Peer violence perpetration among urban adolescents: dispelling the myth of the violent immigrant

Prevalence of Aggressive Behavior in Greek Elementary School Settings from Teachers' Perspectives

The present study aims to estimate the prevalence of bullying in Greek elementary schools and to study the risk factors that lead to bullying episodes. A structured questionnaire was given to 221 teachers of elementary schools and 71 kindergarten teachers from urban and rural Greek schools. They were asked to note the forms and the frequency of aggressive behaviors that they had witnessed during the school years 2020-2021 and 2021-2022, as well as the sociodemographic characteristics of the aggressive children involved. Statistical analyses of the data were conducted, and the obtained results show that specific forms of aggression are significantly correlated with gender and low academic performance. In addition, there is no form of aggressive behavior that is associated with the perpetrator's age, nationality or family status. Further, the results of the factor analysis revealed four dominant factors in the aggressive behavior observed by teachers. The forms of bullying and the prevailing factors of aggressive behavior that dominate in Greek school settings are reported in the present study. Furthermore, a novel evaluation tool for teachers could potentially be developed based on the results of the present study.

Association of Immigrant and Refugee Status With Risk Factors for Exposure to Violent Assault Among Youths and Young Adults in Canada

IMPORTANCE

Immigrant populations continue to grow across Western countries. Such populations may face vulnerabilities that contribute to the risk of experiencing violent injury. Youths are at disproportionate risk compared with other age groups, and such violence may be preventable with appropriately targeted injury prevention strategies.

OBJECTIVE

To examine the association of immigrant or refugee status and immigration-related factors with the experience of assault.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS

This population-based cohort study used linked health and administrative databases in Ontario, Canada, where health services are funded through a universal, single-payer health insurance plan. All youths and young adults aged 10 to 24 years (hereafter referred to as youths) residing in Ontario from January 1, 2008, to December 31, 2016, were eligible to participate. Data were analyzed from April 13, 2017, to January 6, 2020.

EXPOSURES

The main exposure was immigrant status. Secondary exposures were immigration-related factors, including visa class, time since immigration, and region and country of origin.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES

The main outcome consisted of violent injuries requiring acute care (emergency department visit or hospitalization) or causing death. Poisson regression models were used to estimate rate ratios for injuries.

RESULTS

A total of 22 969 443 person-years were included in the analysis (51.3% male and 48.7% female participants). Compared with nonimmigrants, a greater proportion of immigrants lived in the lowest neighborhood income quintile (30.5% vs 18.2%) and urban areas (98.9% vs 87.7%). Among immigrants, 17.9% were refugees. Rates of violent injuries experienced were 549.0 (95% CI, 545.7-552.2) per 100 000 person-years in nonimmigrant youth, 225.0 (95% CI, 219.4-230.7) per 100 000 person-years in nonrefugee immigrant youth, and 525.4 (95% CI, 507.2-544.1) per 100 000 person-years in refugee immigrant youth. The rates of violent injury among nonrefugee and refugee immigrants were lower than among nonimmigrants (nonrefugee adjusted rate ratio [aRR], 0.41 [95% CI, 0.38-0.43]; refugee aRR, 0.82 [95% CI, 0.76-0.89]). Older age (oldest vs youngest aRR, 6.90 [95% CI, 6.53-7.29]), male sex (aRR, 2.60 [95% CI, 2.52-2.68]), and low neighborhood income (aRR, 2.42 [95% CI, 2.32-2.53]) were associated with violent injury risk. Rates of experiencing assault were lowest among South Asian (aRR, 0.33 [95% CI, 0.30-0.37]) and East Asian (aRR, 0.23 [95% CI, 0.19-0.26]) immigrants. Only Somali immigrants experienced higher assault rates (712.0 [95% CI, 639.3-805.3] per 100 000 person-years) compared with nonimmigrants. Most injuries (79.9%) were from being struck, followed by being cut (5.9%).

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE

The low rates of assault experienced by immigrants, including refugees, compared with nonimmigrants suggests that Canadian immigrant settlement supports and cultural factors may be protective against the risk of experiencing assault.

