Female Arab Teenagers’ Involvement in Antisocial Behavior: Intersection of Perceived Ethnonational Discrimination, Sexual Victimization, and Affiliation With Delinquent Peers

• In Event: Female Arab Teenagers’ Involvement in Antisocial Behavior: Intersection of Mediating-Moderating effects

Abstract

Based on intersectionality theory, the present study examined the contribution of direct,
indirect, and interactive effects of individual, family, peer, and contextual factors on violence
against others among female Arab teenagers. The study is based on a sample of 193 at-risk
teenagers aged 12–21 (M = 16.5), who completed questionnaires in their out-of-home care
settings. Almost 60% of participants reported having perpetrated at least one moderate act of
physical violence against others at least once during the preceding month. More than
one-third (40%) had experienced at least one incident of sexual victimization during their
lives. In addition, almost two-thirds (61%) reported experiencing at least one incident of
ethnonational discrimination at least once during the past year. The findings also showed that
the association between sexual victimization and moderate physical violence against others
was mediated by the teenagers’ affiliation with delinquent peers and moderated by perceived
ethnonational discrimination. Finally, for participants with medium or high levels of
perceived ethnonational discrimination, the associations between sexual victimization and
perpetration of moderate physical violence, and between sexual victimization and peer
delinquency, were stronger than for participants with low perceived discrimination. Examining
the association between sexual victimization and violence perpetration is important,
especially among at-risk teenagers in a conservative society, which expects victimized
adolescents and young women to remain silent, given that silencing increases the risk of
victims’ involvement in delinquency and antisocial behavior. Intervention programs should
be sensitive to the special situation of at-risk teenagers who experience marginalization
consisting of several risk factors, including membership in an ethnonational minority and a
traditional society in the context of a political conflict.

Authors

• Lana Jamal Jeries, University of Cambridge

• Mona Khoury, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem