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

• Published in: Journal of youth and adolescence Vol. 45; no. 1; pp. 1 - 16
• Main Authors: Walsh, Sophie D., De Clercq, Bart, Molcho, Michal, Harel-Fisch, Yossi, Davison, Colleen M., Rich Madsen, Katrine, Stevens, Gonneke W. J. M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01-01-2016; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adolescent Behavior - ethnology; Adolescents; Aggressiveness; Behavioral Science and Psychology; Bullying; Child; Child and School Psychology; Child development; Children & youth; Clinical Psychology; Crime Victims - psychology; Departments; Emigrants and Immigrants - statistics & numerical data; Empirical Research; Europe; Female; Health Behavior; Health Promotion; Health Psychology; History of Psychology; Humans; Immigrant students; Immigrants; Intervention; Law and Psychology; Male; Mental Health; Migrant Children; Migrant Education; Migrants; Noncitizens; Numbers; Peer Group; Political Issues; Psychology; Public health; School Districts; Schools; Schools - organization & administration; Students; Surveys and Questionnaires; Teenagers; United States; Victimization; Victims; Victims of Crime; Violence; Violence - ethnology; Violence - psychology; Young Adults; Youth; United States; Europe; Denmark; Netherlands; Israel; United States > US; Bullying; Immigration; Fighting; Immigrant school composition; Classmate support; Adolescent
• ISSN: 0047-2891; 1573-6601
• DOI: 10.1007/s10964-015-0367-0

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.