Jon Gunnar Bernburg
Biographic Data
| ID | 211573 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Jon Gunnar Bernburg |
| GIVEN NAMES | Jon Gunnar |
| FAMILY NAME | Bernburg |
| SIGNATURE | BERNBURG J G |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Iceland |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-7534-7613 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 22 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 298 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 22 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1999 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2022 |
| H-INDEX | 9 |
Collective Action and the Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
Social theory implies that a rise in the expectation that many will participate in collective action can make participation in the action widely rational, giving rise to a 'self-fulfilling prophecy'. I address this classic, yet understudied, proposition by surveying participation in a demonstration that the 'Panama Papers Leak' triggered in Iceland in 2016. The demonstration was preceded by a sudden rise of large-turnout expectations, and attract…
The cascading crisis and the changing base of popular protest
The rise of economic injustice protests during the Great Recession era - i.e. against economic inequality, flawed democracy, and austerity - begs the question whether the social and political divisions underlying protest behavior have changed. Iceland offers a microcosm for studying such changes. Since the crisis struck, huge protests against economic injustice have emerged repeatedly, providing an opportunity to study how protest behavior has ch…
Letter from the incoming editors
Community income inequality and adolescent emotional problems
This study contributes to the limited knowledge on the association between community income inequality and adolescent emotional problems, and explores whether these associations are contingent on national income inequality and personal deprivation. We obtained multilevel data from 10,223 adolescents (aged 15–16 years) nested within 82 communities in Iceland, at two time points: (a) in 2006 when income inequality was high and (b) in 2014 when inco…
Dirty Gold
Opportunity beliefs and class differences in subjective status injustice during the Great Recession in Iceland
Sociologists theorize that opportunity beliefs shape whether individuals see their status in society as just or unjust - a topic that is broadly relevant to research linking social structure to emotions and behaviors. Two prominent theories, however, entail competing propositions. The dominant ideology thesis suggests that believing in opportunity barriers increases subjective status injustice, especially for lower class individuals. In contrast,…
Anomie
Anomie refers to situations where shared regulatory codes – social norms – fail to regulate behaviors and aspirations of individuals, resulting in unstable cooperation, widespread unhappiness, and higher crime rates. Sociologists have discussed the main causes of anomie in modern society. These include the weakening of traditional institutions (e.g., family, religion, polity) and dominance of economic values (emphasizing individual achievement), …
Economic Crisis and Mass Protest
Although the triggering effect of economic crises on revolt is a classic sociological topic, crises have until recently mostly triggered large-scale collective action in developing countries. The antigovernment protests that occurred in several European countries in the aftermath of the global financial crisis brought crises to the forefront of collective action research in democratic societies, as well as provide important opportunities for stud…
Economic Crisis and Popular Protest in Iceland, January 2009
The recent wave of protest associated with the global financial crisis provides opportunity to examine the link between economic crisis and collective action in the context of affluent democratic society. I study the mobilization of individual citizens in one of the first of these protests occurring in Iceland in January 2009. Using a survey representing the adult population of the Reykjavík area (N = 610), I examine the role of perceived economi…
The Global Financial Crisis and Individual Distress
Sociologists have emphasized that abrupt social changes can evoke subjective deprivation that can create subjective injustice and emotional distress. The global economic crisis offers an opportunity to examine this issue. This article builds on relative deprivation theory and proposes that economic crises evoke three subjective comparisons that influence distress: comparisons to 1) past outcomes; 2) the situation of others; and 3) expected future…
Labeling and Cumulative Disadvantage
Research in labeling theory has been revived recently, particularly in relation to the effect of labeling on critical noncriminal outcomes that potentially exacerbate involvement in crime. This study partakes in that revitalization by examining direct and indirect effects of police intervention in the lives of adolescents who were followed into their 30s. The authors find that early police intervention is indirectly related to drug use at the age…
