Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the negative effect of the peer pressure leading to leading to juvenile delinquency.
Introduction
There is little question that youth who socialize with peers who engage in delinquent behavior are at increased risk for delinquency and substance use-related activities (Dishion, 2000; Dishion & Loeber, 1985; Dishion & Medici Skaggs, 2000; Elliott, Huizinga, & Ageton, 1985; Elliott & Menard, 1996; Hawkins, Catalano, & Miller, 1992; Hops, Davis, & Lewin, 1999; Oetting & Beauvais, 1990; Patterson, Dishion, & Yoerger, 2000)
Research on gender differences among adolescents in the juvenile justice system typically focuses on gender-specific pathways to drug use and deviance, and on characteristics of girls in the system, such as their problematic family environments, sexual and physical victimization, and high rates of depression and other mental illness (Acoca & Dedel, 1998; Dakof, 2000); yet how girls respond to treatment components in light of these sometimes traumatizing experiences has not been well studied. It is thought that girls are socialized to be more relational - to place greater importance on both family and peer relationships in their lives (Agnew & Brezina, 1997, pp.84-111).
There is accumulating research suggesting that interventions that aggregate at-risk peers together can produce iatrogenic effects (Dishion, McCord, & Poulin, 1999, pp. 755-764). Dishion and colleagues (1999) examined data from two peer-group intervention studies and found that youth in the experimental group had increased adolescent problem behavior and negative life outcomes in adulthood, whereas youth in the control conditions did not show such effects. Dishion and colleagues suggested that, compared with low-risk youth, high-risk youth may be particularly vulnerable to negative outcomes as a result of peer aggregation.
If replicated, Dishion (1999) findings have immediate implications for youth in the juvenile justice system because peer aggregation is the most common.......
