PATTERNS OF DELINQUENCY IN NORWEGIAN ADOLESCENTS

A nationwide, representative sample of about 10,000 Norwegian adolesce nts completed a self-report questionnaire on delinquency (response rat e 97 per cent). Factor analyses revealed three delinquency dimensions, labelled 'crime', 'school opposition', and 'covert behaviour'. 'Crime ' reflects typical criminal behaviour (e.g. theft, major vandalism, an d burglary). 'School opposition' reflects school-related conduct probl ems of an overt aggressive character (e.g. cursed in front of a teache r, summoned to principal). 'Covert antisocial behaviour' includes mino r conduct problems and acts on the fringe of ordinary crime (refrained from paying an buses, stayed out at night without parents' permission ), and seems to reflect a passive-aggressive tendency to avoid arenas under adult control. The patterns of involvement in the three dimensio ns were described according to age and sex, using the three measures: participation, frequency, and variety. In addition, self-reported poli ce contacts were described according to age and sex, and the relations hip between 'hidden' delinquency and police reports war investigated. The findings revealed heterogeneous age and sex patterns in the three dimensions, and the three measures helped to clarify the picture in mo re detail. In 'crime', the sex distribution was typical (male/female p articipation rate 4:1), whereas the age differences were surprisingly small. In 'covert behaviour', however, the sex differences were almost non-existent, whereas participation increased throughout all adolesce nce. There is much to indicate that, of the three measures, variety (d iversity) is an important indicator of the seriousness of delinquent i nvolvement.