Friendship Networks and Delinquency in Adolescence and Emerging Adulthood, Session 1: Peers and Persistence

Session Submission Type: Complete Thematic Panel

Abstract/Description

In this symposium, broken into two thematic panels, we highlight the important role of friendship networks in the development of delinquency over the life course. The first session, “Peers and Persistence,” focuses on change and stability in peer networks and delinquency. The second session, “Peers and Punishment” focuses on the impacts of punishment on friendship network structure and composition. Here, we introduce the details of the first session, in which we build on theory in criminology, sociology, and social psychology to examine the role of peer networks in delinquency from adolescence into young adulthood. The first paper, by Cassie McMillan, Kaley Jones, Wade Jacobsen, Nayan Ramirez, and Mark Feinberg, examines changes in the structure and composition of friendship networks through adolescence into young adulthood. The second paper, by Nayan Ramirez, Cassie McMillan, and Wade Jacobsen, assesses stability and change in friendship networks between non-heterosexual and heterosexual youth. The third paper, by Kaley Jones, tests whether changes in peer networks help to explain patterns in desistance beginning in young adulthood. Presentations of these full papers will be followed by comments from discussant Dana Haynie.

Sub Unit

• Area IV. Correlates of Crime / 33. Social Ties & Social Networks

Individual Presentations

• Best Friends Forever? How Delinquency informs Friendship (In)stability from Adolescence to Young Adulthood - Cassie McMillan, Northeastern University; Kaley A. Jones, Northeastern University; Wade C. Jacobsen, University of Maryland; Nayan G. Ramirez, California State University, Northridge; Mark E. Feinberg, Penn State University

• Friendship, Gender, and Sexuality: Addressing Substance Use Disparities in Young Adults - Nayan G. Ramirez, California State University, Northridge; Cassie McMillan, Northeastern University; Wade C. Jacobsen, University of Maryland

• Beyond the Schoolyard: The Influence of High School Friendships on Turning Points and Crime in Adulthood - Kaley A. Jones, Northeastern University

Chair

• Wade C. Jacobsen, University of Maryland

Discussant

• Dana Haynie, Ohio State University