Study title

Finnish Self-Report Delinquency Study 2008

Alternative Title

The Finnish Self-Report Delinquency Study 2008

Dataset ID Number

FSD2809

Persistent identifier

urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD2809

Data Type

Quantitative

Authors

• Kivivuori, Janne (National Research Institute of Legal Policy (Optula))
• Salmi, Venla (National Research Institute of Legal Policy (Optula))

Abstract

The survey studied the extent, frequency and nature of self-reported offending among Finns aged 15-16 as well as their attitudes towards crime and experiences of being victims. Questions covered truancy, running away from home, driving without a licence, doing graffiti, vandalising school property or other property, stealing, buying stolen goods, car theft, bullying, taking part in a fight, assault, use of marijuana, hasish or other drugs, use of legal drugs for intoxication purposes and drink-driving. New offences in the 2008 survey included burglary, using threat of force in robbing, and illegal downloading from the Internet.

If the respondents admitted having done any of the above-mentioned acts, they were asked how old they had been when they first did the act and whether they had done it in the previous 12 months. In the case of criminal offences, the respondents were asked whether the police had ever found out about the offence. Additionally, relating to the latest act, they were asked whether they had acted alone, whether they had been drunk at the time and whether somebody had found out about the act. A new question investigated whether certain acts had been revenge for some previous incident. The respondents were also presented with specifying questions, for example, whether an assaulted victim had required medical care or how much a drug had cost and why the respondent had wanted to use a drug.

One topic pertained to the respondents' disruptive behaviour towards teachers (offensive language, offensive telephone calls, threatening with violence, using violence). The survey carried a set of attitudinal questions about breaking the law, interpersonal relations and human nature. The respondents were also asked whether the respondents themselves had been victims of bullying, robbery, theft, assault or threats.

Questions were also asked about dating, alcohol use, use of prohibited substances (doping), the respondents' views of themselves, family and leisure time, health, sense of security and punishments received from parents. The respondents were asked whether violence in the media and entertainment had frightened or disturbed them and whether a police officer or guard had searched their belongings, told them to leave an area or apprehended them.

The background variables included, among others, the respondent's gender, age, school performance, plans after basic education, parents' economic activity and occupational status, people living with R and financial situation of the family. A new background variable in the 2008 survey was immigrant background.

Keywords

assault; burglary; crime; crime victims; criminal damage; drug abuse; illegal drugs; juvenile delinquency; possession of stolen property; robbery; students; theft; traffic offences; truancy; youth

Topic Classification

• Social sciences (Fields of Science Classification)
• Youth (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Crime and law enforcement (CESSDA Topic Classification)

Series

Finnish Self-Report Delinquency Study

Distributor

Finnish Social Science Data Archive

Access

The dataset is (C) available only for research including master's theses.

Data Collector

• National Research Institute of Legal Policy

Data Producers

• National Research Institute of Legal Policy

Time Period Covered

2008

Collection Dates

2008-04 – 2008-05

Nation

Finland

Geographical Coverage

Finland

Analysis/Observation Unit Type

Individual

Universe

Pupils in the 9th grade of basic education in Finland (excluding the Åland Islands)

Time Method

Longitudinal: Trend/Repeated cross-section

Sampling Procedure

Probability: Cluster: Stratified random

Stratified random sampling. The sample was requested from Statistics Finland as a one-stage cluster sampling with the school as the sampling unit. The sample was stratified according to three strata: 10 largest towns in Finland, other towns, and rural municipalities and population centres in rural areas. The size of each stratum was relative to the total number of pupils in the stratum. The sample size was 6,755 persons out of whom 5,826 responded to the survey.

Data were collected by contact teachers in sampled schools, instructed by National Research Institute of Legal Policy.

Collection Mode

Self-administered questionnaire

Research Instrument

Structured questionnaire

Response Rate

86.2

Data File Language

Downloaded data package may contain different language versions of the same files.

The data files of this dataset are available in the following languages: Finnish.

FSD translates quantitative data into English on request, free of charge. More information on ordering data translation.

Data Version

2.0

Completeness of Data and Restrictions

The data contain variable koulu (school) created at FSD, which is based on the original school id. This variable allows identifying the observations belonging to the same cluster.

The exact class identifier and open-ended variables containing information on the countries of birth and parents’ employment situation and occupations (Q3, Q6, Q5_1, Q8_1, Q10_1, Q11_1, Q12_1) were removed from the data during the archiving process. For reasons of privacy, exceptional or erroneous values of variables were classified as missing information when necessary. Identifying information was categorised or removed from the open-ended responses left in the data. Changes done in the FSD have been marked with [double square brackets].

