilation, and adolescent psychological well-being. Social Forces, 79(3), 969–1004. doi:10.1353/sof.2001.0010.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harris, K. M. (1999). The health status and risk behaviors of adolescents in immigrant families. In D. J. Hernandez (Ed.), Children of immigrants: Health, adjustment, and public assistance. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harris, C. T., & Feldmeyer, B. (2013). Latino immigration and White, Black, and Latino violent crime: A comparison of traditional and non-traditional immigrant destinations. Social Science Research, 42(1), 202–216. doi:10.1016/j.ssresearch.2012.08.014.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hindelang, M. J., Hirschi, T., & Weis, J. G. (1979). Correlates of delinquency: The illusion of discrepancy between self-report and official measures. American Sociological Review, 44(6), 995–1014. doi:10.2307/2094722.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hirschman, C. (2001). The educational enrollment of immigrant youth: A test of the segmented-assimilation hypothesis. Demography, 38(3), 317–336. doi:10.1353/dem.2001.0028.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Horowitz, C. F. (2001). An examination of US immigration policy and serious crime. Washington, DC: Center for Immigration Studies.

    Google Scholar 

  • Huizinga, D., Esbensen, F.-A., & Weiher, A. W. (1991). Are there multiple paths to delinquency? The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 82(1), 83–118. doi:10.2307/1143790.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Immigration Commission. (1911). Report of the immigration commission. U.S. Congress, Senate, 61st, (Congress. S. Doc. 750, Vol. 36). Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.

  • Jennings, W. G., Zgoba, K. M., Piquero, A. R., & Reingle, J. M. (2013). Offending trajectories among native-born and foreign-born hispanics to late middle age. Sociological Inquiry. doi:10.1111/soin.12017.

  • Kirk, D. S. (2006). Examining the divergence across self-report and official data sources on inferences about the adolescent life-course of crime. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 22(2), 107–129. doi:10.1007/s10940-006-9004-0.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Knight, G. P., Basilio, C. D., Cham, H., Gonzales, N. A., Liu, Y., & Umaña-Taylor, A. J. (2013). Trajectories of Mexican American and mainstream cultural values among Mexican American adolescents. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 1–16, doi:10.1007/s10964-013-9983-8.

  • Knight, G. P., Losoya, S. H., Cho, Y. I., Chassin, L., Williams, J. L., & Cota-Robles, S. (2012). Ethnic identity and offending trajectories among Mexican American juvenile offenders: Gang membership and psychosocial maturity. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 22(4), 782–796. doi:10.1111/j.1532-7795.2012.00819.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Landale, N. S., & Oropesa, R. S. (2007). Hispanic families: Stability and change. Annual Review of Sociology, 33, 381–405.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Laub, J. H., & Sampson, R. J. (2001). Understanding desistance from crime. In M. Tonry (Ed.), Crime and justice: A review of research (Vol. 28, pp. 1–69). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

  • Laub, J. H., & Sampson, R. J. (2003). Shared beginnings, divergent lives: Delinquent boys to age 70. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee, M. T., & Martinez, R., Jr. (2009). Immigration reduces crime: An emerging scholarly consensus. In W. F. Mcdonald (Ed.), Immigration, crime and justice. Sociology of crime, law and deviance, Vol. 13 (pp. 3–16). Bingley: Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

  • Lee, J. M., Steinberg, L., Piquero, A. R., & Knight, G. P. (2011). Identity-linked perceptions of the police among African American juvenile offenders: A developmental perspective. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 40(1), 23–37. doi:10.1007/s10964-010-9553-2.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Leventhal, T., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (2000). The neighborhoods they live in: The effects of neighborhood residence on child and adolescent outcomes. Psychological Bulletin, 126(2), 309–337. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.126.2.309.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lopez, D. E., & Stanton-Salazar, R. D. (2001). Mexican Americans: A second generation at risk. In R. G. Rumbaut & A. Portes (Eds.), Ethnicities: Children of immigrants in America (pp. 57–90). Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • MacDonald, J. M., Hipp, J. R., & Gill, C. (2012). The effects of immigrant concentration on changes in neighborhood crime rates. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 1–25, doi:10.1007/s10940-012-9176-8.

