Gender Differences in Monitoring and Deviant Peers as Predictors of Delinquent Behavior Among Low-Income Urban African American Youth

Abstract

Juvenile delinquency is an ongoing social problem particularly among low-income urban youth who are regularly exposed to numerous risk factors. Although much research has been conducted in this area, the most at-risk youth have been largely neglected. This study examines the role of peer deviance in mediating the influence of adult monitoring on male and female adolescents’ delinquent behavior, using multisource, multimethod data with an emphasis on differing impacts across the two genders. Results suggest that the level of peer deviance partially mediates the impact of monitoring on delinquent behavior, even after controlling for previous levels of delinquency. However, girls’ delinquency appear to be more influenced by peers than their perceptions of monitoring. Conversely, boys’ delinquent behavior is associated with daily immediate monitoring, not peer behaviors. These results are discussed in the context of particular issues facing low-income urban African American families.

Keywords

monitoring peer influence juvenile delinquency gender differences

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Allison

K. W.

Burton

Marshall

Perez-Febles

Yarrington

Kirsch

L. B.

Merriwether-DeVries

(1999). Life experiences among urban adolescents: Examining the role of context. Child Development, 70(4), 1017-1029.

Aseltine

(1995). A reconsideration of parental and peer influences on adolescent deviance. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 3(6), 103-121.

Aultman

M. G.

(1980). Group involvement in delinquent acts: A study of offense types and male-female participation. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 7(2), 185-192.

Barnes

G. M.

Farrell

M. P.

(1992). Parental support and control as predictors of adolescent drinking, delinquency and related problem behaviors. Journal of Marriage and Family, 54(4), 763-776.

Baron

R. M.

Kenny

D. A.

(1986). The moderator-mediator variable in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategical, and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 1173-1182.

Belsky

Steinberg

Houts

Halpern-Felsher

B. L.

(2010). The development of reproductive strategy in females: Early maternal harshness → earlier menarche → increased sexual risk taking. Developmental Psychology, 46, 120-128.

Boykin-McElhaney

Allen

(2001). Autonomy and adolescent social functioning: The moderating effect of risk. Child Development, 72, 220-235.

Brendgen

Vitaro

Bukowski

W. M.

(2000). Deviant friends and early adolescents’ emotional and behavioral adjustment. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 10(2), 173-189.

Brody

G. H.

Conger

Gibbons

F. X.

Murry

V. M.

Gerrard

Simons

R. L.

(2001). The influence of neighborhood disadvantage, collective socialization, and parenting on African American children’s affiliation with deviant peers. Child Development, 72, 1231-1246.

10.

Brown

B. B.

Mounts

Lamborn

S. D.

Steinberg

(1993). Parenting practices and peer group affiliation in adolescence. Child Development, 64, 467-482.

11.

Cairns

R. B.

Cairns

B. D.

Neckerman

H. J.

Gest

S. D.

Gariepy

(1988). Social networks and aggressive behavior: Peer support or peer rejection? Developmental Psychology, 24, 816-823.

12.

Ceballo

McLoyd

V. C.

(2002). Social support and parenting in poor, dangerous neighborhoods. Child Development, 73, 1310-1321.

13.

Clasen

D. R.

Brown

B. B.

(1985). The multidimensionality of peer pressure in adolescence. Journal of Adolescence and Youth, 14, 451-469.

14.

Cooley-Quille

Lorion

(1999). Adolescents’ exposure to community violence: Sleep and psychophyiological functioning. Journal of Community Psychology, 27, 367-375.

15.

Crosnoe

Erikson

K. G.

Dornbusch

S. M.

(2002). Protective functions of family relationships and school factors on the deviant behavior of adolescent boys and girls: Reducing the impact of risky friendships. Youth & Society, 33, 515-544.

16.

Dishion

T. J.

Capaldi

Spracklen

K. M.

(1995). Peer ecology of male adolescent drug use. Development and Psychopathology, 7, 803-824.

17.

Dishion

T. J.

Patterson

G. R.

Griesler

P. C.

(1994). Peer adaptation in the development of antisocial behavior: A confluence model. In Huesmann

L. R.

(Ed.), Aggressive behavior: Current perspectives (pp. 61-95). New York: Plenum.

18.

Dishion

T. J.

Patterson

G. R.

Stoolmiller

Skinner

M. L.

(1991). Family, school and behavioral antecedents to early adolescent involvement with antisocial peers. Developmental Psychology, 27, 172-180.

19.

Eder

(1985). The cycle of popularity: Interpersonal relations among female adolescents. Sociology of Education, 58, 154-165.

20.

Emler

Reicher

Ross

(1987). The social context of delinquent conduct. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 28, 99-109.

21.

Entner Wright

B. R.

Younts

C. W.

(2009). Reconsidering the relationship between race and crime: Positive and negative predictors of crime among African American youth. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 46, 327-352.

22.

