In the Dutch society, Moroccan immigrant youth is overrepresented in the juvenile justice system. In this study, two different explanations for this overrepresentation were investigated. The first...Show moreIn the Dutch society, Moroccan immigrant youth is overrepresented in the juvenile justice system. In this study, two different explanations for this overrepresentation were investigated. The first theory tested whether a low socio-economic status can contribute to delinquency among Moroccan, Dutch and adolescents from other ethnic minorities. The second theory is based on the model of social defeat. This model hypothesizes that low self-esteem and feelings of being an outsider can lead to delinquent behaviour. This study examined the contribution of low self-esteem to delinquency among Moroccan, Dutch and adolescents from other ethnic minorities. Delinquency was measured by an important precursor of this behaviour: psychopathic traits. The data are based on 476 adolescents in the age of 12 to 17. The participants filled in multiple digital questionnaires at school to measure ethnicity, psychopathic traits and self-esteem. Results from moderation analysis indicated that there was no moderation effect for socio-economic status and ethnicity on psychopathic traits. However, a second moderation analysis showed that low self-esteem explained 9% of the variance in psychopathic traits among Moroccan youth whereas it explained 0% of the variance in psychopathic traits among Dutch and other ethnic minority youth. Concluding, low self-esteem, and therefore social defeat, is expected to influence delinquent behaviour among Moroccan youth. This result can be viewed as consistent with the fact that delinquent Moroccan youth feel more connected to the Dutch society than Moroccan youth in the regular population. The Moroccan youth who feel more ‘Dutch’ possibly experience more frustrations concerning their position in the society. The gap between wanted goals and achieved goals in the host society can lead to feelings of social defeat and delinquent behaviour. More research on the social defeat model is required to confirm these hypothesis.Show less
