Companions in Crime: The Social Aspects of Criminal Conduct

“…may in some circumstances be related to lower risk for recidivism, as co-offending is a situational process that may influence someone with low motivation to participate in a crime that they would not have committed alone (e.g., McGloin & Piquero, 2009; Ouellet et al., 2013; Warr, 2002).”

“need for further research into alternatives to selection and socialization (Costello & Hope, 2016; Warr, 2002).”

“Technological) [9], as well as others, as notable event and atmospheric conditions, are known as influencing ones [10], [11].”

“Thus, delinquency may provide adolescents with short-term social or economic advantages at the expense of others (see Warr, 2002, for a review), including feelings of power and superiority as well as increased social status.”

“More specifically in reference to drug use, peer group norms can be seen as extremely important influences since drug use occurs primarily in groups and can be reinforced in these peer settings (Erickson and Jensen 1977; Warr 1996, 2002).”

“Criminologists who conduct peer research by comparison rarely focus on the influence of a single friendship, even though these dyads tend to be longer lived than dating relationships (Giordano, 2003; Warr, 2002).”

“Third, criminologists have long suggested studying offender networks to better understand the emergence and character of offending or desistance (Giele & Elder, 1998; Laub & Sampson, 2003; McGloin & Shermer, 2009; Shover, 1996; Sutherland, 1939; Warr, 2002; Weerman, 2011).”

“For instance, extensive research has established that peers’ delinquent behavior is one of the most important predictors of an individual’s delinquent behavior (Warr, 2002).”

“Association with delinquent friends has been repeatedly shown to predict involvement in antisocial and deviant activities (Akers 1998; Warr 2002).”

“One of the most long-standing observations in criminology is the concentration of offending and other problem behaviors in groups, particularly among young people (McGloin & Thomas, 2019; Reiss, 1988; Shaw & McKay, 1931; Warr, 2002).”

“…and/or between crime types (Greenberg, 1985, 1994; 1 Additional endorsements of the HG thesis of a ubiquitous inverted J-shaped age-crime schedule (rapid rise/rapid decline) include Blonigen (2010, p. 90); Johnson et al., (2015, p. 709); Sweeten et al., (2013, p. 922); and Warr (2002, p. 92).”

“Scholars have suggested that the same processes underlying deviant peer in fl uence are active with regard to non-deviant behavior (Sutherland 1947; Warr 2002).”

“Additionally, scholars have claimed that deviant peers may influence one’s opportunities for offending (Warr, 2002).”

“Researchers in sociology and criminology have made important strides in understanding gangs and delinquency in classic and contemporary literature (Akers, 1998; Bucerius, 2014, 2017; Cloward, 1959; Cloward and Ohlin, 1960; Gottfredson and Hirschi, 1990; Hagedorn, 1994; Hirschi, 1969; Miller, 1958; Shaw and McKay, 1942…”

“As Warr (2002) noted in his classic book Companions in Crime, strong associations between the behavior of adolescents and that of their friends by themselves cannot distinguish peer influence from homophily, i.e., a “birds of a feather flocking together” phenomenon.”

“Given that drug-use peers have been identified as one of the most influential factors of drug use in empirical studies, this research considers key concepts from differential association theory, which can be incorporated into an integrated model with control theory and normalization theory to explore possible explanat…”

“…social learning theory indicate that social learning variables are moderate to strong predictors of a wide variety of different anti-social behaviors (see, for example, Agnew, 2001; Andrews & Bonta, 2006; Cao, 2004; Gendreau et al., 1996; Kubrin et al., 2009; Lipsey & Derzon, 1998; Warr, 2002).”

“Low self-control or impulsivity (Gottfredson & Hirschi, 1990) and delinquent peer associations (Warr, 2002) are two plausible “third variable” explanations for the verbal IQ–offending relationship.”

“Adolescence is also a period of the life-course when greater autonomy is gained and peer relationships supplant familial ties as being the most salient influences on behavior (Warr, 2002).”

“Because having deviant peers can increase the likelihood of one’s own offending (Shaw, 1966[1930]; Sutherland, 1947; Warr, 2002; see also McGloin & Thomas, 2019), residential moves that are able to knife-off associations with these delinquent others have been found to reduce subsequent offending…”

“However, analyzing the National Youth Survey, Warr (2002) also informs on the rather steep decrease in the importance of peer relations after its peak at age 17.”

“While past research has indicated that adolescence is the most salient period of the life-course for the effect of peers on behavior (Warr, 1993, 2002), it may be that a collective shift towards extending the formal entrance into adulthood into later years may lead these peer effects to continue to…”

“Peer-crime relations are found to be robust and consistent across different data sets, measures, and analytic methods (Pratt et al., 2010; Warr, 2002).”