Weighting

The data contain two weight variables which were calculated according to the instructions provided by Statistics Finland. Paino2 inflates the final sample to the level of the target population (number of eight-graders in Finland). In Paino1, the sample is not inflated. Both weights weight the strata in the sample to be representative of the strata in the population.

The numbers of schools and students used in weighting were based on the numbers of eighth graders in Finnish-speaking schools in 2006-2007 provided by Statistics Finland.

Citation Requirement

The data and its creators shall be cited in all publications and presentations for which the data have been used. The bibliographic citation may be in the form suggested by the archive or in the form required by the publication.

Bibliographical Citation

Kivivuori, Janne (National Research Institute of Legal Policy (Optula)) & Salmi, Venla (National Research Institute of Legal Policy (Optula)): Finnish Self-Report Delinquency Study 2008 [dataset]. Version 2.0 (2018-04-30). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD2809

Deposit Requirement

Notify FSD of all publications where you have used the data by sending the citation information to user-services.fsd@tuni.fi.

Special Terms and Conditions for Access

Users of the data shall send the National Institute of Legal Policy a copy of all reports, articles, other publications or unpublished theses based on or using the data. The copies shall be sent to the mail address: National Research Institute of Legal Policy, Janne Kivivuori, PL 444, 00531 HELSINKI, FINLAND

Disclaimer

The original data creators and the archive bear no responsibility for any results or interpretations arising from the reuse of the data.

Related Publications

Nuorten rikoskäyttäytyminen ja uhrikokemukset: Nuorisorikollisuuskyselyiden tuloksia 1995-2008 (2009). Toim. Salmi, Venla. Helsinki: Oikeuspoliittinen tutkimuslaitos. Oikeuspoliittisen tutkimuslaitoksen tutkimuksia; 246.

Salmi, Venla (2008). Nuorten rikoskäyttäytyminen 1995-2008 [verkkodokumentti]. Helsinki: Oikeuspoliittinen tutkimuslaitos. Oikeuspoliittisen tutkimuslaitoksen verkkokatsauksia; 9/2008. http://www.optula.om.fi/1247667029769 [viitattu 9.7.2013].

Nuorten syrjäytyminen ja rikollisuus: Suomessa tehdyn tutkimuksen ja sen katvealueiden kartoitusta (2009). Toim. Kivivuori, Janne. Helsinki: Oikeuspoliittinen tutkimuslaitos. Oikeuspoliittisen tutkimuslaitoksen tutkimustiedonantoja; 94.

Saarikkomäki, Elsa (2010). Nuoriin kohdistuva poliisikontrolli kyselytutkimuksen valossa. Helsinki: Oikeuspoliittinen tutkimuslaitos. Oikeuspoliittisen tutkimuslaitoksen tutkimustiedonantoja; 106.

Holstila, Anna-Leena (2012). Nuorten kokema väkivallan pelko: rikosten seurausta vai yleisen turvattomuuden heijastusta? Helsinki: Helsingin yliopisto. Sosiologian pro gradu -tutkielma.

Kivivuori, J. (2014). Understanding Trends in Personal Violence: Does Cultural Sensitivity Matter? In Michael Tonry (ed): Why Crime Rates Fall, and Why they Don't. Crime and Justice, Volume 43. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.

Kivivuori, J. & Salmi, V. & Walser, S. (2013). Supervision Mode Effects in Computerized Delinquency Surveys at School: Finnish Replication of a Swiss Experiment. Journal of Experimental Criminology 9:1, 91-107.

Kivivuori, J. (2011). Discovery of Hidden Crime. Self-Report Surveys in Criminal Policy Context. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Kivivuori, J. & Salmi, V. (2009). The Challenge of Special Needs Education in School-Based Delinquency Research. Journal of Scandinavian Studies in Criminology and Crime Prevention 10:1, 2-17.

Kivivuori, J. (2013). Methodological studies in the development of Finnish crime surveys: Selected examples. In: Methodologies and methods in criminology. NSfKs 55. forskerseminar. Scandinavian Research Council fro Criminology, Aarhus Universitet.

Kivivuori, Janne & Aaltonen, Mikko & Näsi, Matti & Suonpää, Karoliina & Danielsson, Petri (2018). Kriminologia: rikollisuus ja kontrolli muuttuvassa yhteiskunnassa. Helsinki: Gaudeamus.

Kaakinen, M. & Näsi, M. (2021). Nuorisorikollisuuden esiintyvyys ja tekomäärät Suomessa 1995-2020. Kriminologia, 1(1), 5-19. https://kriminologia.journal.fi/article/view/109017.