Immigrants less prone to violence, 'antisocial' behavior, study says

This study disproves what many people believe.    - - Donna Poisl

By Emily Alpert Reyes

Immigrants are less likely to shoplift, skip work or school, hurt people or engage in other “antisocial” behaviors, despite being poorer, more urbanized and less educated than people born in the United States, a new study based on a sweeping national survey shows.

The study, recently published in the journal Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, buttresses earlier research based on arrests and crime rates. The intriguing pattern has already challenged conventional theories about the ties between problem behaviors, poverty and other disadvantages.

“It turns traditional theories on their head,” said Michael G. Vaughn, a Saint Louis University professor and one of the authors of the study. “Immigrants often come to the United States with very little. They are socially disadvantaged. But they’re not contributing much to the crime rate.”
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