Delinquency and alcohol use among adolescents in Europe: The role of cultural contexts
| Author | Renate Soellner,Gabriele Rocca,Alfredo Verde,Astrid-Britta Bräker,Uberto Gatti |
| Published date | 01 May 2015 |
| DOI | 10.1177/1477370815571945 |
| Date | 01 May 2015 |
| Subject Matter | Research Note |
research-article2015
Research Note
European Journal of Criminology
2015, Vol. 12(3) 362 –377
Delinquency and alcohol use
© The Author(s) 2015
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DOI: 10.1177/1477370815571945
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The role of cultural contexts
Uberto Gatti
University of Genoa, Italy
Renate Soellner and Astrid-Britta Bräker
University of Hildesheim, Germany
Alfredo Verde and Gabriele Rocca
University of Genoa, Italy
Abstract
This paper presents cross-cultural research using data from the Second International Self-Report
Delinquency Study (ISRD-2) to evaluate the strength and characteristics of the relationship between
different kinds of juvenile delinquency and alcohol use, and to investigate whether, and how, different
drinking cultures may influence this relationship. The setting is a school-based survey with a self-
report questionnaire in a sample of 7th, 8th and 9th grade students (comprising 12–16 year olds)
from 25 European countries. After recording data on alcohol consumption among young people in
different European countries, we assessed the degree to which property offences, violent offences
and gang membership were associated with the use of alcohol. In addition, a multilevel analysis
(MLA) was carried out to ascertain whether the association between delinquency and alcohol use
was influenced by variations in drinking cultures. Different drinking patterns were observed in
Mediterranean and non-Mediterranean countries. Alcohol consumption was more closely related
to involvement in violent crimes than to property offences, and correlated with the frequency and
seriousness of delinquent behaviour everywhere. MLA showed that gang membership increased the
probability of alcohol abuse to a greater degree in non-Mediterranean countries, while involvement
in delinquency proved to be associated with alcohol abuse to a similar degree in the different cultural
contexts considered. With regard to cultural influences on the relationships between juvenile
delinquency and alcohol use, we ascertained that cultural attitudes towards alcohol influence the
delinquency–alcohol relationship at the group level rather than the individual level.
Keywords
Alcohol consumption, drinking cultures, juvenile delinquency, multilevel analysis, youth gang
Corresponding author:
Uberto Gatti, Department of Health Sciences (DISSAL), University of Genoa, Via A. De Toni 12, 16132
Genoa, Italy.
Email: ugatti@unige.it
Gatti et al.
363
Introduction
The existence of a relationship between alcohol use and adolescent delinquency has long
been acknowledged in scientific literature (Felson et al., 2008). However, the dynamics
of this relationship and its temporal ordering remain unclear.
On the whole, the relationship between alcohol use and delinquency is a complex
issue, the understanding of which requires the accumulation of knowledge garnered from
multiple sources by means of a variety of methods (Gatti et al., 2013). An aid to interpret-
ing the relationship between alcohol use and delinquency has been provided by the
results of some longitudinal studies, which have tried to reveal the temporal sequences
of the phenomena under investigation (Ellickson et al., 2003; Goldstein, 1985; Kandel,
1978; Resnick et al., 2004; White et al., 1993, 1999).
The majority of these have focused on the influence of drinking on deviant behaviour,
confirming the effect of alcohol use on the involvement of young people in delinquency,
especially violent crime (Resnick et al., 2004). In the few studies that have examined the
reverse effect, researchers have also found that delinquent behaviours, such as violence
and vandalism, are strong positive predictors of alcohol use among adolescents (Stice
et al., 1998).
In particular, Windle (1990) analysed the data from the National Longitudinal Youth
Survey in order to assess the impact that committing antisocial acts at the age of 14–15
years might have on alcohol involvement four or five years later. What emerged was that
general delinquency (taken as a function of the frequency of non-alcohol-related crime)
among young people significantly predicted future alcohol use. Similarly, a study carried
out on a sample of 218 males and 213 females aged between 12 and 18 years which
aimed to ascertain whether precocious involvement in delinquency led to an increase in
alcohol use revealed that, among males, involvement in antisocial acts was a predictive
factor for both alcohol use and alcohol-related problems (White et al., 1993).
