Peers and Delinquency

Abstract

In this article, we outline the importance of peers in adolescent delinquency. We review ways in which peers influence different deviant behaviors, as well as the ways in which deviant adolescents tend to select like‐minded friends (homophily). The coexistence of the peer influences → deviance and deviance → peer selection directions of effects is also explored, where the same adolescents and behaviors co‐occur in both directional pathways. We also discuss ecological (especially family) influences on peer selection and effects, as well as the ways in which peer network effects may differ between “life course persistent” and “adolescence limited” adolescent deviance. Finally, we briefly review biological and early‐experiential vulnerabilities that predispose adolescents toward selecting antisocial peers.

Social influences, peer delinquency, and low self-control: An examination of time-varying and reciprocal effects on delinquency over adolescence

“…According to Matsueda and Anderson (1998), this suggests that selection mechanisms are present within this process. 1 However, more research is needed to disentangle the underlying mechanisms driving this relationship, particularly given the ongoing debate about the relative importance of peer influence and peer selection in explaining delinquency (see, for an overview, Schwartz and Vazsonyi, 2014).…”