Immigrant adolescents and antisocial behaviour: A greater or lesser risk?
Maria Concetta Barbato, Francesca Cristini, Luca Scacchi, Massimo Santinello
The aim of this paper is to compare immigrant and native Italian adolescents as regards antisocial
behaviour. Additionally, a second aim is to analyse the influence of different life contexts such as
family (parental control and solicitation), peer (affiliation with deviant peers) and school context
(perceived importance in school), on the development of antisocial behaviour.
The sample is composed of 2,034 students, of which 186 were immigrant adolescents (mean age =
17,54, DS = 1,65) and 18,48 were Italian natives (mean age = 17,15, DS = 1,60). Results show that
immigrant adolescents, compared with natives, report poorer socioeconomic conditions and higher
antisocial behaviour. However, the results show that immigrants who live in economic hardship report
less antisocial behavior than Italian natives.
Immigrant adolescents report higher levels of parental control, lower levels of affiliation with deviant
peers and higher levels of importance in school. Furthermore, a higher level of parental solicitation is a
protective factor only for immigrant adolescents.
Keywords
Immigration, Adolescence, Antisocial behaviour, Parental monitoring,
Socioeconomic status.