A few years later, these results were re-analysed with the aid of a structural-equation
model in order to investigate the relationships over time between alcohol use and delin-
quency. From this analysis, it emerged that precocious involvement in violent crime
increased alcohol abuse (White et al., 1993).
In sum, the prominent mechanism proposed for this relationship is that delinquency
provides both a context and a peer group situation that are conducive to involvement in
substance use (Brady et al., 2008; D’Amico et al., 2008; Eklund and Klinteberg, 2006;
Xue et al., 2009).
Despite this evidence, little research has addressed the question of whether differ-
ences in drinking culture may influence the delinquency–alcohol relationship, with spe-
cific reference to the relationship between alcohol consumption and involvement in
deviant youth groups.
Before entering into this analysis, it must be remembered that, in alcohol research, it
has been common to distinguish between ‘wet’ and ‘dry’ alcohol drinking cultures
(Room, 2007). ‘Wet’ cultures have been described as those in which alcohol is frequently
consumed but in moderation; Mediterranean countries have been particularly character-
ized as displaying this type of drinking pattern. In ‘dry’ cultures, by contrast, drinking is
less frequent but much more intense and is reserved for particular occasions, such as
364
European Journal of Criminology 12(3)
parties or weekends. Traditionally, this drinking style has been ascribed to North and
West European countries. As a result of these drinking patterns, alcohol is more likely to
be viewed as a social problem in ‘dry’ countries (Felson et al., 2011). As regards adoles-
cents in particular, in wet countries they often drink at home with their parents, whereas
adolescents in dry countries are much more frequently involved in drinking with friends.
However, given the convergence of levels of drinking and the changing preferences for
alcoholic beverages in Europe, this distinction has been questioned and, according to
some scholars, is fading (Soellner et al., 2014). Indeed, the consumption of spirits has
declined in northern countries while wine drinking has risen; conversely, wine drinking
has declined in southern countries while beer drinking has increased (Leifman, 2001).
Given these changes and the fact that alcohol use differs between adolescents and adults
(Deas et al., 2000), other specific factors should be considered and, ideally, derived
empirically from adolescent alcohol use itself.
Although moderate drinking continues to be the norm among adolescents, heavy epi-
sodic drinking has become more widespread across countries and has shown considera-
ble increases, particularly among girls, in a sort of ‘gender convergence’ (Hibell et al.,
2012). The increasing homogenization of drinking patterns, particularly among adoles-
cents, does not mean that attitudes towards alcohol are the same in the various European
countries. Indeed, alcohol use in Mediterranean countries is probably still perceived as
an everyday habit (though this was true of previous generations rather than the present
one), whereas in non-Mediterranean countries alcohol consumption may still have a
greater connotation of generic deviance. For this reason, instead of the traditional wet/
dry distinction, it may be preferable to use the distinction Mediterranean/non-Mediterra-
nean to indicate that this concerns no longer the actual everyday consumption of alcohol
in the family context but the perception of whether or not alcohol consumption is
regarded as ‘normal’. Thus, in the present article, we have preferred to use a socio-
geographical categorization of countries according to whether the country borders on the
Mediterranean Sea and/or has a Mediterranean-like sociocultural context.
The aims of the study were, firstly, to analyse the nature and characteristics of the
relationship between different kinds of adolescent delinquency (property offences, vio-
lent behaviour and gang membership) and alcohol use within the cultures considered
and, secondly, to investigate whether – and how – the different drinking cultures may
influence this relationship, with specific reference to the relationship between alcohol
consumption and involvement in deviant youth groups.
Recently, Felson et al. (2011) published a study that contributed to prompting the
present research. They analysed survey data from 30 European countries in order to
examine the effect of alcohol consumption on adolescent violence. To this end, they used
multilevel models in order to estimate the effects of region and contextual measures of
adolescent drinking on the alcohol–violence relationship. The evidence from this study
suggested that drinking has a strong effect on adolescent violence in North and East
European...
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