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Contemporary bias crime in Germany increased dramatically after unification and remained at a relatively high, though fluctuating, level for the decade. Right-wing skinheads and neo-Nazis played a significant role in the violence, but at least one third of the violent incidents came from informal groups of young males who were not affiliated. This represents a shift in anti-Semitic and antiforeigner violence from the 1980s and earlier, when the perpetrators were likely to be older and affiliated with identifiable ideological groups. Contemporary xenophobia is not only linked to aggressive elements of youth culture but appears to be increasingly connected to local and international ideological networks. Electronic media such as the Internet have given both the political and commercial entities of skinhead and right-wing culture a means of support and growth.

The acquisition and expression of political orientations are highly age‐related; however, the nature of age‐typical forms is rarely conceptualized in socialization research. The first part of this article examines the hypothesized nature of "age invariance" identified by criminologists in the study of deviant behavior and the inverted U‐curve of voting behavior identified by political scientists. The second part uses survey data from German youth and young adults (n = 7,280, ages 13 to 30) to describe typical age patterns for various types of unconventional behavior. The more unconventional the behavior, the more the curve resembles what criminologists have long found for deviant behavior. Youth approval of the more disruptive forms of political behavior has a left‐skewed age distribution that is also typical of deviant behavior. This suggests an unappealing combination of potential actionism and political ignorance occurring in late adolescence, a possibility that ought to be of consequence for the design of civic education and other interventions. From a research perspective, these age‐typical patterns can be useful as a theory‐building and theory‐testing strategy by treating them as baselines against which individual and cultural variations can be measured.

THE FIRST PART OF THIS ARTICLE EXAMINES THE HYPOTHESIZED NATURE OF "AGE INVARIANCE" IDENTIFIED BY CRIMINOLOGISTS IN THE STUDY OF DEVIANT BEHAVIOR. THE SECOND PART USES SURVEY DATA FROM GERMAN YOUTH TO DESCRIBE TYPICAL AGE PATTERNS FOR VARIOUS TYPES OF UNCONVENTIONAL BEHAVIOR. THE MORE UNCONVENTIONAL THE BEHAVIOR, THE MORE THE CURVE RESEMBLES WHAT CRIMINOLOGISTS HAVE LONG FOUND FOR DEVIANT BEHAVIOR. FROM A RESEARCH PERSPECTIVE, THESE AGE-TYPICAL PATTERNS CAN BE USEFUL AS A THEORY-BUILDING AND THEORY-TESTING STRATEGY BY TREATING THEM AS BASELINES AGAINST WHICH INDIVIDUAL AND CULTURAL VARIATIONS CAN BE MEASURED.