NCJ Number
201089
Date Published
2003
Length
154 pages
Annotation
This document addresses the issue of whether ethnic groups, other than the ‘big four’ (Surinamese, Antilleans & Arubans, Turks, and Moroccans), account for such a large share of juvenile crime as to indicate a need for preventive measures.
Abstract
The study concerned juveniles age 12 to 17 years and young adults age 18 to 24 years and was limited to first-generation members of ethnic minorities (Western and non-Western). The analysis of data on suspects of crime was largely confined to juveniles from European countries and from so-called new ethnic groups. The study consisted of a quantitative and a qualitative component. National crime figures from the Police Records system for 1999 and 2000, and the Justice Documentation Research and Policy Database for 1999 were analyzed. Ten meetings were organized with focus groups involving a total of 77 professionals whose day-to-day work brought them into contact with juveniles from new ethnic groups. Results show that the percentage of suspects in many of the groups studied was higher than the percentage of suspects in the total juvenile population (all countries of birth). Among those that lived in the Netherlands, juveniles from France, Belgium, Poland, Germany, Great Britain, and Italy were somewhat over-represented. Analysis of the pattern of crime shows that the proportion of crimes against property was above average among Poles and Italians. Juveniles from France, Belgium, and Germany were suspected relatively frequently of drug offenses. The majority of these offenses probably involved drug tourists that did not live in the Netherlands. In a large number of cases involving Germans and Belgians, the Public Prosecution Department reached a settlement while judges imposed a prison sentence on young adults from Britain and Poland relatively often. Crime prevention measures targeted at European groups are probably most appropriate in the border towns and large cities that suffer the most from drug problems. Given the large number of risk factors that juveniles from new ethnic groups face, such as socioeconomic situation and cultural differences, it is not surprising that they are over-represented in the crime figures.