This article examines how friends’ involvement in crime influences such involvement in those around them, as offenders or victims, and the extent to which such friendship effects vary with contact frequency, friendship intimacy, and geographical proximity. To test our hypotheses we used four waves from the Dutch panel survey CrimeNL, which includes ego-centered network measures in each wave for respondents aged between 16 and 45. To test our hypotheses, fixed-effects panel models were employed. The results show that living in close proximity to delinquent friends increases people’s own risk of offending, and daily interaction with these friends decreases the risk of victimization. Victimization is also communicated among friends in their daily interactions. These findings stress the need to consider factors that condition how friendships exert influence on the risk of crime involvement.

mende factoren bij 12-tot 18-jarigen een mogelijke verklaring te bieden voor de daling in prevalentie van delinquentie. Jongeren uit het 2015-cohort geven aan minder blootgesteld te worden aan risicofactoren voor jeugddelinquentie, zoals alcoholgebruik en delinquente vrienden, terwijl ze ook meer beschermende opvoedingsfactoren rapporteren, zoals ervaren emotionele steun, betrokkenheid en monitoring door ouders, dan jongeren uit eerdere cohorten. Onder ernstig delinquente jongeren is de blootstelling aan individueel risicogedrag en delinquente vrienden stabiel over de tijd. Dit gaat bij deze groep gepaard met stabiliteit in de frequentie en zwaarte van gerapporteerde delicten over de drie cohorten. De gevoeligheid voor risico-en beschermende factoren blijkt consistent over de cohorten, ongeacht de ernst van delinquentie. Dit lijkt te wijzen op een veranderende sociaal-culturele houding ten aanzien van risicogedrag, waaronder delinquentie, wat een aanvullende verklaring kan bieden voor de daling in de jeugdcriminaliteit. Implicaties voor theorie en beleid worden besproken.

In this paper, we examine the similarity between friends with respect to experiences with crime among a sample of Dutch individuals. We investigate the extent to which offenders, victims and victim-offenders (de)select friends differently and, subsequently, who (de)selects whom and why. We use data from the annual Dutch panel survey CrimeNL, which includes ego-centered network measures at each wave for more than 500 participants, ranging from 16 to 45 years old. Results show that offenders terminate friendships more often than non-offenders, and they have a higher likelihood of selecting new friends, regardless of prior victimization experiences. Furthermore, homophily with respect to crime involvement exists; both offenders and victims are more likely to select new friends who are similarly involved in crime. Risky lifestyles to a large extent explain why people select offenders as friends, whereas third parties (that is, parents and the pre-existing network of individuals) influence people's decision to engage in friendships with victims of crime. Nevertheless, after taking individual preferences, meeting opportunities and third parties into account, offenders and victims are still more likely to select friends with similar crime experiences.

No abstract