Do Peers Protect People or Put Them at Risk of Recidivism? Friendship Quality and Peer Crime Among Justice-Involved Youth

Despite theoretical acknowledgments that peers can be either “good” or “bad” for criminal offending and recidivism, criminological research most often models peers as a criminogenic influence on offending behaviors. To explore the impact of peer relationships and to expand on theoretical conceptuali...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inCrime and delinquency Vol. 70; no. 9; pp. 2371 - 2404
Main Authors Confer, Leanne M., Mowen, Thomas J., Boman, John H.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.08.2024
SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
Subjects
Adolescents
Crime
Criminal justice
Friendship
Influence
Interpersonal relations
Juvenile offenders
Offending
Peer influence
Peer relationships
Personal relationships
Quality
Recidivism
Social control
Teenagers
peers
social learning
recidivism
social control
desistance
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Summary:Despite theoretical acknowledgments that peers can be either “good” or “bad” for criminal offending and recidivism, criminological research most often models peers as a criminogenic influence on offending behaviors. To explore the impact of peer relationships and to expand on theoretical conceptualization of peer relationship quality, the current study uses Pathways to Desistance data to examine the effects of peer quality and peer delinquency in recidivism over time among a sample of 1,272 individuals adjudicated during adolescence. Findings from a series of mixed-effects models demonstrate that peer quality is significantly predictive of increased aggressive offending. However, quality mitigates the relationship between peer delinquency and income offending, highlighting a need for further research considering potential protective aspects of peer relationships.
ISSN:0011-1287
1552-387X
DOI:10.1177/00111287231151874