Proactive Criminal Thinking and Deviant Identity as Mediators of the Peer Influence Effect

2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 281-298 ◽  
Author(s):  
Glenn D. Walters
Keyword(s):  
Peer Influence ◽  
Criminal Thinking ◽  
Major Pathway ◽  
Peer Delinquency ◽  
Cause And Effect ◽  
Youth Survey ◽  
Influence Effect ◽  
Peer Associations ◽  
Delinquent Peer ◽  
Moral Model

The purpose of this study was to test the moral model of criminal lifestyle development with data from the 1,725-member (918 boys and 807 girls) National Youth Survey. It was hypothesized that peer delinquency would predict proactive criminal thinking but not deviant identity as part of a four-variable chain running from peer delinquency to participant delinquency. Consistent with this hypothesis, the pathway running from peer delinquency to proactive criminal thinking to deviant identity to participant delinquency was significant but the pathway running from peer delinquency to deviant identity to proactive criminal thinking to participant delinquency was not. Deviant identity nonetheless predicted proactive criminal thinking and delinquency. These results support a major pathway in the moral model and indicate that while deviant identity plays a role in antisocial development, it is as a cause and effect of proactive criminal thinking rather than as an effect of delinquent peer associations.

scholarly journals The Moderating Effect of Prosocial Peers on the Relationships Between Peer Delinquency, Neutralization, and Violent Offending

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Glenn D. Walters
Keyword(s):  
Peer Influence ◽  
Current Investigation ◽  
Peer Delinquency ◽  
Protective Function ◽  
Violent Offending ◽  
Influence Effect ◽  
Peer Associations ◽  
Delinquent Peer ◽  
Prosocial Peers ◽  
And Training

The goal of the current investigation was to determine whether prosocial peer associations can serve as protective factors by interacting with key components of the peer influence effect. A moderated mediation analysis performed on 2,474 youth (52% female) from the Gang Resistance Education and Training (GREAT) study (mean age = 12.13 years) revealed that Wave 2 prosocial peer associations moderated the peer delinquency–neutralization relationship. Alternately, Wave 3 prosocial peer associations moderated the neutralization–violent offending relationship. Hence, neutralization beliefs were disproportionately weaker in participants with fewer delinquent peer associations and more prosocial peer associations, whereas the effect of neutralization on delinquency was attenuated, though not eliminated, by strong prosocial peer associations. These results suggest that prosocial peer associations may serve a protective function at different points in the peer influence sequence and that they may be more than simply the converse of peer delinquency.

The Sibling Effect for Delinquency: Mediation by Proactive Criminal Thinking and Moderation by Age

2019 ◽  
Vol 64 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 265-288 ◽  
Author(s):  
Glenn D. Walters
Keyword(s):  
Peer Influence ◽  
Mediation Analysis ◽  
Early Adolescent ◽  
Criminal Thinking ◽  
Causal Mediation ◽  
Influence Effect ◽  
Causal Mediation Analysis ◽  
Significant Pathway ◽  
At Home

This study tested whether the sibling delinquency effect, like the peer influence effect, is mediated by proactive (planned, calculated, and amoral) criminal thinking. Youth who completed the Offending, Crime and Justice Survey (OCJS) and had a sibling living at home were divided into an early adolescent subsample ( n = 795) and a mid-adolescent subsample ( n = 532) after it was determined that age moderated the effect of sibling delinquency on proactive criminal thinking and serious offending. The results of a causal mediation analysis revealed a significant pathway running from sibling delinquency at Wave 1, to proactive criminal thinking at Wave 2, to serious offending at Wave 3, but only in the early adolescent subsample. These results suggest that the sibling delinquency effect may be the result of learning proactive criminal thinking in association with a delinquent sibling while still an early adolescent.

scholarly journals Longitudinal Mechanisms Linking Perceived Racial Discrimination to Aggressive Delinquency among North American Indigenous Youth

2019 ◽  
Vol 56 (5) ◽  
pp. 694-735 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dane Hautala ◽  
Kelley Sittner
Keyword(s):  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Path Analysis ◽  
First Nations ◽  
Racial Discrimination ◽  
North American ◽  
Indigenous Youth ◽  
Peer Associations ◽  
School Bonds ◽  
Delinquent Peer ◽  
Perceived Racial Discrimination

Objectives: Drawing from an integrated general strain theory framework, the purpose of the study is to examine the longitudinal mediating and moderating mechanisms linking perceived racial discrimination with aggressive delinquency among North American Indigenous (i.e., American Indian and Canadian First Nations) youth. Method: Data come from an eight-year longitudinal study of Indigenous youth residing on reservations/reserves in the upper Midwest and Canada ( N = 659). Scales were created for discrimination, depressive symptoms, school bonds, and delinquent peer associations at years 2 and 3, and a count measure of aggression was created at years 2, 3, and 5. Cross-lagged path analysis models were estimated to examine possible mediating effects of depressive symptoms, school bonds, and delinquent peer associations. Separate regression models were examined to test for possible moderating effects of the aforementioned variables. Results: The results of a longitudinal path analysis model showed that discrimination indirectly increased aggression through decreased school bonds and increased delinquent peer associations. Depressive symptoms was the only significant moderator, and contrary to expectations, the effect of discrimination on aggression declined in magnitude as depressive symptoms increased. Conclusions: Discrimination is a key criminogenic stressor among Indigenous youth and is linked with multiple adverse outcomes through the adolescent years.

scholarly journals Peer influence in adolescent drinking behavior: A meta-analysis of stochastic actor-based modeling studies

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. e0250169
Author(s):  
Valeria Ivaniushina ◽  
Vera Titkova
Keyword(s):  
Peer Influence ◽  
Odds Ratio ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Drinking Behavior ◽  
Selection Effect ◽  
Parameter Estimates ◽  
Effective Prevention ◽  
Peer Selection ◽  
Influence Effect ◽  
Log Odds

Objectives To measure the effects of peer influence and peer selection on drinking behavior in adolescence through a rigorous statistical approach designed to unravel these interrelated processes. Methods We conducted systematic searches of electronic databases, thesis collections and conference proceedings to identify studies that used longitudinal network design and stochastic actor-oriented modeling to analyze drinking behavior in adolescents. Parameter estimates collected from individual studies were analyzed using multilevel random-effects models. Results We identified 26 articles eligible for meta-analysis. Meta-analyses for different specifications of the peer influence effect were conducted separately. The peer influence effect was positive for every specification: for average similarity (avSim) mean log odds ratio was 1.27 with 95% confidence interval [0.04; 2.49]; for total similarity (totSim) 0.46 (95% CI = [0.44; 0.48]), and for average alter (avAlt) 0.70 (95% CI = [-0.01; 1.41]). The peer selection effect (simX) was also positive: 0.46 (95% CI = [0.28; 0.63]). Conversion log odds ratio values to Cohen’s d gives estimates from 0.25 to 0.70, which is considered as medium to large effect. Conclusions Advances in methodology for social network analysis have made it possible to accurately estimate peer influence effects free from peer selection effects. More research is necessary to clarify the roles of age, gender, and individual susceptibility on the changing behavior of adolescents under the influence of their peers. Understanding the effects of peer influence should inform practitioners and policy makers to design and deliver more effective prevention programs.

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