Delinquency Research in the Nordic Countries
Research on delinquent behavior has traditionally been a core emphasis of Nordic criminological research. Historically, Nordic cooperation in criminology began with the world’s first ever internationally comparative survey of self-reported delinquency, the Nordic Draftee Research program, 1961–64. Youths of the five Nordic nations tend to manifest relatively similar prevalence levels of delinquent behavior, with a partial exception that Danish ad…
Relative deprivation theory does not imply a contextual effect of country-level inequality on poor health. A commentary on Jen, Jones, and Johnston (68
The neighborhood effects of disrupted family processes on adolescent substance use
The spreading of suicidal behavior
Relative Deprivation and Adolescent Outcomes in Iceland
The theory of relative deprivation emphasizes that social comparisons contextualize how people experience impoverishment. An important application of this theory argues that relative deprivation that stems from unfavorable social comparisons can result in anger, normlessness and an increased likelihood of deviant behavior. We test this theory in a new societal setting — Iceland. Specifically, we test the proposition that the effects of economic d…
Community Structure and Adolescent Delinquency in Iceland
The current study examines the contextual effects of community structural characteristics on adolescent delinquency in Iceland, focusing on how specific individual‐level mechanisms work to mediate the contextual effects. Using multilevel data on 68 school communities and 6,458 adolescents, we find a contextual effect of community social instability (residential mobility, family disruption) on delinquency. Moreover, the findings indicate that spec…
Official Labeling, Criminal Embeddedness, and Subsequent Delinquency
This article examines the short-term impact of formal criminal labeling on involvement in deviant social networks and increased likelihood of subsequent delinquency. According to labeling theory, formal criminal intervention should affect the individual’s immediate social networks. In many cases, the stigma of the criminal status may increase the probability that the individual becomes involved in deviant social groups. The formal label may thus …
Violent Values, Conduct Norms, and Youth Aggression
The subculture of violence approach suggests that group adherence to values and norms that encourage violence influence aggressive behavior through two analytically separate processes: (1) internalization of values encouraging violence, and (2) social control stemming from others' adherence to conduct norms. While some attention has been paid to the former process, the research has rarely addressed the latter. We examine the individual-level and …
Labeling, Life Chances, and Adult Crime
Scholars have recently revitalized labeling theory as a developmental theory of structural disadvantage. According to this approach, official intervention increases the probability of involvement in subsequent delinquency and deviance because intervention triggers exclusionary processes that have negative consequences for conventional opportunities. The theory predicts that official intervention in adolescence increases involvement in crime in ea…
Anomie, Social Change and Crime. A Theoretical Examination of Institutional-Anomie Theory
Journal Article Anomie, Social Change and Crime. A Theoretical Examination of Institutional‐Anomie Theory Get access Jón Gunnar Bernburg Jón Gunnar Bernburg Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The British Journal of Criminology, Volume 42, Issue 4, 1 September 2002, Pages 729–742, https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/42.4.729 Published: 01 September 2002
Adolescent Violence, Social Control, and the Subculture of Delinquency
This study examines whether violence, rather than being an isolated subculture in itself, is a part of a general subculture of delinquency. It also examines the relationship of variables adapted from social control theories to violent behavior and non-violent delinquency. Using Icelandic data, the study supports the notion that violence is a part of a general subculture of delinquency. It finds a strong relationship between violent behavior on on…
Labeling, Life Chances, and Adult Crime
Scholars have recently revitalized labeling theory as a developmental theory of structural disadvantage. According to this approach, official intervention increases the probability of involvement in subsequent delinquency and deviance because intervention triggers exclusionary processes that have negative consequences for conventional opportunities. The theory predicts that official intervention in adolescence increases involvement in crime in ea…
Relative Deprivation and Adolescent Outcomes in Iceland
