CRIME AND RUSSIAN IMMIGRATION-SOCIALIZATION OR IMPORTATION - THE ISRAELI CASE

Questions about the possible relationship between ethnicity, immigrati on and crime have been raised since the days of the early pioneers of criminology. Criminological research conducted in Israel in the last t hree decades pointed clearly at the existence of correlation between c rime and ethnic origin as related also to immigration. The current stu dy examines the involvement of Jewish Russian immigrants in crime. Whi le data on the issue is limited the study attempts to examine whether crime is locally produced in Israel as a result of the crisis of immig ration, or perhaps imported from the former USSR. Finding tend to show that part of the crime in which recent Russian immigrants are involve d in is indeed a result of the difficulties of absorption into a new c ulture, however, there are indicators that part of the criminal activi ty is related to the escalating crime rates in the former USSR and the refore being imported from the Eastern Block and results from a spillo ver effect.