Study title

Finnish Self-Report Delinquency Study 2012

Alternative Title

The Finnish Self-Report Delinquency Study 2012

Dataset ID Number

FSD2976

Persistent identifiers

https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD2976
https://doi.org/10.60686/t-fsd2976

Data Type

Quantitative

Authors

• Kivivuori, Janne (National Research Institute of Legal Policy (Optula))
• Salmi, Venla (National Research Institute of Legal Policy (Optula))

Abstract

The survey studied the extent, frequency and nature of self-reported offending among young people in Finland as well as their attitudes towards crime and experiences of being victims. The 2012 survey, which is the seventh of its kind, differs from the surveys of previous years in that it was expanded to include sixth-graders (pupils aged 12-13) in addition to ninth-graders (pupils aged 15-16).

Questions covered truancy, vandalising school property or other property, theft, shoplifting, motor vehicle theft, burglary, online piracy, bullying, taking part in a fight, assault, robbery, possession of a weapon, alcohol use, and use of other intoxicating substances. If the respondents admitted to having done any of the acts mentioned, they were asked whether they had done it in the previous 12 months and how many times. Relating to some of the offences, the respondents were also presented with specifying questions about the last time they had committed the act, for example, whether they had acted alone, whether they had been drunk at the time, whether the act had been revenge for some previous incident, what they had stolen, and whether the motive for a violent act had been discriminatory. Ninth-graders were also asked whether the police had found out about the offences committed.

The respondents were also asked whether they had been a victim of vandalism, violent robbery, theft, bullying, threats of violence, assault, discriminatory harassment or violence, parental corporal punishment, or cyberbullying and cyberthreats. If the respondents had been a victim of any of the acts, they were asked whether they had experienced it in the previous 12 months and how many times. Relating to some of the experiences, the respondents were also presented with specifying questions about the last time they had been a victim of the crime, for instance, whether the perpetrator had been male or female, how old the perpetrator had been, what his/her ethnicity had been, whether the respondent had sustained injuries, and what had been stolen. Relating to experiences of violence, the respondents were further presented with a list of people (e.g. friend, mother, father, unknown adult, teacher, coach/instructor) and asked whether any of them had physically assaulted them (hit, kicked, or used a weapon).

Family and circumstances at home were surveyed with questions about the extent to which parents supported and were interested in the respondent's life. Relating to leisure time, questions probed how often the respondents were away from home in the evenings, visited parties, spent long periods of time online, watched violent films etc. Questions on neighbourhood and school investigated the prevalence of graffitis, vandalism and alcohol/drug abuse in the neighbourhood, and the prevalence of vandalism and disruptive behaviour at school. The respondents were also asked whether their friends had used cannabis, shoplifted or been in a fight in a public place.

A number of items from the Big Five Inventory (John et al.) were presented and the respondents were requested to indicate to what extent they thought the characteristics applied to them (e.g. "I am talkative", "I tend to be lazy"). Additionally, the respondents were asked to what extent they agreed with statements relating to their propensity to take risks, tendency to think ahead and to be considerate of others (e.g. "Sometimes I take a risk just for the fun of it", "If people get upset over something I do, that's their problem, not mine").

Finally, the respondents were asked the future probability of them shoplifting or being in a fight, insecurity experienced in certain places, acceptability of certain acts for young people (e.g. lying, online piracy, shoplifting), and to what extent they agreed with statements relating to breaking the law (e.g. "It is acceptable to take revenge on a person who hurts/insults a friend of mine").

Respondents on the ninth grade were asked additional questions. Questions charted sleep problems as well as whether the respondents felt certain descriptions (found in the Antisocial Process Screening Device-Self-Report, Frick et al.) applied to them (e.g. "I blame others for my mistakes", "I keep same friends").

The background variables included, among others, the respondent's sex, age, country of birth, school performance (maths, Finnish, English), and household composition as well as years lived in the municipality of residence, attendance in remedial education during the school year, language spoken at home, parents' economic activity, perceived financial circumstances of family, and whether R had ever had to repeat a grade. Ninth-graders were also asked their dating status and plans after basic education.

Keywords

assault; bullying; burglary; crime; crime victims; criminal damage; disorderly conduct; drug abuse; illegal drugs; juvenile delinquency; offences; robbery; shoplifting; students; teachers; theft; youth

Topic Classification

• Social sciences (Fields of Science Classification)
• Youth (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Crime and law enforcement (CESSDA Topic Classification)

Series

Finnish Self-Report Delinquency Study

Distributor

Finnish Social Science Data Archive

Access

The dataset is (C) available only for research including master's theses.

