Youth recreation centre participation and criminal offending : a 20-year longitudinal study of Swedish boys

• This study assessed whether participation in Swedish youth recreation centres (Fritidsgrdar) is related to long-term criminality assessed from late childhood to mid adulthood. A prospective, longitudinal investigation of a cohort of 498 boys (aged 10-13 yrs) from a Swedish community was employed. A pattern-analysis identified five configurations of boys who showed different profiles of social and academic competence at the age of 10. The configurations were compared with respect to juvenile and adult criminality for boys who did, and who did not, make the decision to participate in a youth recreation centre at age 13. Results showed that participation in youth centres was nonrandom. Boys with a multiple problem profile of both social and academic problems in school at age 10 showed more frequent participation in recreation centres at age 13. The frequency of criminal offending increased for all configurations of boys who became involved in a recreation centre. Frequent participation in youth centres was linked to high rates of juvenile offending and persistent offending (i.e., registered for one or several offences both as a juvenile and as an adult). These findings held after controlling for individual, family, and economic factors prior to youth centre involvement.

Subject headings

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Psykologi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Psychology (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Crime

Juvenile Delinquency

Perpetrators

Psychosocial Development

Recreation

Human Males

Participation

Psychology

Psykologi

Psykologi

Psychology

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)