Peer Selection and Delinquency: Theory, Evidence, and Future Directions

• In Event: Peers and Crime: Recent Advances and Future Directions

Abstract

Research into peers and delinquency often focuses on peer influence, and it routinely tests hypotheses from criminological theory regarding the mechanisms and conditions that lead to some individuals adopting the delinquent behavior of their friends. The role of delinquency in the creation of those friendships, however, remains under-researched. The current study presents peer influence and selection as complementary processes, and I argue that research into peer delinquency would benefit from a better understanding of how peer selection processes shape peer influence processes. Using social network data drawn from the PROSPER Peers Project, a longitudinal study that follows over 16,000 adolescents in 27 non-metropolitan communities as they moved from 6th through 12th grade, I estimate developmental trends in selection from early through mid-adolescence. Results suggest that increased similarity between peers during this time is not only a result of an increase in homophilic selection, but that this increase is driven by a tendency to create new friendships rather than maintaining existing friendships. I discuss the implications that these results have for both theory and research into peer delinquency and present directions for future research.

Author

• Daniel T. Ragan, University of New Mexico