Data Collector

• National Research Institute of Legal Policy

Data Producers

• National Research Institute of Legal Policy

Time Period Covered

2012

Collection Dates

2012-02 – 2012-05

Nation

Finland

Geographical Coverage

Finland

Analysis/Observation Unit Type

Individual

Universe

Pupils in the 6th and 9th grades of basic education in Finland

Time Method

Longitudinal: Trend/Repeated cross-section

Sampling Procedure

Probability: Stratified: Proportional

In the creation of the sample, the sampling unit was school. Sufficient representativeness of different municipality types was ensured during sampling. School size was also taken into consideration. Sampling was carried out by Statistics Finland. A total of 8,914 pupils on sixth and ninth grades of basic education responded to the survey (persons aged 12-13 and 15-16). There is a total of 4,059 responses from sixth-grade pupils in 102 elementary schools and 4,855 responses from ninth-grade pupils in 51 secondary/middle schools. The data were collected as an online survey, to which the pupils responded during a school day. Contact teachers, who had been instructed in collecting survey data, assisted in data collection at schools.

Collection Mode

Self-administered questionnaire: Web-based (CAWI)

Research Instrument

Structured questionnaire

Response Rate

82.9

Data File Language

Downloaded data package may contain different language versions of the same files.

The data files of this dataset are available in the following languages: English and Finnish.

FSD translates quantitative data into English on request, free of charge. More information on ordering data translation.

Number of Cases and Variables

352 variables and 8914 cases.

Data Version

4.0

Completeness of Data and Restrictions

The data contain variable koulunr (school id) created at FSD, which is based on the original school id. This variable allows identifying the observations belonging to the same cluster.

Background variables disclosing the original IDs and municipality of residence as well as variables q11_5_2 (Other language or languages, which?), q36_2 (Do you have any long-term illness or a disability or health problem which affects your functional ability? Yes, which?), q13_2 and q15_2 (information on the country of birth) and bv_lk (grade identifier) were removed from the data during archiving. Additionally, the age variable was divided into two separate variables bv2a and bv2b according to grade level and exceptional ages were removed. Identifying information was categorised or removed from the open-ended responses left in the data. Changes done in the FSD have been marked with [double square brackets].

Weighting

There is a weight variable 'analyysipaino' (analysis weight) that corrects for the bias caused by sample selection and non-response at the school-level. Statistics Finland carried out the weighting of collected data.

Citation Requirement

The data and its creators shall be cited in all publications and presentations for which the data have been used. The bibliographic citation may be in the form suggested by the archive or in the form required by the publication.

Bibliographical Citation

Kivivuori, Janne (National Research Institute of Legal Policy (Optula)) & Salmi, Venla (National Research Institute of Legal Policy (Optula)): Finnish Self-Report Delinquency Study 2012 [dataset]. Version 4.0 (2018-06-13). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD2976

Deposit Requirement

Notify FSD of all publications where you have used the data by sending the citation information to user-services.fsd@tuni.fi.

Special Terms and Conditions for Access

Users of the data shall send the Institute of Criminology and Legal Policy a copy of all reports, articles, other publications or unpublished theses based on or using the data. The copies shall be sent to the mail address: Department of Social Research, Institute of Criminology and Legal Policy, Janne Kivivuori, P.O. Box 10, FI-00014 University of Helsinki, FINLAND.

Disclaimer

The original data creators and the archive bear no responsibility for any results or interpretations arising from the reuse of the data.

Related Materials

Salmi, Venla (2012). Katsaus nuorten rikoskäyttäytymiseen ja uhrikokemuksiin 2012 [verkkodokumentti]. Helsinki. Oikeuspoliittinen tutkimuslaitos. Oikeuspoliittisen tutkimuslaitoksen verkkokatsauksia 27/2012. http://www.optula.om.fi/material/attachments/optula/julkaisut/verkkokatsauksia-sarja/6X40o3djj/Katsaus_nuorten_rikosk_ytt_ytymiseen_verkkokatsaus_27.pdf [viitattu 1.6.2015].

Salmi, Venla (2012). Nuorten rikoskäyttäytyminen ja uhrikokemukset 2012 [verkkodokumentti]. Helsinki. Oikeuspoliittinen tutkimuslaitos. Oikeuspoliittisen tutkimuslaitoksen tutkimustiedonantoja 113. http://www.optula.om.fi/material/attachments/optula/julkaisut/tutkimustiedonantoja-sarja/CVAKVdrHD/tta_113_Salmi.pdf [viitattu 1.6.2015].

Salmi, Venla & Suonpää, Karoliina (2013). Katsaus varhaisnuorten rikoskäyttäytymiseen ja uhrikokemuksiin 2012 [verkkodokumentti]. Helsinki. Oikeuspoliittinen tutkimuslaitos. Oikeuspoliittisen tutkimuslaitoksen verkkokatsauksia 33/2013. http://www.optula.om.fi/material/attachments/optula/julkaisut/verkkokatsauksia-sarja/QmHBU5eoR/varhaisnuorten_rikoskayttaytyminen_33_korjattu.pdf [viitattu 1.6.2015].

