Pathways to crime and risk factors among Arab female adolescents in Israel

The study was conducted with 120 Israeli Arab teenage girls divided into two groups: at-risk girls and normative girls. Our aim was to examine the differences between the groups by sociodemographic variables and by their levels of traditionalism, self control, and aggression. Overall, the findings indicate a clear distinction between the groups. The at-risk group was found to fit the pathway to crime (according to the Pathways to Crime model). The findings indicate similarities between western and traditional societies. Nevertheless, the findings indicate the need for an in-depth study to strengthen the current results. It is necessary to examine variables that may be unique to a traditional religious society, and which are not usually taken into account in studies conducted in modern western societies. This applies mainly to the religiosity variable and to the meaning of the concept of traditionalism in different sociocultural contexts.