Keywords

• In this paper the results of a self-report study carried out on a sample of Italian and foreign minors
• attending the first year of high schools
• are discussed. The research aimed at exploring causal effects
• produced by some variables (e.g. sex
• family ties
• minorsâ€
• ™
• working experiences
• relationships at school) on self-reported deviant behaviour
• through a multivariate analysis and resorting to a particular statistical technique â€
• “
• the path analysis. From the study emerged that so called â€
• œ
• foreignnessâ€
• 
• (that is
• the presence in minorsâ€
• ™
• biographies of elements linked to foreign origins) does not have a strong effect on deviance. In the whole sample
• the main factors explaining deviant behaviour are those related to family and school ties as well as to the conflict between norms that minors learnt within families and in the peer group