The many faces of youth crime is based on analysis of the merged data set and has a number of unique features. The analyses are based on an unusually large number of respondents (about 67,000 7th, 8th and 9th graders) collected by researchers from 31 countries. It includes reports on the characteristics, experiences and behaviour of first and second generation migrant youth from a variety of cultures. It is one of the first large-scale international studies asking 12-16 year olds about their victimization experiences (bullying, assault, robbery, theft). It describes both intriguing differences between young people from different countries and country clusters in the nature and extent of delinquency, victimization and substance use, as well as remarkable cross-national uniformities in delinquency, victimization, and substance use patterns. A careful comparative analysis of the social responses to offending and victimization adds to our limited knowledge on this important issue. Detailed chapters on the family, school, neighbourhood, lifestyle and peers provide a rich comparative description of these institutions and their impact on delinquency. It tests a number of theoretical perspectives (social control, self-control, social disorganization, routine activities/opportunity theory) on a large international sample from a variety of national contexts. It combines a theoretical focus with a thoughtful consideration of the policy implications of the findings. An extensive discussion of the ISRD methodology of 'flexible standardization' details the challenges of comparative research.