Delinquency Balance: Revisiting Peer Influence*

Abstract

An impressive number of inquiries across an array of methodological specifications has demonstrated that deviant peers are an important correlate of various criminological outcomes, which include within‐ individual change and stability in offending behavior. Still, the causal mechanisms of peer influence arguably remain underdeveloped (Giordano, 2003; Warr, 2002). In an attempt to expand the dialogue on the nature of peer influence, this inquiry proposes that scholars would benefit from considering relative peer deviance in addition to exposure to deviant peers. Specifically, it argues that an imbalance in delinquency between friends helps to explain delinquency change/stability; therefore, exposure to deviant peers is not always risky and exposure to less deviant peers is not always protective. The analysis uses the Add Health data to construct within‐individual and across‐individual (delinquency) difference scores and relies on self‐reports rather than on perceptions for the best friends' delinquency. The results provide support for the premise that adolescents attempt to achieve delinquency “balance” with their best friend by changing behavior, net of raw peer deviance levels (i.e., objective exposure). The findings also suggest that balance is not achieved through selection, given that the deviance gap between the respondent and his or her best friend does not predict friendship stability. The discussion considers these results from a theoretical and empirical perspective and offers several avenues for future research.

The Intersection of Perceptions and Experiences of Bullying by Race and Ethnicity among Middle School Students in the United States

“…This is a pertinent avenue to explore as studies on youth behavior have consistently found that perceptions of peers' behaviors and attitudes have great capacity to influence youths' actions (Perkins 2002(Perkins , 2012Perkins and Berkowitz 1986). Indeed, studies on the impact of the behavior of delinquent peers on one's own behavior consistently suggest a strong correlation between reports of friends' actions and self-reported behavior (see McGloin 2009;Warr and Stafford 1991). It stands to reason that bullying behavior may follow similar conventions.…”

Examining gendered pathways in the causal chain linking neighborhood navigational strategies and unstructured socializing to adolescent violent offending

“…This knowledge has moved researchers away from debating whether peers play a role in explaining behavior and toward understanding the conditions under which peer influence operates. For example, scholars have examined the validity of different measures of peer delinquency (see McGloin, 2009) and utilized social network data to encapsulate the peer effect (see Haynie, 2001). Unstructured socializing is yet another manifestation of the peer effect that prior work has linked to general delinquency, substance use, and dangerous driving (see Haynie & Osgood, 2005;Osgood & Anderson, 2004;Osgood et al, 1996).…”

Educational Outcomes After Serving with Electronic Monitoring: Results from a Natural Experiment

“…On the other hand, theories on social learning and peer effects point to lower re-offending rates among offenders serving with EM with reference to the interactions with other criminals, the training of criminogenic skills and the hardening of offenders in prison. Within this framework, exposure to deviant peers is assumed to prompt higher levels of delinquency due to deviant attitudes and norms, direct modeling and indirect reinforcing effects (see e.g., Akers 1998;Mcgloin 2009). Empirical studies have documented causal peer effects and specialization among inmates (e.g.…”