PEER DELINQUENCY AND WHERE ADOLESCENTS SPEND TIME WITH PEERS: MEDIATION AND MODERATION OF HOME NEIGHBORHOOD EFFECTS ON SELF-REPORTED DELINQUENCY

Collective efficacy is one construct explaining how neighborhood social processes lead to local outcomes, such as crime rates. Collective efficacy has been shown to be mediated by other social influences, such as peer influences, in predicting delinquency. However, existing studies do not always cle...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of community psychology 2016-03, Vol.44 (2), p.263-270
Main Authors: Tompsett, Carolyn J., Veits, Gina M., Amrhein, Kelly E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Behavior
Community support
Juvenile delinquency
Peer relationships
Teenagers
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Collective efficacy is one construct explaining how neighborhood social processes lead to local outcomes, such as crime rates. Collective efficacy has been shown to be mediated by other social influences, such as peer influences, in predicting delinquency. However, existing studies do not always clearly distinguish between the neighborhood where delinquent adolescents reside and other important neighborhoods when assessing collective efficacy. The current study used a self‐report survey of 186 court‐involved adolescents to examine associations between the collective efficacy of the home neighborhood, peer delinquency, and delinquent behaviors. Peer delinquency mediated the association between collective efficacy and self‐reported delinquency. This mediational model was moderated by the location where respondents preferred to spend time with peers, with adolescents who preferred to spend time with peers in neighborhoods outside of their home neighborhood (44%) demonstrating weaker associations between home neighborhood collective efficacy and other variables.
ISSN:0090-4392
1520-6629
DOI:10.1002/jcop.21759