Farrell

A. D.

Kung

E. M.

White

K. S.

Valois

R. F.

(2000). The structure of self-reported aggression, drug use, and delinquent behaviors during adolescence. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 29, 282-292.

23.

Flannery

D. J.

Williams

L. L.

Vazsonyi

A. T.

(1999). Who are they with and what are they doing? Delinquent behavior, substance use and early adolescents’ after-school time. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 69(2), 247-253.

24.

Brody

G. H.

Conger

R. D.

Simons

R. L.

Murry

V. M.

(2002). Contextual amplification of pubertal transition effects on deviant peer affiliation and externalizing behavior among African American children. Developmental Psychology, 38, 42-54.

25.

Gorman-Smith

Tolan

P. H.

Zelli

Huesmann

L. R.

(1996). The relation of family functioning to violence among inner-city youth. Journal of Family Psychology, 10(2), 115-129.

26.

Guerra

N. G.

Huesmann

L. R.

Tolan

P. H.

Van Acker

Eron

L. D.

(1995). Stressful events and individual beliefs as correlates of economic disadvantage and aggression among urban children. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 63, 518-528.

27.

Hawkins

J. D.

Catalano

Miller

(1992). Risk and protective factors for alcohol and other drug problems in adolescence and early adulthood: Implications for substance use prevention. Psychological Bulletin, 112(1), 64-105.

28.

Heaven

P. C. L.

Virgen

(2001). Personality, perceptions of family and peer influences, and males’ self-reported delinquency. Personality and Individual Differences, 30, 321-331.

29.

Henry

D. B.

Tolan

P. H.

Gorman-Smith

(2001) Longitudinal family and peer group effects on violence and non-violent delinquency. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 30, 172-186.

30.

Holmbeck

G. N.

(1994). Adolescence. In Ramachandran

V. S.

(Ed.), Encyclopedia of human behavior (Vol. 1, pp. 17-28). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.

31.

Jarrett

R. L.

(1999). Successful parenting in high-risk neighborhoods. The Future of Children, 9(2), 45-50.

32.

Jessor

Van Den Bos

Vanderryn

Costa

Turbin

(1995). Protective factors in adolescent problem behavior: Moderator effects and developmental change. Developmental Psychology, 31, 923-933.

33.

Joreskog

K. G.

Sorebom

(1997). Lisrel 8: User’s reference guide. Chicago: Scientific Software International.

34.

Keenan

Loeber

Zhang

Stouthamer-Loeber

Van Nammen

W. B.

(1995). The influence of deviant peers on the development of boys’ disruptive and delinquent behavior: A temporal analysis. Development and Psychopathology, 7, 715-726.

35.

Kim

J. E.

Hetherington

E. M.

Reiss

(1999). Associations among family relationships, antisocial peers, and adolescents’ externalizing behaviors: Gender and family type differences. Child Development, 70, 1209-1230.

36.

Klein

Forehand

(2000). Family processes as resources for African American children exposed to a constellation of sociodemographic risk factors. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 29(1), 53-65.

37.

Lamborn

S. D.

Mounts

N. S.

Steinberg

Dornbusch

S. M.

(1991). Patterns of competence and adjustment among adolescents from authoritative, authoritarian, indulgent, and neglectful families. Child Development, 62, 1049-1065.

38.

Landsheer

Van Dijkum

(2005). Male and female delinquency trajectories from pre through middle adolescence and their continuation in late adolescence. Adolescence, 40(160), 729-748.

39.

Larson

(1989). Beeping children and adolescents: A method for studying time use and daily experience. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 18, 511-530.

40.

Larson

Richards

(1991). Daily companionship in late childhood and early adolescence: Changing developmental contexts. Child Development, 62(2), 284-300.

41.

Larson

Richards

Sims

Dworkin

(2001). How urban African American young adolescents spend their time: Time budgets for locations, activities, and companionship. American Journal of Community Psychology, 29(4), 585-587.

42.

Loeber

Farrington

D. P.

(2000). Young children who commit crime: Epidemiology, developmental origins, risk factors, early interventions, and policy implications. Development and Psychopathology, 12, 737-762.

43.

Magnusson

Stattin

Allen

(1986). Biological maturation and social development: A longitudinal study of some adjustment processes from mid-adolescence to adulthood. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 14, 267-283.

44.

Matsueda

Anderson

(1998). The dynamics of delinquent peers and delinquent behavior. Criminology, 36, 269-398.

45.

Mears

D. P.

Ploeger

Warr

(1998). Explaining the gender gap in delinquency: Peer influence and moral evaluations of behavior. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 35(3), 251-266.

46.

Newcomb

Bentler

(1986). Loneliness and social support: A confirmatory hierarchical analysis. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 12, 520-535.

47.

Overbeek

Vollebergh

Meeus

Engels

Luijpers

(2001). Course, co-occurrence, and longitudinal associations of emotional disturbance and delinquency from adolescence to young adulthood: A six-year three-wave study. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 30(4), 401-426.