The theory of relative deprivation emphasizes that social comparisons contextualize how people experience impoverishment. An important application of this theory argues that relative deprivation that stems from unfavorable social comparisons can result in anger, normlessness and an increased likelihood of deviant behavior. We test this theory in a new societal setting — Iceland. Specifically, we test the proposition that the effects of economic d…
Economic Crisis and Popular Protest in Iceland, January 2009
The recent wave of protest associated with the global financial crisis provides opportunity to examine the link between economic crisis and collective action in the context of affluent democratic society. I study the mobilization of individual citizens in one of the first of these protests occurring in Iceland in January 2009. Using a survey representing the adult population of the Reykjavík area (N = 610), I examine the role of perceived economi…
Anomie, Social Change and Crime. A Theoretical Examination of Institutional-Anomie Theory
Journal Article Anomie, Social Change and Crime. A Theoretical Examination of Institutional‐Anomie Theory Get access Jón Gunnar Bernburg Jón Gunnar Bernburg Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The British Journal of Criminology, Volume 42, Issue 4, 1 September 2002, Pages 729–742, https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/42.4.729 Published: 01 September 2002
The spreading of suicidal behavior
Violent Values, Conduct Norms, and Youth Aggression
The subculture of violence approach suggests that group adherence to values and norms that encourage violence influence aggressive behavior through two analytically separate processes: (1) internalization of values encouraging violence, and (2) social control stemming from others' adherence to conduct norms. While some attention has been paid to the former process, the research has rarely addressed the latter. We examine the individual-level and …
Community Structure and Adolescent Delinquency in Iceland
The current study examines the contextual effects of community structural characteristics on adolescent delinquency in Iceland, focusing on how specific individual‐level mechanisms work to mediate the contextual effects. Using multilevel data on 68 school communities and 6,458 adolescents, we find a contextual effect of community social instability (residential mobility, family disruption) on delinquency. Moreover, the findings indicate that spec…
The Global Financial Crisis and Individual Distress
Sociologists have emphasized that abrupt social changes can evoke subjective deprivation that can create subjective injustice and emotional distress. The global economic crisis offers an opportunity to examine this issue. This article builds on relative deprivation theory and proposes that economic crises evoke three subjective comparisons that influence distress: comparisons to 1) past outcomes; 2) the situation of others; and 3) expected future…
The neighborhood effects of disrupted family processes on adolescent substance use
Adolescent Violence, Social Control, and the Subculture of Delinquency
This study examines whether violence, rather than being an isolated subculture in itself, is a part of a general subculture of delinquency. It also examines the relationship of variables adapted from social control theories to violent behavior and non-violent delinquency. Using Icelandic data, the study supports the notion that violence is a part of a general subculture of delinquency. It finds a strong relationship between violent behavior on on…
The cascading crisis and the changing base of popular protest
The rise of economic injustice protests during the Great Recession era - i.e. against economic inequality, flawed democracy, and austerity - begs the question whether the social and political divisions underlying protest behavior have changed. Iceland offers a microcosm for studying such changes. Since the crisis struck, huge protests against economic injustice have emerged repeatedly, providing an opportunity to study how protest behavior has ch…
Collective Action and the Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
Social theory implies that a rise in the expectation that many will participate in collective action can make participation in the action widely rational, giving rise to a 'self-fulfilling prophecy'. I address this classic, yet understudied, proposition by surveying participation in a demonstration that the 'Panama Papers Leak' triggered in Iceland in 2016. The demonstration was preceded by a sudden rise of large-turnout expectations, and attract…
Dirty Gold
Delinquency Research in the Nordic Countries
Research on delinquent behavior has traditionally been a core emphasis of Nordic criminological research. Historically, Nordic cooperation in criminology began with the world’s first ever internationally comparative survey of self-reported delinquency, the Nordic Draftee Research program, 1961–64. Youths of the five Nordic nations tend to manifest relatively similar prevalence levels of delinquent behavior, with a partial exception that Danish ad…
Community income inequality and adolescent emotional problems
