Study title

Finnish Self-Report Delinquency Study 2024

Dataset ID Number

FSD3960

Persistent identifiers

https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3960
https://doi.org/10.60686/t-fsd3960

Data Type

Quantitative

Authors

• Suonpää, Karoliina (University of Helsinki. Institute of Criminology and Legal Policy)
• Raeste, Anna (University of Helsinki. Institute of Criminology and Legal Policy)
• Saartenoja, Kaisla (University of Helsinki. Institute of Criminology and Legal Policy)
• Kivivuori, Janne (University of Helsinki. Institute of Criminology and Legal Policy)

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. New themes in the 2024 survey included proxy offending and being encouraged to commit crimes, turning-point offences, youth groups engaged in criminal activity, supportive attitudes of street crime, as well as bullying videos and recordings of violence circulating on social media. In addition, the survey included a new vignette section designed to measure young people's attitudes toward punishments.

First, the respondents were asked about their school performance, future plans and family. The survey consisted of several broad sets of questions related to committing prohibited acts as well as becoming a victim of them. Respondents were asked about their experiences over their entire lifetime, as well as how often they had committed or experienced each offence during the past twelve months. Additional clarifying questions were also included. The prohibited acts covered in the survey included, among others, unauthorized absence from school, vandalism, theft, bullying, sexual harassment, violence, possession of a weapon, and substance use. The clarifying questions regarding prohibited acts asked, for example, whether the respondent acted alone, where the act took place, whether the act had been revenge for some previous incident, and whether the police had been informed of the act.

The survey also examined acts that other people had committed against the respondent. In the case of victimization experiences, the clarifying questions included, for example, who the perpetrator was and whether the respondent suffered any consequences from the incidents, such as physical injuries. For both committing violence and being a victim of it, respondents were also asked whether the act involved filming and whether the material was shared with other young people.

Respondents were further asked whether their parents had ever punished them physically, or whether different people, such as family members, other young people, or other adults, had used physical violence against them. The survey also explored the school climate, the respondent's leisure-time activities, their self-perceptions, and their attitudes toward juvenile delinquency. Young people were additionally asked to assess how likely they believe they are to commit offences in the future.

Background variables included, among others, the respondent's gender and age as well as the number of years they had lived in their municipality of residence, number of siblings, religion, minority status, language spoken at home, parents' economic activity, and family's financial situation.

Keywords

assault; bullying; burglary; crime and security; crime victims; criminal damage; cyberbullying; drinking behaviour; drug offences; juvenile delinquency; offences; parent-child relationship; personality traits; robbery; sexual harassment; social media; theft; youth; youth gangs

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 (D) available only by permission from the data depositor/creator.

Data Collector

• University of Helsinki. Institute of Criminology and Legal Policy

Time Period Covered

2024

Collection Dates

2024-01-06 – 2024-05-31

Nation

Finland

Geographical Coverage

Finland

Analysis/Observation Unit Type

Individual

Universe

Pupils in the ninth grade of basic education in Finland

Time Method

Longitudinal: Trend/Repeated cross-section

Sampling Procedure

Probability: Cluster: Stratified random

The sampling method took into consideration the size of the schools and their regional location according to Statistics Finland's urban-rural classification.

Collection Mode

Self-administered questionnaire: Web-based (CAWI)

Research Instrument

Structured questionnaire

Response Rate

76

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: Finnish.

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

Data Version

1.0

Completeness of Data and Restrictions

Variables that describe offending and victimization during the preceding 12 months are coded by the researcher (variables E1b, E2b, E3b, E4b, E5b, E6b, E7b, E8b, E9b, E10b, E11b, E12b, E13b, E14b, E15b, E16b, E17b, E18b, E19b, E29b, K1b, K2b, K3b, K4b, K5b, K6b, K7b, K8b, K9b, K10b).

The researcher has removed information identifying the respondent's school and class, as well as all open-ended responses of the type 'other, what?'. In addition, the researcher has recoded the respondent's and their parents' countries of birth (B4_1, D5b, D7b) for identifiability reasons.

Rare or incorrect values of age variable B2 have been marked as missing for privacy reasons in FSD.

The archived dataset does not include part R (vignettes R1_1_1-R2_4_3) or part S (follow-up questions to the vignettes).

Weighting

School weight (kpaino): A weighting variable that accounts for the probability with which the respondent's school was selected from the population for inclusion in the study. Student weight (opaino): A weighting variable derived from the school weight, which accounts for both the sampling design and non-response at the student level.

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

Suonpää, Karoliina (University of Helsinki) & Raeste, Anna (University of Helsinki) & Saartenoja, Kaisla (University of Helsinki) & Kivivuori, Janne (University of Helsinki): Finnish Self-Report Delinquency Study 2024 [dataset]. Data version 1.0 (2026-02-04). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. DOI: https://doi.org/10.60686/t-fsd3960; URN: https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3960

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

The dataset is (B) available for research, teaching and study.

Disclaimer

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

Related Publications

Suonpää, K., Raeste, A., & Saartenoja, K. (2024). Nuorten rikoskäyttäytyminen ja uhrikokemukset 2024. (Katsauksia; Nro 64/2024). Helsingin yliopisto, Kriminologian ja oikeuspolitiikan instituutti. http://hdl.handle.net/10138/587280