Class and self-reported juvenile delinquency:: Evidence from Turkey

This study examined the relationship between social class and self-reported various juvenile delinquent acts in Ankara, the capital of Turkey. Data included 1,710 high school students using a two-stage stratified cluster sample. Such uncommon measures of social class as students' perceptions of their family economic status, the type of place where middle school was finished, home ownership, and car ownership were employed as well as often used measures of social class. The findings indicated that most of these new measures were not related to delinquency and that the class variables had low explanatory power. Various indicators of social class also presented contrary results. While some indicators of class showed that the relationship between class and delinquency was positive, other similar measures indicated the opposite. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.