Influenced by the theoretical concepts of ‘Relative deprivation’ and ‘Social cohesion’, this study adds to the relatively limited literature of socio-structural approaches to the school–crime relationship. Multilevel analysis was conducted to explore the independent and interactive effects ofthree distinct features of the school setting—concentrated (dis)advantage, the proportion of students with poor future prospects and teacher-rated social cohesion—in relation to self-reported offending. Using information from three data sources on 4,608 students and 1,056 teachers from 77 lower secondary schools in Stockholm, the results showed that school concentrated (dis)advantageand school-level future prospects were directly related to offending. In addition, cross-level interactionsindicate that the association between student performance and offending differs dependingon school type.

Within criminology, research on the school-crime relationship has been dominated by individual-level theories and methods. This thesis contributes to the relatively scarce literature focused on the socio-structural aspects of juvenile crime by applying a multidimensional approach to the urban school context of Stockholm. By combining contextual criminological theories of crime with a multilevel methodological approach, the overall aim of the thesis is to extend the empirical knowledge on the importance of school affiliation for involvement in crime among adolescents. Student and teacher survey data and register data on the student sociodemographic composition in schools are analyzed to explore whether and why levels of more serious forms of self-reported offending vary between schools.

Although the three empirical studies included in this thesis have their own specific scopes and research questions, they are all concerned with juvenile crime as a contextual phenomenon, exploring whether serious offending varies between Stockholm schools, and the importance of the social context in relation to offending (Study I), how much of the school-level variation in offending can be ascribed to certain aspects of the structural and the social context of schools respectively (Study II), and whether certain individual-level associations differ depending on school type (Study III). In addition, Studies II and III also explore contextual associations between offending and both structural and social aspects of the school setting.

The results contribute to advancing the understanding of the school-crime association by considering the classic sociological idea that social context shapes individual behavior. More specifically, the findings indicate that there are systematic differences in self-reported offending between Stockholm schools and that most of this variation can be explained by structural mechanisms related to student composition. Besides making visible the interrelationship between the structural and social context in relation to offending, the findings also show that some individual-level associations vary from one school setting to another. Several implications for theory and practice are discussed. For example, it is suggested that the structural context should not be ignored in attempts to understand the school-crime relationship. In addition, and in relation to this, it is argued that there is a need for a shift towards a more realistic view of schools as potential arenas for crime prevention.

This study employs Macro-level Strain Theory (MST) as a framework to provide a better understanding of the way in which the structural and social context of Stockholm schools covaries with self-reported violent and general offending. The findings contribute to the literature in this area by directing a special focus at the interplay between the theory’s macro-level components and some individual-level mechanisms that may be assumed to condition the effect of strain on offending. Using multi-level data on 5274 students nested in 90 schools in the City of Stockholm, the study notes significant contextual effects of anger and life dissatisfaction on offending. School-level deprivation appears to have a confounding effect on the relationship between school-contextual negative affect and offending. Further, school-contextual anger influences some individuals more than others. Implications of these findings are discussed.

Introduction

Future orientation (FO) refers to individuals' beliefs and feelings about their future. Earlier research has primarily investigated correlates of FO at the individual and family level, but it seems likely that FO is also shaped by other central agents or institutions, such as the school. Earlier studies have found positive associations between “school effectiveness” and student performance, and negative associations in relation to e.g., bullying, delinquency, and health risk behaviors. The current study investigated three teacher-reported features of school effectiveness - school leadership, teacher cooperation and consensus, and school ethos - and their links with student-reported FO.

Methods

Survey data were collected in 2016 among 5131 students (aged 17–18 years) and 1061 teachers in 46 upper secondary schools in Stockholm, Sweden, and merged with school-level register data. Two-level binary logistic regression analyses were performed.

Results

The analyses showed that higher teacher ratings of school leadership and school ethos were associated with a greater likelihood of reporting an optimistic FO among students. Teacher cooperation and consensus was however not associated with students' FO.

Conclusion

The findings indicate that the school environment contributes to shaping students' beliefs about their future. Thus, enhancing features of school effectiveness may be a way of promoting a positive development and brighter objective future prospects for the young, via pathways such as good student-teacher relations and academic motivation and achievement.

Future orientation can be defined as an individual’s thoughts, beliefs, plans, and hopes for the future. Earlier research has shown adolescents’ future orientation to predict outcomes later in life, which makes it relevant to analyze differences in future orientation among youth. The aim of the present study was to analyze if bullying victimization was associated with an increased likelihood of reporting a pessimistic future orientation among school youth. To be able to distinguish between victims and bully-victims (i.e., students who are both bullies and victims), we also took perpetration into account. The data were derived from the Stockholm School Survey performed in 2016 among ninth grade students (ages 15–16 years) (n = 5144). Future orientation and involvement in school bullying and in cyberbullying were based on self-reports. The statistical method used was binary logistic regression. The results demonstrated that victims and bully-victims of school bullying and of cyberbullying were more likely to report a pessimistic future orientation compared with students not involved in bullying. These associations were shown also when involvement in school bullying and cyberbullying were mutually adjusted. The findings underline the importance of anti-bullying measures that target both school bullying and cyberbullying.

School is regarded as a central arena for crime prevention. This study analyses the effects of student perceptions of school contextual aspects on self-reported offending, using logistic regression with control for clustering effects. The data comprise a census of pupils in year nine in comprehensive school (15 year olds) and in year two of upper secondary school (17 year olds) in the City of Stockholm in 2006, 2008 and 2010 (n = 25,850 of which 47% are boys and 53% are girls). Besides showing that several aspects of students’ perceptions of the school setting have direct protective effects on offending, the study shows that perceiving schoolwork as meaningful appears to moderate the effect of adverse home conditions on delinquency for boys. The only aspect of school investigated in this study that was not significantly related to offending was the perception of classroom order, indicating that emotional support from teachers is more important for crime preventive implications than maintaining order in the classroom. Controlling for clustering effects shows differences in offending between classes and schools that are not produced by differences between the students.