Deviant Peer Influences in Programs for Youth Problems and Solutions

by Dodge, Kenneth A.; Dishion, Thomas J.; Lansford, Jennifer E.

• ISBN13: 9781593852795
• ISBN10: 1593852797
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-06-12
• Publisher: The Guilford Press

Summary

Most interventions for at-risk youth are group based. Yet, research indicates that young people often learn to become deviant by interacting with deviant peers. In this important volume, leading intervention and prevention experts from psychology, education, criminology, and related fields analyze how, and to what extent, programs that aggregate deviant youth actually promote problem behavior. A wealth of evidence is reviewed on deviant peer influences in such settings as therapy groups, alternative schools, boot camps, group homes, and juvenile justice facilities. Specific suggestions are offered for improving existing services, and promising alternative approaches are explored.

Author Biography

Kenneth A. Dodge, PhD, is the William McDougall Professor of Public Policy and Professor of Psychology at Duke University, where he directs the Center for Child and Family Policy. He has teamed up with colleagues to create, implement, and evaluate the Fast Track Program to prevent chronic violence in high-risk children and the Durham Family Initiative to prevent child abuse. He has been honored with the Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award from the American Psychological Association, the Boyd McCandless Award, and the Senior Scientist Award from the National Institutes of Health.

Thomas J. Dishion, PhD, is Professor of Clinical Psychology and Director of Research at the Child and Family Center at the University of Oregon. His interests include understanding the development of antisocial behavior and substance abuse in youth and designing effective interventions and prevention programs. He focuses on family-centered interventions and the negative effects of aggregating high-risk youth into intervention groups. He has published over 90 scientific reports on these topics, a book for parents on family management, and two books for professionals.

Jennifer E. Lansford, PhD, is a Research Scientist at the Duke University Center for Child and Family Policy. Her research focuses on the development of aggression and other behavior problems in youth, with an emphasis on how family and peer contexts contribute to or protect against these outcomes. She examines how experiences with parents (e.g., physical abuse, divorce) and peers (e.g., rejection, friendships) affect the development of children's behavior problems, how influence operates in adolescent peer groups, and how cultural contexts moderate links between parents' discipline strategies and children's behavior problems.

Table of Contents

Part I. Introduction
1 The Problem of Deviant Peer Influences in Intervention Programs	3	(11)
Kenneth A. Dodge, Jennifer E. Lansford, and Thomas J. Dishion
2 Deviant Peer Contagion in Interventions and Programs: An Ecological Framework for Understanding Influence Mechanisms	14	(30)
Thomas J. Dishion and Kenneth A. Dodge
3 Deviant Peer Effects: Perspectives of an Epidemiologist	44	(23)
James C. Anthony
4 Assigning Youths to Minimize Total Harm	67	(23)
Philip J. Cook and Jens Ludwig
5 Is Deviant Peer Influence a Problem, and What Can Be Done?: Qualitative Perspectives from Four Focus Groups	90	(7)
Jennifer E. Lansford and Joel Rosch
Part II. Reviews of Peer Effects
6 Deviant Peer Group Effects in Youth Mental Health Interventions	97	(25)
Kenneth A. Dodge and Michelle R. Sherrill
7 Deviant Peer Effects in Education	122	(19)
Wendy M. Reinke and Hill M. Walker
8 Peer Effects in Juvenile Justice	141	(21)
D. Wayne Osgood and Laine O'Neill Briddell
9 The Effects of Community-Based Group Treatment for Delinquency: A Meta-Analytic Search for Cross-Study Generalizations	162	(23)
Mark W. Lipsey
10 Peer Effects in Neighborhoods and Housing	185	(18)
Jacob Vigdor
11 Iatrogenic Outcomes of the Child Welfare System: Vulnerable Adolescents, Peer Influences, and Instability in Foster Care Arrangements	203	(12)
Melvin N. Wilson and LaKeesha N. Woods
12 Peer Effects in Community Programs	215	(19)
Jennifer E. Lansford
13 Peer Effects in Naturally Occurring Groups: The Case of Street Gangs	234	(19)
Malcolm W. Klein
Part III. Promising Solutions and Recommendations
14 Research-Based Prevention Programs and Practices for Delivery it Schools That Decrease the Risk of Deviant Peer Influence	253	(25)
Rebecca B. Silver and J. Mark Eddy
15 Promising Solutions in Juvenile Justice	278	(18)
Peter Greenwood
16 Prevention Approaches to Improve Child and Adolescent Behavior and Reduce Deviant Peer Influence	296	(16)
Emilie Phillips Smith, Jean E. Dumas, and Ron Prinz
17 Promising Solutions in Housing and the Community	312	(16)
Jens Ludwig and Greg Duncan
18 Creating a Legal and Organizational Context for Reducing Peer Influence	328	(14)
Joel Rosch and Cindy Lederman
19 A Functional Contextualist Framework for Affecting Peer Influence Practices	342	(24)
Anthony Biglan, Jeffrey Sprague, and Kevin J. Moore
20 Findings and Recommendations: A Blueprint to Minimize Deviant Peer Influence in Youth Interventions and Programs	366	(29)
Thomas J. Dishion, Kenneth A. Dodge, and Jennifer E. Lansford
References	395	(52)
Index	447