Subterranean Values and Deviance: An Empirical Investigation of the Case of Spain

Abstract

This study examines value similarities between deviant youth on the one hand and mainstream society on the other rather than value differences. The classic sociological research on deviance by Matza and Sykes supports this approach, given that their investigations focused more on similarities between subterranean values and the values of normal society. The General Social Survey of Spain (2016) includes 17 indicators for deviant behavior, which is the dependent variable. Likewise, it is used to define social capital and the rest of the different independent variables of the analysis. In conclusion, whereas social capital and social values were absent as causes of juvenile delinquency, the following variables explained significantly the deviant behavior among Spanish youth: tolerance towards deviance, adolescent experience, and sex. This suggests that there are at least two possible keys to improve or avoid the problem of juvenile crime: prevention or awareness programmes and new critical feminist criminology point of view.