This study contributes to the limited knowledge on the association between community income inequality and adolescent emotional problems, and explores whether these associations are contingent on national income inequality and personal deprivation. We obtained multilevel data from 10,223 adolescents (aged 15–16 years) nested within 82 communities in Iceland, at two time points: (a) in 2006 when income inequality was high and (b) in 2014 when inco…
Opportunity beliefs and class differences in subjective status injustice during the Great Recession in Iceland
Sociologists theorize that opportunity beliefs shape whether individuals see their status in society as just or unjust - a topic that is broadly relevant to research linking social structure to emotions and behaviors. Two prominent theories, however, entail competing propositions. The dominant ideology thesis suggests that believing in opportunity barriers increases subjective status injustice, especially for lower class individuals. In contrast,…
Adolescent Violence, Social Control, and the Subculture of Delinquency
This study examines whether violence, rather than being an isolated subculture in itself, is a part of a general subculture of delinquency. It also examines the relationship of variables adapted from social control theories to violent behavior and non-violent delinquency. Using Icelandic data, the study supports the notion that violence is a part of a general subculture of delinquency. It finds a strong relationship between violent behavior on on…
Anomie, Social Change and Crime. A Theoretical Examination of Institutional-Anomie Theory
Journal Article Anomie, Social Change and Crime. A Theoretical Examination of Institutional‐Anomie Theory Get access Jón Gunnar Bernburg Jón Gunnar Bernburg Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The British Journal of Criminology, Volume 42, Issue 4, 1 September 2002, Pages 729–742, https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/42.4.729 Published: 01 September 2002
Labeling, Life Chances, and Adult Crime
Scholars have recently revitalized labeling theory as a developmental theory of structural disadvantage. According to this approach, official intervention increases the probability of involvement in subsequent delinquency and deviance because intervention triggers exclusionary processes that have negative consequences for conventional opportunities. The theory predicts that official intervention in adolescence increases involvement in crime in ea…
Violent Values, Conduct Norms, and Youth Aggression
The subculture of violence approach suggests that group adherence to values and norms that encourage violence influence aggressive behavior through two analytically separate processes: (1) internalization of values encouraging violence, and (2) social control stemming from others' adherence to conduct norms. While some attention has been paid to the former process, the research has rarely addressed the latter. We examine the individual-level and …
Official Labeling, Criminal Embeddedness, and Subsequent Delinquency
This article examines the short-term impact of formal criminal labeling on involvement in deviant social networks and increased likelihood of subsequent delinquency. According to labeling theory, formal criminal intervention should affect the individual’s immediate social networks. In many cases, the stigma of the criminal status may increase the probability that the individual becomes involved in deviant social groups. The formal label may thus …
Community Structure and Adolescent Delinquency in Iceland
The current study examines the contextual effects of community structural characteristics on adolescent delinquency in Iceland, focusing on how specific individual‐level mechanisms work to mediate the contextual effects. Using multilevel data on 68 school communities and 6,458 adolescents, we find a contextual effect of community social instability (residential mobility, family disruption) on delinquency. Moreover, the findings indicate that spec…
The neighborhood effects of disrupted family processes on adolescent substance use
The spreading of suicidal behavior
Relative Deprivation and Adolescent Outcomes in Iceland
The theory of relative deprivation emphasizes that social comparisons contextualize how people experience impoverishment. An important application of this theory argues that relative deprivation that stems from unfavorable social comparisons can result in anger, normlessness and an increased likelihood of deviant behavior. We test this theory in a new societal setting — Iceland. Specifically, we test the proposition that the effects of economic d…
Relative deprivation theory does not imply a contextual effect of country-level inequality on poor health. A commentary on Jen, Jones, and Johnston (68
Delinquency Research in the Nordic Countries
Research on delinquent behavior has traditionally been a core emphasis of Nordic criminological research. Historically, Nordic cooperation in criminology began with the world’s first ever internationally comparative survey of self-reported delinquency, the Nordic Draftee Research program, 1961–64. Youths of the five Nordic nations tend to manifest relatively similar prevalence levels of delinquent behavior, with a partial exception that Danish ad…
