Why Do Ethnically Harassed Immigrant Adolescents Engage in Violent Behaviors? The Role of Affiliation With Violent Peers

Abstract

This study aimed to analyze affiliations with violent peers as an underlying mechanism that associates ethnic harassment with violent behaviors among immigrant youth (N = 365; M_age = 13.93, SD = 0.80), and also identify the risk factors in this relation. The results revealed that identification with an immigrant peer crowd at school made ethnically harassed immigrant adolescents more inclined to associate with violent peers and, in turn, engage in violent behaviors over time. Immigrant youth’s orientation toward the mainstream culture was not found to either elevate or buffer the effect of ethnic harassment on youth’s affiliation with violent peers. Yet, ethnically harassed immigrant adolescents were shown to be more prone to violent behaviors over time when they were less orientated toward Swedish culture. The findings suggest that preventing ethnicity-based harassment and diversifying adolescents’ peer groups at schools may be a way to prevent immigrant adolescents’ involvement in violent behaviors.