Related Publications

Salmi, Venla & Suonpää, Karoliina (2013). Katsaus varhaisnuorten rikoskäyttäytymiseen ja uhrikokemuksiin 2012 [verkkodokumentti]. Helsinki. Oikeuspoliittinen tutkimuslaitos. Oikeuspoliittisen tutkimuslaitoksen verkkokatsauksia 33/2013. http://www.optula.om.fi/material/attachments/optula/julkaisut/verkkokatsauksia-sarja/QmHBU5eoR/varhaisnuorten_rikoskayttaytyminen_33_korjattu.pdf [viitattu 18.12.2014].

Salmi, Venla (2012). Nuorten rikoskäyttäytyminen ja uhrikokemukset 2012 [verkkodokumentti]. Helsinki. Oikeuspoliittinen tutkimuslaitos. Oikeuspoliittisen tutkimuslaitoksen tutkimustiedonantoja 113. http://www.optula.om.fi/material/attachments/optula/julkaisut/tutkimustiedonantoja-sarja/CVAKVdrHD/tta_113_Salmi.pdf [viitattu 18.12.2014].

Salmi, Venla (2012). Katsaus nuorten rikoskäyttäytymiseen ja uhrikokemuksiin 2012 [verkkodokumentti]. Helsinki. Oikeuspoliittinen tutkimuslaitos. Oikeuspoliittisen tutkimuslaitoksen verkkokatsauksia 27/2012. http://www.optula.om.fi/material/attachments/optula/julkaisut/verkkokatsauksia-sarja/6X40o3djj/Katsaus_nuorten_rikosk_ytt_ytymiseen_verkkokatsaus_27.pdf [viitattu 18.12.2014].

Laajasalo T., Saukkonen S., Kivivuori J., Salmi V., Lipsanen, J. & Aronen E. (2014). Brief report: Self-reported psychopathic-like features among Finnish community youth. Investigation of the factor structure of the Antisocial Personality Screening Device. Journal of Adolescence, 37, 1185-8. doi:10.1016/j.adolescence.2014.08.010

Laajasalo, T., Aronen, E., Saarinen, S., Salmi, V., Aaltonen, M. & Kivivuori, J. (2014). To tell or not to tell? Psychopathic Traits and Response Integrity in Youth Delinquency Surveys. Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health. DOI: 10.1002/cbm.1940

Backman, Heidi (2013). Nuorten uniongelmien yhteydet psykopatiapiirteisiin ja nuorisorikollisuuteen. Helsinki: Helsingin yliopisto. Käyttäytymistieteiden laitos. Psykologian pro gradu -tutkielma.

Kivivuori, J. (2014). Understanding Trends in Personal Violence: Does Cultural Sensitivity Matter? In Michael Tonry (ed): Why Crime Rates Fall, and Why they Don't. Crime and Justice, Volume 43. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.

Kivivuori, J. & Salmi, V. & Walser, S. (2013). Supervision Mode Effects in Computerized Delinquency Surveys at School: Finnish Replication of a Swiss Experiment. Journal of Experimental Criminology 9:1, 91-107.

Kivivuori, J. (2011). Discovery of Hidden Crime. Self-Report Surveys in Criminal Policy Context. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Kivivuori, J. & Salmi, V. (2009). The Challenge of Special Needs Education in School-Based Delinquency Research. Journal of Scandinavian Studies in Criminology and Crime Prevention 10:1, 2-17.

Kivivuori, J. (2013). Methodological studies in the development of Finnish crime surveys: Selected examples. In: Methodologies and methods in criminology. NSfKs 55. forskerseminar. Scandinavian Research Council fro Criminology, Aarhus Universitet.

Nyman, Robert (2017). Psykopaattisten piirteiden ja nuoruusiän riskitekijöiden yhteys rikolliseen käyttäytymiseen. Helsinki: Helsingin yliopisto. Lääketieteen pro gradu -tutkielma. URN:NBN:fi:hulib-201705104097

Juntunen, Mari (2018). Kuudesluokkalaisten kiusaamiskäyttäytyminen sekä siihen yhteydessä olevat perhetekijät. Tampere: Tampereen yliopisto. Kasvatustieteiden pro gradu -tutkielma. http://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:uta-201801091040

Kivivuori, Janne & Aaltonen, Mikko & Näsi, Matti & Suonpää, Karoliina & Danielsson, Petri (2018). Kriminologia: rikollisuus ja kontrolli muuttuvassa yhteiskunnassa. Helsinki: Gaudeamus.

Kaakinen, M. & Näsi, M. (2021). Nuorisorikollisuuden esiintyvyys ja tekomäärät Suomessa 1995-2020. Kriminologia, 1(1), 5-19. https://kriminologia.journal.fi/article/view/109017.