  • MacDonald, J. M., & Sampson, R. J. (2012). The world in a city: Immigration and America’s changing social fabric. The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 641, 6–15.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maldonado-Molina, M. M., Piquero, A. R., Jennings, W. G., Bird, H., & Canino, G. (2009). Trajectories of delinquency among Puerto Rican children and adolescents at two sites. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 46(2), 144–181. doi:10.1177/0022427808330866.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Maldonado-Molina, M. M., Reingle, J. M., Jennings, W. G., & Prado, G. (2011). Drinking and driving among immigrant and US-born Hispanic young adults: Results from a longitudinal and nationally representative study. Addictive Behaviors, 36(4), 381–388. doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2010.12.017.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Martinez, R., Jr, Stowell, J. I., & Lee, M. T. (2010). Immigration and crime in an era of transformation: A longitudinal analysis of Homicides in San Diego Neighborhoods, 1980–2000. Criminology, 48(3), 797–829. doi:10.1111/j.1745-9125.2010.00202.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mayer, S. E., & Jencks, C. (1989). Growing up in poor neighborhoods: How much does it matter. Science, 243(4897), 1441–1445.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mears, D. P. (2001). The immigration-crime nexus: Toward an analytic framework for assessing and guiding theory, research, and policy. Sociological Perspectives, 44(1), 1–19.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moffitt, T. E. (1993). Adolescence-limited and life-course-persistent antisocial behavior: A developmental taxonomy. Psychological Review, 100(4), 674–701. doi:10.1037/0033-295x.100.4.674.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Moffitt, T. E. (1994). Natural histories of delinquency. In H. J. Kerner & E. Weitekamp (Eds.), Cross-national longitudinal research on human development and criminal behavior (pp. 3–64). Dordrecht: Kluwer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Morenoff, J. D., & Astor, A. (2006). Immigrant assimilation and crime: Generational differences in youth violence in Chicago. In R. J. Martinez & A. J. Valenzuela (Eds.), Immigration and crime: Race, ethnicity and violence. New York, NY: New York University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mulvey, E. P., Schubert, C. A., & Chung, H. L. (2007). Service use after court involvement in a sample of serious adolescent offenders. Children and Youth Services Review, 29(4), 518–544. doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2006.10.006.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Mulvey, E. P., Steinberg, L., Fagan, J., Cauffman, E., Piquero, A. R., Chassin, L., et al. (2004). Theory and research on desistance from antisocial activity among serious adolescent offenders. Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, 2(3), 213–236. doi:10.1177/1541204004265864.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Nagin, D. S. (2005). Group-based modeling of development. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ousey, G. C., & Kubrin, C. E. (2009). Exploring the connection between immigration and violent crime rates in US cities: 1980–2000. Social Problems, 56(3), 447–473.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Passel, J. S., & Cohn, D. V. (2008). US population projections: 20052050. Social & demographic trends. Washington, DC: Pew Research Center.

  • Perlmann, J., & Waldinger, R. (1997). Second generation decline? Children of immigrants, past and present—a reconsideration. International Migration Review, 31(4), 893–922.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pew Research Center. (2013). Second-generation Americans: A portrait of the adult children of immigrants. Washington, DC: Pew Research Center.

    Google Scholar 

  • Phinney, J. S. (1992). The multigroup ethnic identity measure: A new scale for use with diverse groups. Journal of Adolescent Research, 7(2), 156–176. doi:10.1177/074355489272003.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Phinney, J. S., Cantu, C. L., & Kurtz, D. A. (1997). Ethnic and American identity as predictors of self-esteem among African American, Latino, and White adolescents. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 26(2), 165–185. doi:10.1023/a:1024500514834.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Piquero, A. R., Blumstein, A., Brame, R., Haapanen, R., Mulvey, E. P., & Nagin, D. S. (2001). Assessing the impact of exposure time and incapacitation on longitudinal trajectories of criminal offending. Journal of Adolescent Research, 16(1), 54–74. doi:10.1177/0743558401161005.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Piquero, A. R., Farrington, D. P., & Blumstein, A. (2007). Key issues in criminal career research: New analyses of the Cambridge study in delinquent development. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Piquero, A. R., Moffitt, T. E., & Lawton, B. (2005). Race and crime: The contribution of individual, familial, and neighborhood-level risk factors to life-course-persistent offending. In D. Hawkins & K. Kempf-Leonard (Eds.), Our children, their children: Race/ethnicity and crime (pp. 202–244). Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Piquero, A. R., Monahan, K. C., Glasheen, C., Schubert, C. A., & Mulvey, E. P. (2013). Does time matter? Comparing trajectory concordance and covariate association using time-based and age-based assessments. Crime & Delinquency, 59(5), 738–763. doi:10.1177/0011128712459491.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Portes, A., Fernandez-Kelly, P., & Haller, W. (2009). The adaptation of the immigrant second generation in America: A theoretical overview and recent evidence. Journal of Ethnic & Migration Studies, 35(7), 1077–1104. doi:10.1080/13691830903006127.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Portes, A., & Rumbaut, R. G. (2001). Legacies: The story of the immigrant second generation. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Portes, A., & Zhou, M. (1993). The new second generation: Segmented assimilation and its variants. The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 530(1), 74–96. doi:10.1177/0002716293530001006.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Powell, D., Perreira, K. M., & Harris, K. M. (2010). Trajectories of delinquency from adolescence to adulthood. Youth & Society, 41(4), 475–502.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reingle, J. M., Jennings, W. G., & Maldonado-Molina, M. M. (2011). Generational differences in serious physical violence among Hispanic adolescents: Results from a nationally representative, longitudinal study. Race and Justice, 1(3), 277–291. doi:10.1177/2153368711409061.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rumbaut, R. G. (1994). The crucible within: Ethnic identity, self-esteem, and segmented assimilation among children of immigrants. International Migration Review, 28(4), 748–794. doi:10.2307/2547157.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rumbaut, R. G., & Ewing, W. A. (2007). The myth of immigrant criminality and the paradox of assimilation: Incarceration rates among native and foreign-born men. Washington, DC: Immigration Policy Center.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rumbaut, R. G., Gonzales, R. G., Komaie, G., Morgan, C. V., & Rosaura, T.-E. (2006). Immigration and incarceration: Patterns and predictors of imprisonment among first- and second-generation young adults. In R. Martinez Jr. & A. Valenzuela Jr. (Eds.), Immigration and crime: Race, ethnicity, and violence (pp. 64–89). New York, NY: New York University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sampson, R. J. (2008). Rethinking crime and immigration. Contexts, 7(1), 28–33.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sampson, R. J., & Laub, J. H. (1993). Crime in the making: Pathways and turning points through life. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sampson, R. J., & Laub, J. H. (1997). A life-course theory of cumulative disadvantage and the stability of delinquency. In T. P. Thornberry (Ed.), Developmental theories of crime and delinquency: Advances in criminological theory (Vol. 7, pp. 133–161). New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers.