“…Focus Group) Research on desistance frequently focuses on the role of agency and subjective change (see below), but social and personal contexts are also crucial to understanding desistance (Farrall, 2002; Farrall & Calverly, 2006) and this includes a person’s peer group (Warr, 2002; Weaver, 2016).”

“1998; Warr, 2002).”

“…& Pugh, 1986; Weerman & Smeenk, 2005), and how social networks play into these issues (e.g., Haynie, 2002; Haynie & Osgood, 2005; McGloin & Piquero, 2010), there are a number of key questions that remain in regard to how friends can influence behavior in various settings (see Warr, 2002).”

“Néanmoins, il semble y avoir un certain consensus au sein de la communauté scientifique sur le fait que l’entrée en couple se traduit surtout par une réduction importante des activités avec les pairs contrevenants (Warr, 2002).”

“Exposure to peers can be interpreted from different angles: From a social learning perspective, peers act as role models (e.g., R. Akers, 2006; Warr, 2002; Weerman, 2011), but from a routine-activities/lifestyle perspective, crime prone individuals selectively are drawn toward delinquent peers, who…”

“An alternative, and perhaps additional, explanation could be that hard drug use is less of a group-type behavior than binge drinking or marijuana use (see Warr 2002).”

“In addition to academic factors, much of the research on illegal behavior has identified association with delinquent peers as a significant correlate of problem behavior (Haynie, 2001; Rebellon, 2006; Warr, 2002).”

“Demographic characteristics show stronger associations (male gender, single marital status, minorities, lower social class) in Western countries, where social inequalities and consequent social alienation [22], attachment to criminal peers [23], and being disadvantaged by intellectual or educational opportunity [24] h…”

“Warr [25] for example concluded that crime is a social event and so was the abuse at Abu Ghraib.”

“In simple terms, collaborating facilitates behaviour that acting alone does not, a premise supported by a range of empirical evidence (e.g. McGloin & Piquero, 2009; Warr, 2002; Lantz & Kim, 2019).”

“The importance of peers for juvenile delinquency is well established in the empirical literature (McGloin & Thomas, 2019; Pratt et al., 2010; Warr, 2002).”

“Homicide cases are known to scale superlinearly with city population (2, 13), and the kind of interactions that lead to it should be predominantly lo-cal, such as in peer groups (30).”

“Most studies find between 50 and 75 percent of juvenile crimes are committed in the company of others (Warr 2002). youth gun violence is usually concentrated among groups of serious offenders, and conflicts between youth street gangs have long been noted to fuel much of the serious street violence…”

“Numerous scholars over the years have concurred that peer involvement in delinquency is a significant predictor of self-reported delinquency (e.g., Agnew, 1991; Brownfield & Thompson, 1991; Haynie & Osgood, 2005; Warr, 2002; Weerman et al., 2015).”

“use emphasise the role of peers in providing both the opportunity and material to use substances like tobacco (Giordano, 2003; Kelly & Vuolo, 2019; Kelly et al., 2017; Vuolo & Matias, 2020; Warr, 2002; Yang et al., 2014; Yang & Yang, 2017).”

“The crucial role of peer contexts for adolescents particularly concerns effects on risk-taking and aggression, since both behaviors disproportionately occur when adolescents are with their peers [36, 37].”

“For example, through the diffusion of roles and responsibilities, the gang subculture may elicit cooperative behaviors that shape one’s own identity and that of others in the gang (Leverso and Matsueda 2019; McGloin and Collins 2015; Thornberry et al. 2003; Warr 2002).”

“While it is well known that adolescents commit more offenses when they have delinquent friends and spend much time hanging around with their friends in general, criminologists have wondered how this translates to the online world of social media (Mikami et al., 2010; Warr, 2002; Weerman et al., 2015).”

“Research has consistently found that deviant peers (Pratt et al., 2010; Warr, 2002), social bonds (Resnick et al.”

“…that antisocial peer influence and self-control are two of the strongest criminological predictors of delinquency (other than one’s own prior involvement in delinquency; Akers, 1998; Elliott & Menard, 1996; Hay & Forrest, 2006; Matsueda & Anderson, 1998; Pratt & Cullen, 2000; Warr, 2002).”

“During adolescence, peers take on the primary roles of influence (Warr, 2002).”

“Evidence supports that peers are associated with the development of antisocial behavior among adolescents (Cutrín, GómezFraguela, & Luengo, 2015; Dishion & Patterson, 2006; Santrock, 2014; Warr, 2002).”

“Warr (2002) and emphasized the roles of status, loyalty, and fear of ridicule as important motives for adolescents to respond to pressure from peers to engage in delinquency and substance use.”

“Cependant, les jeunes, qu’ils soient délinquants ou non, ne peuvent se couper complètement du monde conventionnel (Sykes et Matza 1957; Warr 2002).”