Racial and Ethnic Differences in Bullying: Review and Implications for Intervention

Despite increased research on bullying over the past few decades, researchers still have little understanding of how bullying differentially affects racial and ethnic minority and immigrant youth. To facilitate efforts to better evaluate the impact of bullying among racial and ethnic minority youth and improve interventions, we integrated research from multiple disciplines and conducted a systematic search to review relevant cross-cultural research on the prevalence of bullying, risk and protective factors, and differences in behaviors and outcomes associated with bullying in these populations. Studies measuring differences in bullying prevalence by racial and ethnic groups are inconclusive, and discrepancies in findings may be explained by differences in how bullying is measured and the impact of school and social environments. Racial and ethnic minorities and immigrants are disproportionately affected by contextual-level risk factors associated with bullying (e.g., adverse community, home, and school environments), which may moderate the effects of individual-level predictors of bullying victimization or perpetration (e.g., depressive symptoms, empathy, hostility, etc.) on involvement and outcomes. Minority youth may be more likely to perpetrate bullying, and are at much higher risk for poor health and behavioral outcomes as a result of bias-based bullying. At the same time, racial and ethnic minorities and immigrants may be protected against bullying involvement and its negative consequences as a result of strong ethnic identity, positive cultural and family values, and other resilience factors. Considering these findings, we evaluate existing bullying interventions and prevention programs and propose directions for future research.

Pathways to offending for young Sudanese Australians

Many Sudanese Australians have faced re-settlement challenges since migrating to Australia from the late 1990s onwards. Challenges have included language barriers, obtaining stable housing, acquiring employment, acculturative stressors and discrimination. Moreover, many have been exposed to pre-migratory traumas and family fragmentation. Despite these difficulties, the vast majority of Sudanese Australians have integrated successfully into the fabric of Australian society. Yet a small number of young Sudanese Australians are at-risk for violence and other criminal activities, resulting in their over-representation in the criminal justice system. These circumstances have been the subject of sustained sensationalised media coverage in Australia. However, little academic attention has been afforded to these matters. This study aimed to address this gap in the literature by identifying the self-reported life experiences and offending patterns of Sudanese-Australian youth in custody. Findings illuminated a number of key risk factors for justice system contact and opportunities for intervention.

'He always thinks he is nothing': The psychosocial impact of discrimination on adolescent refugees in urban Uganda

Armed conflict causes massive displacement, erodes the social fabric of communities, and threatens the healthy development of a nation's future - its youth. Although more than half of the world's registered refugees under the age of eighteen currently reside in urban areas, research on the unique needs of and realities experienced by this population remain limited. In Uganda, as in many refugee-receiving countries, most regulated refugee protections and entitlements fail to extend beyond the confines of official settlements or camps. This dearth of support, in combination with few material resources, uncertain local connections, and little knowledge of the language, leaves refugee families vulnerable to the added burden of an unwelcome reception in cities. Drawing on qualitative data from a study conducted in March and April 2013 with Congolese and Somali adolescents, caregivers, and service providers in refugee settlements in Kampala, this manuscript explores the pervasive nature of discrimination against urban refugees and its effects upon adolescent well-being. Findings suggest that discrimination not only negatively impacts acculturation as youth pursue social recognition in the classroom and among neighborhood peers, but it also impedes help-seeking behavior by caregivers and restricts their ability to ameliorate protection concerns, thereby lowering adolescents' psychosocial well-being. Youth reported low self-worth, withdrawal from school, and an adverse turn toward street connections. Targeted and innovative strategies along with reformed policies that address the unique challenges facing urban refugees are paramount to ensuring that young people in this population experience greater protection, well-being, and future success.

National Cohort Study of Suicidality and Violent Criminality among Danish Immigrants

BACKGROUND

Immigrant populations in western societies have grown in their size and diversity yet evidence is incomplete for their risks of suicidality and criminal violence. We examined these correlated harmful behaviours in a national cohort.

