Elaborating the Causes and Consequences of Unstructured Socializing with Peers: A Consideration of Mediating, Reciprocal, and Nonlinear Effects

• In Event: Peer Contexts: Mediators and Moderators

Abstract

According to Osgood and colleagues (1996) reformulation of Routine Activities Theory, adolescents will engage in crime because the presence of peers during the commission of a deviant act will not only be easier but more rewarding. Further, lack of capable guardians like parents or handlers reduces social control. Additionally, due to the lack-of structure activities such as unstructured socializing with peers present, more time is therefore available for delinquency to occur. Consistent with past research, there have been numerous studies which have examined the various causes and consequences of unstructured socializing with peers including the influence of delinquency, substance abuse, offending, and many others. Using data from the longitudinal Gang Resistance Education and Training (GREAT) project, this dissertation seeks to assess the unexplored associations between unstructured socializing with peers and the various antisocial outcomes. Specifically, attention will be directed towards the mediating, reciprocal, and nonlinear associations of unstructured socializing with peers on adolescent misbehavior.

Author

• Robert Archer, Florida International University