Journal of Youth and Adolescence
Volume 45, Issue 1, 2016, Pages 1-16

The Relationship Between Immigrant School Composition, Classmate Support and Involvement in Physical Fighting and Bullying among Adolescent Immigrants and Non-immigrants in 11 Countries (Article)

Walsh S.D.* , De Clercq B. , Molcho M. , Harel-Fisch Y. , Davison C.M. , Rich Madsen K. , Stevens G.W.J.M.
  • a Department of Criminology, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, 52900, Israel
  • b Department of Public Health, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
  • c Health Promotion Research Centre, NUI Galway, Galway, Ireland
  • d The International Research Program on Adolescent Well-Being and Health, School of Education, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel
  • e Department of Public Health Sciences, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON, Canada
  • f National Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Copenhagen, Denmark
  • g Utrecht Centre for Child and Adolescent Studies, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands

Abstract

Increasing numbers of migrant youth around the world mean growing numbers of heterogeneous school environments in many countries. Contradictory findings regarding the relationship between immigrant school composition (the percentage of immigrant versus non-immigrant students in a school) and adolescent peer violence necessitate further consideration. The current study examined the relationship between immigrant school composition and peer violence, considering classmate support as a potential moderator among 51,636 adolescents (50.1 % female) from 11 countries. The findings showed that a higher percentage of immigrant adolescents in a school was related to higher levels of physical fighting and bullying perpetration for both immigrant and non-immigrant adolescents and lower levels of victimization for immigrants. In environments of low classmate support, the positive relationship between immigrant school composition and fighting was stronger for non-immigrants than in environments with high classmate support. In environments of low classmate support, the negative relationship between immigrant school composition and fighting and bullying victimization was stronger for immigrant adolescents than in environments with high classmate support. In general, the contribution of immigrant school composition was modest in comparison to the contribution of classmate support. The findings emphasize that it is not just the number of immigrants in a class per se, but rather the environment in the classroom which influences levels of peer violence. The results highlight a need for school intervention programs encouraging positive relations in schools with immigrant populations. © 2015, Springer Science+Business Media New York.

Author Keywords

ClassMate support Immigrant school composition Adolescent Fighting Bullying Immigration

Index Keywords

Europe human Schools violence statistics and numerical data ethnology United States Surveys and Questionnaires bullying Humans migrant psychology Adolescent male Emigrants and Immigrants female questionnaire school peer group organization and management Adolescent Behavior crime victim Crime Victims Child
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84952718549&doi=10.1007%2fs10964-015-0367-0&partnerID=40&md5=e6f4d799b6b1f17a94e801aa09328823
DOI: 10.1007/s10964-015-0367-0
ISSN: 00472891
Cited by: 25
Original Language: English