“Some researchers have criticized studies that deem individuals as recruiters or joiners based on their offending patterns, as official records do not confirm whether the individual actually led or followed in the criminal act (McGloin & Nguyen, 2012; Warr, 1996).”

“It is widely agreed among experts that reckless behaviour can grant individuals status and recognition among peers (Steinberg 2004; Warr 2002).”

“For example, one of the strongest predictors of crime is unstructured association with deviant peers, whereas the discontinuation of these friendships is a strong predictor of desistance (Warr, 2002).”

“However, a pattern of homophily in which individuals “befriend people like themselves” is well established in research on adolescent peer associations (Warr, 2002, p. 27).”

“Delinquent peers: Measures of delinquent peer affiliation are among the most robust correlates to antisocial behavior (Akers and Jensen 2006; Warr 2002).”

“The term “ peer ” indicates “ social equals ” who have a good relationship with each other to pass the time together for a substantial amount of time [105].”

“Dengan demikian jumlah teman nakal yang dimiliki seorang remaja adalah prediktor perilaku nakal terkuat yang diketahui (Mears, D. P., Ploeger, M., & Warr, M. (1998); Warr 2002; Matsueda & Anderson 1998).”

“Other perspectives, including situational or short-term perspectives of peer influence, which emphasizes the role of an individual’s immediate social context in shaping behaviors, place less weight on relationship stability (Osgood et al., 1996; Warr, 2002).”

“Second, the research did not find evidence for the gendered effects of drug-using peers on drug use frequency, adding more empirical evidence from a non-Western society to the argument that peer association is almost the most powerful and significant predictor of drug use in every empirical study on either male or fem…”

“As punishments accumulate relative to, and possibly outweigh, the perceived rewards of affiliation, youth may begin to rethink their involvement (Akers, 1998; Warr, 2002).”

“Criminologists and psychologists alike have long acknowledged that association with anti-social peers is one of the strongest predictors of future anti-social behaviour (Crank, 2014; Hanson & Harris, 2000; Hanson & Morton-Bourgon, 2004; Warr, 2002).”

“The salience of peer influence tends to be at its greatest during adolescence and declines as individuals enter adulthood (Warr, 2002).”

“First, research has consistently demonstrated that exposure to delinquent peers is one of the strongest predictors of delinquent involvement (Warr, 2002).”

“It is consistent with theories of peer influence to expect co-offending as well as contemporaneous offending (Warr, 2002).”

“Others have suggested that the effects of differential association on deviance are independent of LSC (e.g., Akers, 1999; Warr, 2002; Wright & Cullen, 2000).”

“…problems with self-reported scales (for example, see Vazsonyi & Jiskrova, 2018). we controlled for changes in Delinquent peers (Akers, Krohn, Lanza-Kaduce, & Radosevich, 1995; Haynie & Payne, 2006; Warr, 2002; Unnever & Chouhy, 2019), a factor known to affect involvement in problematic behaviors.”

“We suspect that this shows an overlap between the two movements as well as the importance of group-based dynamics in crime commission process (Warr, 2002).”

“This declining salience of peer relationships as individuals enter adulthood is echoed by other research [11, 39], though the psychological concept of actual susceptibility is not broached as an operationalized variable.”

“Empirical work connecting delinquent peer association with offending and delinquency has been plentiful (see Warr, 2002).”

“The maintenance of safety and security adds an additional layer to the important influence of peers and family with respect to stop-snitching (see Clayman and Skinns 2012; Warr 2002).”

“…acceptance is thus crucial for adolescents’ psychological well-being; this explains why fear of peer rejection, ridicule, or status loss are such important influence mechanisms (for an overview, see Warr, 2002), and why peers in general and friends in particular form important reference groups.”

“Introduction While research into gangs has had quite a long tradition in the United States, in Europe we began studying them only much later, although it is precisely the group nature that constitutes one of the most important features of juvenile delinquency (Warr 2002; Matoušek, Kroftová 2003).”

“Social learning theory has received substantial empirical support in predicting a large number of criminal and deviant behaviors (e.g., Lanza-Kaduce et al. 1984; Warr 2002).”

“A measure of peer beliefs was included as a control given the large body of evidence that delinquent peers affect the offending behavior of adolescents (Agnew 1991; Akers 1998; Haynie 2002; Matsueda and Anderson 1998; Warr 2002).”

“In middle or late adolescence, casual socialization with the opposite sex increases substantially, and opposite-sex peers become more important than in childhood (Collins & Sroufe, 1999; Kuttler, Greca, & Prinstein, 1999; Pawlby, Mills, & Quinton, 1997; Warr, 2002).”

“It is during the adolescent years when the negative behavioral effects of low self-control shift from innocuous childhood acts into criminal behavior (Chapple, 2005; Giordano, 1995; Sampson & Laub, 1993; Warr, 2002).”