Explaining Anti-Social Behavior Through Culture? A Scoping Review of the Individualism-Collectivism Construct in Criminology.

Abstract

The individualism-collectivism (I-C) construct has been widely used to explain cross-cultural variation in anti-social behavior (ASB), yet its application in criminology remains conceptually and methodologically underdeveloped. This study is a scoping review of 31 empirical studies to examine how I-C has been operationalized and used to explain ASB across diverse contexts. Five recurring patterns were identified: associations between individualism and ASB; associations between collectivism and ASB; the moderating role of I-C; the use of macro-level cultural indicators; and variation in the conceptualization and measurement of I-C. While individualism is often associated with overt and rule-breaking behaviors and collectivism with normative regulation, these relationships are inconsistent and context-dependent. The review highlights key methodological and conceptual challenges, particularly the risk of cross-level inference when aggregate cultural indicators are used to support individual-level interpretations, as well as ambiguity in how I-C is conceptualized across levels of analysis. To address these issues, the study proposes a multi-level, context-sensitive heuristic framework for organizing cultural, structural, and individual factors and guiding future research on their potential interconnections. The findings contribute to advancing a more theoretically robust and culturally informed criminology.