Assessing the links among adolescent and youth offending, antisocial behaviour, victimization, drug use, and gender

This expos/facto study focuses on three risk factors for youth crime, namely involvement in antisocial behaviour, having been a victim of personal crime, and drug use. Previous research on these risk factors raises unresolved questions about directions of influence. Also, compared to research on males, study of female offending is still very scant, though justice statistics have recently documented a significant increase in rates of crime perpetrated by young women. Thus, the purpose of the present study was to assess the bidirectional relationships between offending and antisocial behaviour, victimization and drug use in a sample of 4980 participants aged 10 to 25, analysing those associations for both gender and age groups. Statistical analyses were carried out using linear regressions and a structural equation model. Results showed significant differences in patterns of interactions among variables included in the study between males and females, as well as between early-middle adolescence and late adolescence-youth. Findings of this study have important practical implications in relation to policy-making to prevent youths at risk to continue their lifestyle based on non-compliance with mainstream norms.