Juvenile Delinquency and Violence: Ecological Factors

Juvenile delinquency is a significant social problem of major concern for parents, professionals, and the public, especially because of its adverse impact on the physical and emotional wellbeing of both victims and perpetrators. Extensive research has been conducted to find the correlates of youth involvement in violence. However, some of these studies overlook the ecological nature of the problem and focus only on narrow explanations for variables predicting juvenile delinquency and violence.

In my presentation, I will use an ecological perspective to discuss the correlations between individual level factors (e.g., gender, age, impulsivity, religiosity), family level factors (e.g., parental support, monitoring, family SES), peer group level factors (affiliation with delinquent peers), and community level factors (exposure to community violence) on Jewish and Arab youth involvement in delinquency and violence in Israel.

Little is known about the extent to which ecological factors correlated with youth violence are affected by gender, especially in non-Western cultures. My presentation will explore this research question among Arab youth in Israel and show how gender interacts with individual, family, peer, and community factors in predicting Arab youth involvement in violence towards others.

I will also discuss the implications of the models suggested in my presentation with respect to risk and protective factors for youth involvement in delinquency and violence.