48.

Pagani

Tremblay

R. E.

Vitaro

Kerr

McDuff

(1998). The impact of family transition on the development of delinquency in adolescent boys: A 9-year longitudinal study. Journal of Child Psychology, Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, 39, 489-499.

49.

Patterson

G. R.

Stouthamer-Loeber

(1984). The correlation of family management practices and delinquency. Child Development, 55, 1299-1307.

50.

Pettit

G. S.

Bates

J. E.

Dodge

K. A.

Meece

D. W.

(1999). The impact of after-school peer contact on early adolescent externalizing problems is moderated by parental monitoring, perceived neighborhood safety, and prior adjustment. Child Development, 70, 768-778.

51.

Pettit

G. S.

Laird

R. D.

Dodge

K. A.

Bates

J. E.

Criss

M. M.

(2001). Antecedents and behavior-problem outcomes of parental monitoring and psychological control in early adolescence. Child Development, 72(2), 583-598.

52.

Pilgrim

Schulenberg

O’Malley

Bachman

Johnston

(2006). Mediators and moderators of parental involvement on substance use: A national study of adolescents. Prevention Science, 7(1), 75-89.

53.

Piquero

N. L.

Gover

A. R.

MacDonald

J. M.

Piquero

(2005). The influence of delinquent peers on delinquency: Does gender matter? Youth & Society, 36, 251-275.

54.

Pleydon

A. P.

Schner

J. G.

(2001). Female adolescent friendship and delinquent behavior. Adolescence, 36, 189-208.

55.

Rai

A. A.

Stanton

Galbraith

Cottrell

Pack

Harris

D’Alessandri

Burns

(2003). Relative influences of perceived parental monitoring and perceived peer involvement on adolescent risk behaviors: An analysis of six cross-sectional data sets. Journal of Adolescent Health, 33(2), 108-118.

56.

Richards

Miller

B. V.

O’Donnell

P. C.

Wasserman

M. S.

Colder

(2004). Parental monitoring mediates the effects of age and sex on problem behaviors among African American urban young adolescents. Journal of Youth & Adolescence, 33, 221-233.

57.

Rosenberg

F. R.

Simmons

R. G.

(1975). Sex differences in the self-concept of adolescence. Sex Roles, 1(2), 147-159.

58.

Sampson

R. J.

(1997). Collective regulation of adolescent misbehavior: Validation of results from eighty Chicago neighborhoods. Journal of Adolescent Research, 12, 227-244.

59.

Smetana

(2008). It’s 10 O’clock: Do you know where your children are? Recent advances in understanding parental monitoring and adolescents’ information management. Child Development Perspectives, 2(1), 19-25.

60.

Smetana

J. G.

Crean

H. F.

Daddis

(2002). Family processes and problem behaviors in middle-class African American adolescents. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 12, 275-304.

61.

Snyder

H. N.

(2008, November). Juvenile arrests 2006 (OJJDP Bulletin). Washington, DC: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP).

62.

Snyder

Dishion

Patterson

(1986). Determinants and consequences of associating with deviant peers during preadolescence and adolescence. Journal of Early Adolescence, 6, 29-43.

63.

Steinberg

(1986). Latchkey children and susceptibility to peer pressure: An ecological analysis. Developmental Psychology, 22, 433-439.

64.

Stoolmiller

(1994) Antisocial behavior, delinquent peer association, and unsupervised wandering for boys: Growth and change from childhood to early adolescence. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 29(3), 263-288.

65.

Stouthamer-Loeber

Loeber

Wei

Farrington

D. P.

Wikstrom

P. H.

(2002). Risk and promotive effects in the explanation of persistent serious delinquency in boys. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 70, 111-123.

66.

Svensson

(2003). Gender differences in adolescent drug use: The impact of parental monitoring and peer deviance. Youth & Society, 34(3), 300-329.

67.

Tolan

(1988). Socioeconomic, family and social stress correlates to adolescent antisocial and delinquent behavior. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 16, 317-331.

68.

Updegraff

McHale

Crouter

Kupanoff

(2001). Parents’ involvement in adolescents’ peer relationships: A comparison of mothers’ and fathers’ roles. Journal of Marriage & the Family, 63(3), 655-668.

69.

Vazsonyi

A. T.

Flannery

D. J.

(1997). Early adolescent delinquent behaviors: Associations with family and school domains. Journal of Early Adolescence, 17(3), 271-293.

70.

Waizenhofer

Buchanan

Jackson-Newson

(2004). Mothers’ and fathers’ Knowledge of adolescents’ daily activities: Its sources and its links with adolescent adjustment. Journal of Family Psychology, 18(2), 348-360.

71.

Weaver

S. R.

Prelow

H. M.

(2005). A mediated-moderation model of maternal parenting style, association with deviant peers, and problem behaviors in urban African American and European American adolescents. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 14(3), 343-356.