Labeling and Cumulative Disadvantage
Research in labeling theory has been revived recently, particularly in relation to the effect of labeling on critical noncriminal outcomes that potentially exacerbate involvement in crime. This study partakes in that revitalization by examining direct and indirect effects of police intervention in the lives of adolescents who were followed into their 30s. The authors find that early police intervention is indirectly related to drug use at the age…
The Global Financial Crisis and Individual Distress
Sociologists have emphasized that abrupt social changes can evoke subjective deprivation that can create subjective injustice and emotional distress. The global economic crisis offers an opportunity to examine this issue. This article builds on relative deprivation theory and proposes that economic crises evoke three subjective comparisons that influence distress: comparisons to 1) past outcomes; 2) the situation of others; and 3) expected future…
Economic Crisis and Popular Protest in Iceland, January 2009
The recent wave of protest associated with the global financial crisis provides opportunity to examine the link between economic crisis and collective action in the context of affluent democratic society. I study the mobilization of individual citizens in one of the first of these protests occurring in Iceland in January 2009. Using a survey representing the adult population of the Reykjavík area (N = 610), I examine the role of perceived economi…
Economic Crisis and Mass Protest
Although the triggering effect of economic crises on revolt is a classic sociological topic, crises have until recently mostly triggered large-scale collective action in developing countries. The antigovernment protests that occurred in several European countries in the aftermath of the global financial crisis brought crises to the forefront of collective action research in democratic societies, as well as provide important opportunities for stud…
Anomie
Anomie refers to situations where shared regulatory codes – social norms – fail to regulate behaviors and aspirations of individuals, resulting in unstable cooperation, widespread unhappiness, and higher crime rates. Sociologists have discussed the main causes of anomie in modern society. These include the weakening of traditional institutions (e.g., family, religion, polity) and dominance of economic values (emphasizing individual achievement), …
Community income inequality and adolescent emotional problems
This study contributes to the limited knowledge on the association between community income inequality and adolescent emotional problems, and explores whether these associations are contingent on national income inequality and personal deprivation. We obtained multilevel data from 10,223 adolescents (aged 15–16 years) nested within 82 communities in Iceland, at two time points: (a) in 2006 when income inequality was high and (b) in 2014 when inco…
Dirty Gold
Opportunity beliefs and class differences in subjective status injustice during the Great Recession in Iceland
Sociologists theorize that opportunity beliefs shape whether individuals see their status in society as just or unjust - a topic that is broadly relevant to research linking social structure to emotions and behaviors. Two prominent theories, however, entail competing propositions. The dominant ideology thesis suggests that believing in opportunity barriers increases subjective status injustice, especially for lower class individuals. In contrast,…
The cascading crisis and the changing base of popular protest
The rise of economic injustice protests during the Great Recession era - i.e. against economic inequality, flawed democracy, and austerity - begs the question whether the social and political divisions underlying protest behavior have changed. Iceland offers a microcosm for studying such changes. Since the crisis struck, huge protests against economic injustice have emerged repeatedly, providing an opportunity to study how protest behavior has ch…
Letter from the incoming editors
Collective Action and the Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
Social theory implies that a rise in the expectation that many will participate in collective action can make participation in the action widely rational, giving rise to a 'self-fulfilling prophecy'. I address this classic, yet understudied, proposition by surveying participation in a demonstration that the 'Panama Papers Leak' triggered in Iceland in 2016. The demonstration was preceded by a sudden rise of large-turnout expectations, and attract…
Psychology (16 works) · Sociology (16 works) · Crime Patterns and Interventions (12 works) · Economics (12 works) · Political science (12 works) · Social Psychology (10 works) · Law (9 works) · Criminology (8 works) · Juvenile delinquency (7 works) · Developmental psychology (6 works)