Civic development and antisocial attitudes/behaviors among Somali immigrants: Change over one year.

Objectives: Understanding how immigrant young adults engage with civic society over time is critical to understanding and fostering healthy development and healthy democracies. The present study examines how civic engagement and antisocial attitudes/behavior of Somali young adult immigrants (ages 18–30, N = 498) in four North American regions co-occur, and change over time. Method: Using latent transition analyses, we examine latent classes of young adult males and females in relation to political and nonpolitical civic engagement and dimensions of antisocial attitudes/behavior and stability of these classes over 1 year. Results: Distinct latent classes were identified that remained consistent over time. Rates and patterns in latent class transitions varied along civically engaged/antisocial dimensions and also by gender. Conclusions: Antisocial attitudes/behavior can coexist with civic engagement. For males, sense of belonging to both Somali and American/Canadian communities was associated with lower levels of antisocial attitudes/behavior. Movement away from, or into, antisocial attitudes/behavior differs by gender and can happen either in the presence or absence of civic engagement. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved) Public Significance Statement—Patterns of change in civic engagement and endorsement of antisocial attitudes/behaviors among Somali young adult immigrants vary by gender and over a 1-year period. For males, higher levels of belonging to American/Canadian or Somali communities are associated with lower levels of antisocial attitudes/behavior. Those engaging in violent delinquency are likely to retain that behavior over 1 year, while those in the group associated with other types of antisocial attitudes/behavior along with civic engagement show both positive and negative change over time. Females show less antisocial attitudes/behaviors overall, and tend to become less civically engaged over 1 year. The potential for connection and belonging to serve as a protective factor for males should be further explored. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)