International Self-Report Delinquency (ISRD4) Study Protocol: Background, Methodology and Mandatory Items for the 2021/2022 Survey

Abstract

This document describes the background and methodology of the fourth round of the International Self-Report Delinquency study (ISRD4). Drawing from the fields of criminology, public health and cross-national methodology, the ISRD is an ongoing multi-national research study that aims to describe and explain adolescents’ experiences with crime and victimization, to test criminological theories, and to develop recommendations for prevention and interventions. The project relies on a common research protocol, which standardizes questionnaire content and administration, and prescribes comparable sampling procedures in participating countries enabling the collection of common data across all of them. The ISRD4 Study Protocol describes the standard sections of the ISRD4 questionnaire (core and sweep-specific), for both the school-based as well as the internet-based samples. In addition to the core ISRD items, the ISRD4 questionnaire includes new items related to cyber-offending and -victimization, discrimination, and perceptions of violence and revenge motives. The protocol also describes the rationale for including an internet-based survey as a complement to the school-based survey. The document aims to provide a detailed set of guidelines for participating national teams but will also be of interest to researchers interested in youth victimization and offending, theory-testing, and cross-national methodology. Fieldwork in approximately 40 countries began in 2020 and will conclude by the end of 2022.