  • Sampson, R. J., Morenoff, J., & Raudenbush, S. W. (2005). Social anatomy of racial and ethnic disparities in violence. American Journal of Public Health, 95, 224–232.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Sampson, R. J., & Raudenbush, S. W. (1999). Systematic social observation of public spaces: A new look at disorder in urban neighborhoods. American Journal of Sociology, 105(3), 603–651. doi:10.1086/210356.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schubert, C. A., Mulvey, E. P., Steinberg, L., Cauffman, E., Losoya, S. H., Hecker, T., et al. (2004). Operational lessons from the pathways to desistance project. Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, 2(3), 237–255. doi:10.1177/1541204004265875.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Sellin, T. (1938). Culture conflict and crime. New York, NY: Social Science Research Council.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shaw, C. R., & McKay, H. D. (1942). Juvenile delinquency and urban areas. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Skogan, W. G. (2006). Police and community in Chicago: A tale of three cities. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Steinberg, L., & Morris, A. S. (2001). Adolescent development. Annual Review of Psychology, 52, 83–110.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sutherland, E. H. (1924 [1934]). Criminology. Philadelphia, PA: J. B. Lippincott Co.

  • Taft, D. R. (1933). Does immigration increase crime? Social Forces, 12, 69–77.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tavernise, S. (2013). The health toll of immigration. New York Times.

  • The health toll of immigration. (2013, May 19). New York Times.

  • Thornberry, T. P. (1997). Developmental theories of crime and delinquency. Advances in criminological theory (Vol. 7). New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vazsonyi, A., Trejos-Castillo, E., & Huang, L. (2006). Are developmental processes affected by immigration? Family processes, internalizing behaviors, and externalizing behaviors. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 35(5), 795–809. doi:10.1007/s10964-006-9104-z.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vélez, M. B. (2006). Toward an understanding of the lower rates of homicide in Latino versus Black neighborhoods: A look at Chicago. In R. D. Peterson, L. J. Krivo, & J. Hagan (Eds.), The many colors of crime (pp. 91–107). New York: NYU Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wadsworth, T. (2010). Is immigration responsible for the crime drop? An assessment of the influence of immigration on changes in violent crime between 1990 and 2000. Social Science Quarterly, 91(2), 531–553. doi:10.1111/j.1540-6237.2010.00706.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang, X. I. A. (2012). Undocumented immigrants as perceived criminal threat: A test of the minority threat perspective. Criminology, 50(3), 743–776. doi:10.1111/j.1745-9125.2012.00278.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wikström, P.-O. H., & Sampson, R. J. (2003). Social mechanisms of community influences on crime and pathways in criminality. In B. B. Lahey, T. E. Moffitt, & A. Caspi (Eds.), Causes of conduct disorder and juvenile delinquency (pp. 118–148). New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Xie, Y., & Greenman, E. (2011). The social context of assimilation: Testing implications of segmented assimilation theory. Social Science Research, 40(3), 965–984. doi:10.1016/j.ssresearch.2011.01.004.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Zimring, F. E. (2010). Delinquency, opportunity, and the second generation immigrant puzzle. In R. Rosenfeld, K. Quinet, & C. A. Garcia (Eds.), Contemporary issues in criminal justice policy: policy proposals from the American society of criminology conference (pp. 247–249). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

Download references

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (2000-MU–MU-0007), the National Institute of Justice (199-IJ-CX-0053), the National Institute of Drug Abuse (RO1 DA019697-01), the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the William T. Grant Foundation, the Robert Wood Foundation, The Center for Disease Control, The William Penn Foundation, The Arizona Governor’s Justice Commission, and the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency. We are grateful for their support. The content of this paper, however, is the sole responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of these agencies.

Author contributions

BEB conceived of the study, assisted with the design and coordination, and drafted the manuscript. TAL participated in the design, interpretation of the data, and performed all statistical analysis. ARP assisted with the study conception, acquisition of data, and drafting of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Bianca E. Bersani.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Bersani, B.E., Loughran, T.A. & Piquero, A.R. Comparing Patterns and Predictors of Immigrant Offending Among a Sample of Adjudicated Youth. J Youth Adolescence 43, 1914–1933 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-013-0045-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-013-0045-z

Keywords

Navigation