Deviance among young italians: investigating the predictive strength of value systems.

Despite more than three decades of research on the relationship between values and deviance, until now results have not completely clarified what kind of relationship it is. Criminological theories (sociological and psychosocial) emphasize on a relationship between certain values, such as hedonistic and materialistic ones, and deviance, but few theorists explain whether these values are predictors of deviance. In this study, using a sample of 500 young Italians, the authors try to verify whether value systems can be considered predictors of juvenile deviance and if so, which type of value system. An attempt is made to identify what is the values' capability to explain deviance in comparison with other psychosocial and demographic predictors. Results confirm the past findings of a relation between hedonistic and materialistic values and deviance but show only a modest and peripheral ability of values to explain deviance.