AIMS

(i) Compare absolute risk between first and second generation immigrants, foreign-born adoptees and native Danes by plotting cumulative incidence curves to onset of early middle age; (ii) estimate sex-specific relative risks for these immigrant type subgroups vs. native Danes; (iii) examine effect modification by higher vs. lower socio-economic status.

METHODS

In a cohort of over two million persons, attempted suicides and violent crimes were investigated using data from multiple interlinked registers. We plotted sex-specific cumulative incidence curves and estimated incidence rate ratios.

RESULTS

In the whole study cohort, 1414 people died by suicide, 46,943 attempted suicide, and 51,344 were convicted of committing a violent crime. Among all immigrant subgroups combined, compared with native Danes, relative risk of attempted suicide was greater in female immigrants (incidence rate ratio, 1.59; 95% confidence interval: CI 1.54-1.64) than in male immigrants (1.26; CI 1.20-1.32), and vice versa for relative risk of violent offending in male immigrants (2.36; CI 2.31-2.42) than in female immigrants (1.74; CI 1.62-1.87). Risk for both adverse outcomes was significantly elevated in virtually every gender-specific immigrant type subgroup examined. Violent crime risk was markedly raised in first generation immigrant males and in the Danish born male children of two immigrant parents. However, male immigrants of lower social status had lower risk of attempted suicide than their native Danish peers.

CONCLUSION

Young immigrants of both first and second generation status face serious challenges and vulnerabilities that western societies need to urgently address. Relative risk patterns for these adverse outcomes vary greatly between the genders and also by socioeconomic status. This high degree of heterogeneity points to the existence of modifiable factors that are amenable to positive change and a potential for effective intervention.

Are first-generation adolescents less likely to be overweight? Results from a survey of Boston youth

The effect of years of residence in the US on the weight of adolescents is unclear. We examined the association between generation (i.e. 1st, 1.5, 2nd, and 3rd) and weight indicators among Boston adolescents. Data are from a sample of 1,420 9-12th grade public school students in Boston, Massachusetts. We used self-reported information to calculate generation and weight characteristics (i.e., body mass index (BMI), BMI z-score, overweight status), and ran multivariate analyses to estimate the association between generation and weight characteristics, adjusting for race/ethnicity, gender, age and school. In pooled multivariate models, 1.5 generation, second generation, and third generation youth had significantly higher mean BMI scores and mean BMI z-scores than first generation youth. Second (RR 1.87, 95% CI 1.13-3.12) and third generation youth (RR 2.06, 95% CI 1.21-3.50) were also significantly more likely to be overweight than first generation youth. In multivariate models stratified by sex, this pattern persisted for females only. There is a positive, linear trend in BMI by generation that differs by gender. Mechanisms underlying this association should be addressed.

Substance use, generation and time in the United States: the modifying role of gender for immigrant urban adolescents

Although immigrant youth have lower rates of substance use than US born youth, whether substance use varies by generation and time in the US is unclear. This study examines adolescent alcohol, tobacco and marijuana use by generation/time in US (i.e., first generation, in US ≤4 years; first generation, in US >4 years; second generation; and third generation or higher). Data come from a 2008 survey of Boston, Massachusetts public high school students (n = 1485). Multivariable logistic regression models were used to examine the association between generation/time in the US and risk of past 30-day substance use, adjusting for age and race/ethnicity. To determine whether the associations differed by gender, we fit gender stratified regression models. The prevalence of substance use was lowest among immigrants who had been in the US ≤4 years. Among girls, generation/time in US was not related to alcohol use or to tobacco use. For boys, being an immigrant regardless of number of years in the US, as well as second generation was associated with a significantly lower risk of tobacco use, compared to third generation youth. Additionally, immigrant boys who had been in the US ≤4 years had a significantly lower risk of alcohol use. Among both boys and girls, all first and second generation youth were significantly less likely to report marijuana use compared to third generation youth. Immigrant youth have a lower risk of alcohol, tobacco and marijuana use relative to US born youth; however the protective effect of foreign nativity on alcohol was eroded much more quickly than for tobacco or marijuana. The effects of generation and time in US on substance use differ by gender and the particular substance.