Peer Influence on

Delinquency in Youth

EDPS 650
ALICIA MARCHINI

Introduction
Adolescents spend a great amount of time with friends and are more

strongly influenced by their friends during this developmental stage

(Haynie & Osgood, 2005)

Children are most vulnerable to peer influence at approximately 12-

13 years old (Fuligni, Eccles, Barber, & Clements, 2001)

Children who perceive their parents to be excessively strict and
controlling or permissive and neglectful tend to rely more heavily on
peer support (Fuligni et al., 2001)

Introduction
This reliance on peers may not necessarily have a

negative impact (Fuligni et al., 2001)

Youths who exhibit an extreme attachment to peers
more likely engage in more problem behaviour

(Fuligni et al.,

2001)

Studies often report that peer

delinquency is most strongly

correlated with respondents
delinquency, the involvement
of peer relations on
delinquency is unclear
(Haynie & Osgood, 2005)

Delinquency in Youth
Antisocial behaviour, such as

delinquency,
greatly increases
in adolescence,
commencing
in early adolescence and
declining
in late adolescence;
however,
delinquency may continue into
young adulthood
Mulvey (2011): approximately half of the 1,354 serious juvenile
offenders continued to commit crimes in adulthood
Hoeve et al.( 2008): Criminal acts in male criminal offenders
increased in late adolescence and early adulthood, but then
declined

Peer Influence & Selection

Peer groups tend to exhibit similar behaviours
This may be explained by peer selection, peer

influence, or shared contextual influences

between peers
Research suggests that peer similarity
can occur as a result of both
influence and selection

(Knecht et al., 2010)

Peer Influence & Selection

Knecht et al., 2010: adolescents who were more

delinquent (i.e., frequent acts of stealing,

vandalizing, fighting) were more likely to have
friends with a higher level of delinquent

Students did not adjust their delinquent behaviour to better

align with the behaviour of their friends
The limitations of this study may have impacted this result

Burk, Steglich, & Snijders, 2007: contradictory

findings that peer influence, as well as selection, is

related to delinquency in a study of adolescence, up
to age 18

Peer Influence on Delinquency

Haynie & Osgood (2005): peer socialization has a significant

causal effect on delinquency, as adolescents with delinquent

friends exhibited more delinquent behaviour

consistent with previous research

unstructured socialization with

peers is conducive to delinquency,

regardless of the level of
delinquency of the peer group
peer influence does not entirely
account
for delinquency in peer
groups
influence of peers and context (i.e., unsupervised peer
interaction) did not transcend the influence of family and
school on their level of delinquency

Parental Influence on Peer Selection

Keijsers et al. (2012): parents can lead their children

to associate with delinquent friends and, in turn,

participate in delinquent behaviour by prohibiting
their adolescents friendships
bad friends seemingly
become the forbidden
fruit

Peer Influence vs. Individual Characteristics

Peer Influence Model: inadequate parenting causes

children to associate with deviant peers, ultimately leading

to delinquency

most adolescents join delinquent peer groups before they engage in

delinquency; however, even when prior delinquency is controlled for,
the association with delinquent peers causes delinquency to escalate

Individual Characteristics Model: disruptive behaviour (i.e.,

opposition, aggressiveness, hyperactivity) in children leads

to delinquency and association with delinquent peers

deviant friends do not provoke delinquent behaviour; rather, deviant

children form relationships with one another and continue to engage
in delinquent behaviour

(Vitaro, Tremblay, Kerr, Pagani, & Bukowski, 1997)

Peer Influence vs. Individual Characteristics

Vitaro et al. (1997): sample of 868 boys from various French-

speaking schools in low socioeconomic areas in Montreal, Canada

Support for Peer Influence Model: the influence of deviant friends on
moderately disruptive boys is strong enough to increase their
delinquency at age 13 to that of highly disruptive boys
Not aligned with Peer Influence Model: moderately disruptive boys
with no friends were more disruptive at age 13 than moderately
disruptive boys with average or nonaggressive-nondisturbing friends
However, moderately disruptive boys with no friends reported less
delinquency at age 13, compared to moderately disruptive boys
with aggressive-disturbing friends and did not report more
delinquency than those with average or nonaggressive-nondisturbing
friends

Peer Influence vs. Individual Characteristics

Support for Peer Influence Model: Results suggest that

moderately disruptive boys with no friends are safeguarded

from delinquency (but not from disruptiveness) due to a lack of
negative peer influence
Nonaggressive-nondisturbing peer group did not influence the
disruptiveness of highly disruptive boys, BUT moderately
disruptive boys with nonaggressive-nondisturbing friends were
protected from disruptiveness
Support for Individual Characteristics Model: highly disruptive
boys were most delinquent at age 13, regardless of their friends

