Deviant Peer Influences in Programs for Youth Problems and Solutions

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

• ISBN13: 9781593855871
• ISBN10: 1593855877
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-06-01
• 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

Introduction

The Problem of Deviant Peer Influences in Intervention Programs

Deviant Peer Contagion in Interventions and Programs: An Ecological Framework for Understanding Influence Mechanisms

Deviant Peer Effects: Perspectives of an Epidemiologist

Assigning Youths to Minimize Total Harm

Is Deviant Peer Influence a Problem, and What Can Be Done?: Qualitative Perspectives from Four Focus Groups

Reviews of Peer Effects

Deviant Peer Group Effects in Youth Mental Health Interventions

Deviant Peer Effects in Education

Peer Effects in Juvenile Justice

The Effects of Community-Based Group Treatment for Delinquency: A Meta-Analytic Search for Cross-Study Generalizations

Peer Effects in Neighborhoods and Housing

Iatrogenic Outcomes of the Child Welfare System: Vulnerable Adolescents, Peer Influences, and Instability in Foster Care Arrangements

Peer Effects in Community Programs

Peer Effects in Naturally Occurring Groups: The Case of Street Gangs

Promising Solutions and Recommendations

Research-Based Prevention Programs and Practices for Delivery in Schools That Decrease the Risk of Deviant Peer Influence

Promising Solutions in Juvenile Justice

Prevention Approaches to Improve Child and Adolescent Behavior and Reduce Deviant Peer Influence

Promising Solutions in Housing and the Community

Creating a Legal and Organizational Context for Reducing Peer Influence

A Functional Contextualist Framework for Affecting Peer Influence Practices

Findings and Recommendations: A Blueprint to Minimize Deviant Peer Influence in Youth Interventions and Programs

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