Stressful Life Experiences and Peer Externalizing Behaviors Mediate the Relation Between Reduced Family Support and Externalizing Symptoms in Low-Income Urban Youth

Family support, urban stressors, and peer behavior were examined in relation to externalizing symptoms in 605 predominantly low-income urban sixth through eighth grade adolescents. Mother and father support were each associated with lower levels of externalizing symptoms in both males and females. For males, father absence was associated with increased peer externalizing behavior and heightened rates of youth externalizing symptoms. Stress (in the form of major life events, daily hassles, and exposure to violence) and peer externalizing behavior were examined as mediators of the relation between parent support and youth externalizing symptoms. Increased stress exposure mediated the relation between weak mother and father support and youth externalizing symptoms. Additionally, for females, peer externalizing behavior mediated the relation between weak mother support and youth externalizing symptoms.     

DELINQUENCY BALANCE: REVISITING PEER INFLUENCE*

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.     

Crime and Philanthropy: Prosocial and Antisocial Responses to Mass Shootings

ABSTRACT

Mass shootings have a strong impact on public discourse and perception, affecting more than their direct victims. We use data on charitable contributions and criminal activity in the U.S. over the last decade to identify and quantify the effect of mass shootings on prosocial and antisocial behavior. We find that the effect of mass shootings on prosocial behavior, measured primarily by monetary contributions, is positive and statistically significant. However, the directly affected localities react to mass shootings differently than their neighboring communities, decreasing their charitable contributions. Additionally, we are unable to find a statistically significant effect of mass shootings on antisocial behavior, as measured by various crime rates. Furthermore, we show that mass shootings are different than any other type of criminal behavior, including all other violent offenses, in terms of its effect on prosocial behavior.     

Racial composition,sentencing reforms,and rates of incarceration, 1970–1980

Association with delinquent peer groups is one of the most salient predictors of delinquent behavior. Despite the widespread documentation of these effects, little is known about whether the delinquent peer effect is conditioned by individual‐level characteristics. Using data from a multi‐wave survey of Mexican‐American adolescents, this study explored the interactive effect of susceptibility to peer influence and differential association with delinquent peers on delinquent outcomes. Results suggested that the delinquent peer effect on self‐reported delinquency is amplified when an adolescent is highly susceptible to peer influence. Analyses also indicated that this moderating effect varies according to offense seriousness. Specifically, the conditioning effect is most important when considering acts of serious delinquency.     

Vietnamese Youth Gangs in Honolulu

SUMMARY

Traditional theories of the connection between immigrant youth and gangs have not been sufficient in explaining why some are not in gangs. Therefore, this study examines Vietnamese youth gangs in Honolulu and the factors contributing to Vietnamese delinquency and youth gang participation. Twenty-six interviews were conducted with agency, school, police, Vietnamese adults, and Vietnamese youth. Results suggest that though the content of the delinquency model is different for immigrant and nonimmigrant youth, the process is the same. Problems in the home, school, or neighborhood facilitate contact with delinquent youth, and association with delinquent peers increases the likelihood for delinquency and gang involvement. Therefore, participation inyouth gangs depends on peer relationships. This finding is congruent with the perceptions of youth, while adults appear less aware of the effects of peer relationships among youth.     

Why Do Adolescents Overestimate Their Peers' Smoking Prevalence? Correlates of Prevalence Estimates Among California 8th-Grade Students

Adolescents' estimates of their peers' smoking prevalence can influence their own smoking behavior. However, it is not clear how these prevalence estimates are formed, or what factors influence their accuracy. This study used data from a statewide sample of 5870 8th-grade adolescents in California to examine the correlates of smoking prevalence estimates. Best friends' smoking accounted for the largest proportion of the variance in prevalence estimates. Other significant correlates included female gender, actual smoking prevalence in the student's school, perceptions of smoking on TV, perceived access to cigarettes, low academic performance, cigarette offers, and ethnicity. The variables in the model accounted for 23.8% of the variance in smoking prevalence estimates. Adolescents with smokers in their social networks and schools may be especially susceptible to smoking, because their peers' smoking may give them the impression that smoking is more normative and prevalent than it actually is.     

The Adolescent Society Revisited: Cultures, Crowds, Climates, and Status Structures in Seven Secondary Schools

The authors used data from seven schools in a metropolitan region to explore continuity and change in adolescent cultures and status structures; they identified six major types of status structures and explained variation among them in terms of characteristics of communities and schools. A key feature of the study is comparison of school climates, using both survey data and qualitative case studies that provide an interpretive context for the survey responses; this methodology allows a contextual level of analysis that is unavailable in either single-school ethnographies or large data sets that aggregate responses from individuals situated in many schools.Roberta Garner is Professor of Sociology at DePaul University. She received a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Chicago (1966). Her interests are in sociological theory, political sociology, and the sociology of culture.Judith Bootcheck is Associate Professor of Sociology at DePaul University and received the Ph.D. from Purdue University (1969). Her interests are in youth and the aging, families, and social problemsMichael Lorr is a Ph.D. student in Urban Studies at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He received an MA in sociology from DePaul (2002) and his interests are in sociology of culture, political sociology, and sociology of educationKathryn Rauch received an MA from DePaul University with a focus on sociology of education and youth     

Effects of Deviant Peer Association on Adolescent Alcohol Consumption: A Growth Mixture Modeling Analysis

This study examined concurrent and lagged effects of deviant peer association on levels of alcohol use for distinctive trajectories of drinking from ages 14–18 years, while controlling for age, paternal education, community size, and conduct problems. Longitudinal data were available from a secondary data archive of male and female German adolescents (N = 1,619). Conditional latent growth mixture modeling analysis indicated consistent concurrent effects of deviant peer association (specified as time-varying covariate) on alcohol use for the regular users group, but not any of the other drinking trajectory groups. Very few lagged effects of deviant peers association on alcohol use were found, and thus the social influence hypothesis received little empirical support. Overall, findings suggest the need to consider heterogeneity in the study of peer characteristics and alcohol use for both male and female adolescents.

INCENTIVES FOR COLLECTIVE DEVIANCE: GROUP SIZE AND CHANGES IN PERCEIVED RISK,COST, AND REWARD*

Research has demonstrated that the presence of others shifts decision‐making about risky/deviant behavior. One reason for this shift could be changes in the anticipated experience of formal sanctions, informal costs, and rewards. To investigate this possibility, this study conducted two randomized controlled trials with hypothetical vignettes, in which a range of how many other people were also involved in the criminal act defined the treatment conditions. Across two samples of university students (Ns = 396 and 263), the results revealed that as the size of the involved group increased, the anticipated experience of sanction risk and several informal social costs associated with engaging in the act decreased, and the anticipated experience of two rewards increased. Additional analyses suggest that, with one exception in each data set, these changes are not only tied to the solo/group distinction.     

Social networks of sexual offenders

Abstract

Despite the extensive research attention directed toward criminal peer groups, there has been little attention to the peer groups of sexual offenders. Sexual offenders are often considered to be loners who offend in isolation, but cases of sex crimes involving peer support are not difficult to find, e.g., child sex rings, gang rapes. To examine the role of peers in sexual offending, sexual offenders and nonsexual offenders were asked whether they knew other people who have committed sexual crimes. In comparison to the nonoffender community comparison group, the sexual offenders reported considerably more association and identification with sexual offenders. The associations also tended to be offence specific, such that child molesters knew other child molesters and rapists knew other rapists. These findings have important implications for the assessment and treatment of sexual offenders.