However, it is possible that these boys were influenced by deviant peers

prior to the onset of the study (i.e., in preschool years)

Vitaro et al. (1997)

Implications for School/Child Psychologists

When encountering an adolescent who is engaging in

delinquent behaviour, several avenues can be explored to

ascertain the underlying cause(s) of the problem behaviour

adolescents who have an extreme attachment to peers (Fuligni

et al., 2001), have parents who prohibit their friendships
(Keijsers et al., 2012), and who belong to peer groups that
exhibit antisocial behaviour will more likely engage in problem
behaviour (Knecht et al., 2010; Haynie & Osgood, 2005; Vitaro
et al., 1997)

The relationship between the youth and

parents must be examined, and possibly
repaired

Implications for School/Child Psychologists

It is also important to remember that children with

socialization difficulties were found to have a more limited
selection in peer groups and often form friendships with
problematic peers (Hartup & Stevens, 1997).

school and applied child psychologists must address problems

with socialization in children to develop their ability to socialize
with others and potentially reduce the risk of connecting with
delinquent peers

Implications for School/Child Psychologists

Children are most vulnerable to peer influence at 12 to 13

years old (Fuligni et al., 2001), though delinquency levels are

typically low (Knecht et al., 2010)

Must consider the age of the youth we are servicing, as we can implement
precautionary interventions to protect preadolescent children from
eventually participating in delinquent behaviour as they age

Unstructured socialization with peers is conducive to

delinquency, regardless of the level of delinquency of the peer

group (Haynie & Osgood, 2005)

may be beneficial for school and applied child psychologists to recommend

the enrollment of children in extracurricular activities (i.e., sports, art,
dance, church youth groups, after-school programs, boy/girl scouts, etc.)
to prevent or limit unsupervised socialization

Conclusion
Exposure to negative peer influence has a well-evidenced link to

delinquency in adolescents
However, it is not the only contributory factor, as parenting and
family influences may also lead to delinquency
Must stay abreast with the research regarding peer influence and
implement strategies to protect societys youth from embarking
on a pathway to delinquency and, perhaps, criminality later in
life

References
Burk, W. J., Steglich, C., & Snijders, T. A. B. (2007). Beyond dyadic
interdependence: Actor-oriented models for co-evolving social networks and
individual behaviours. International Journal of Behavioural Development, 31, 397-404.
Fuligni, A. J., Eccles, J. S., Barber, B. L., & Clements, P. (2001). Early
Adolescent Peer Orientation and Adjustment During High School.
Psychology, 37(1), 28-36. doi:10.1037//0012-1649.37.1.28

Developmental

Hartup, W. W., & Stevens, N. (1997). Friendships and adaptation in the life course.
Psychological Bulletin, 121, 355-370.
Haynie, D. L., & Osgood, D. W. (2005). Reconsidering Peers and Delinquency: How do
Peers Matter? Social Forces, 84(2), 1109-1130. Retrieved from http://
web.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.lib.ucalgary.ca/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer? sid=790296fb7f62-4cbc-bf4e-aa3d5e8c0842%40sessionmgr1
12&vid=5&hid=113

References
Hoeve, M., Blokland, A., Semon Dubas, J., Loeber, R., Gerris, J. R. M., & van der Laan,
P. H. (2008). Trajectories of delinquency and parenting styles. Journal of Abnormal Child
Psychology, 36, 223-235.
Keijsers, L., Branje, S., Hawk, S. T., Schwartz, S. J., Frijns, T., Koot, H. M., & Meeus,
W. (2012). Forbidden Friends as Forbidden Fruit: Parental Supervision of Friendships,
Contact with Deviant Peers, and Adolescent Delinquency. Child Development, 83(2), 651666. doi:10:1111/j.1467-8624.2011.01701.x
Knecht, A., Snijders, T. A., Baerveldt, C., Steglich, C. E., & Raub, W. (2010). Friendship
and Delinquency: Selection and Influence Processes in Early Adolescence. Social
Development, 19(3), 494-514. doi:0.1111/j.1467-9507.2009.00564.x
Mulvey, E., Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
Prevention. (2011). Highlights from pathways to desistance: A longitudinal
serious adolescent offenders (NCJ Publication No. 230971). Retrieved from
https://ncjrs.gov/p dffiles1/ojjdp/23 0971.pdf

study of

References
Vitaro, F., Tremblay, R. E., Kerr, M., Pagani, L., & Bukowski, W. M. (1997).
Disruptiveness, Friends Characteristics, and Delinquency in Early Adolescence: A
Test of Two Competing Models of Development. Child
Development, 68(4), 676689. doi: 10.1111/1467-8624.ep9710021683
White, S. W., Oswald, D., Ollendick, T., & Scahill, L. (2009). Anxiety in children and
adolescents with autism spectrum disorders. Clinical Psychology Review,
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