Abstract
Parental monitoring impacts adolescent delinquency both directly by limiting unsupervised activities and indirectly by limiting access to delinquent peers. Deviant peers may influence adolescent delinquency through a number of mechanisms, and there is a lack of clarity within the literature on distinctions between co-offending and deviant peer norms as influential mechanisms. Less is known about the impact of co-offending on the mediated relationship among parental monitoring, peer delinquency, and adolescent delinquency. The current study examined the relationship between parental monitoring, deviant peer behaviors, co-offending, and self-reported delinquency among 186 court-involved youth (12–18 years old) in a small city in the Midwest. The effects of parental monitoring on delinquency were partially mediated by delinquent peer affiliation. A moderated mediation model found that co-offending moderated the association between delinquent peer affiliation and delinquency, such that the relationship between peer delinquency and self-reported delinquency is stronger for those who co-offend.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Akers, R. L. (1998). Social learning and social structure: A general theory of crime and deviance. Boston, MA: Northeastern University Press.
Ary, D. V., Duncan, T. E., Duncan, S. C., & Hops, H. (1999). Adolescent problem behavior: The influence of parents and peers. Behavior Research and Therapy, 37, 217–230. doi:10.1016/S0005-7967(98)00133-8.
Baron, R. M., & Kenny, D. A. (1986). The moderator–mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 1173–1182. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.51.6.1173.
Bauman, K. E., & Ennett, S. T. (1996). On the importance of peer influence for adolescent drug use: Commonly neglected considerations. Addiction, 91(2), 185–198. doi:10.1046/j.1360-0443.1996.9121852.x.
Bijleveld, C., & Hendriks, J. (2003). Juvenile sex offenders: Differences between group and solo offenders. Psychology, Crime & Law, 9(3), 237–245. doi:10.1080/1068316021000030568.
Bowman, M. A., Prelow, H. M., & Weaver, S. R. (2007). Parenting behaviors, association with deviant peers, and delinquency in African American adolescents: A mediated-moderation model. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 36(4), 517–527.
Carrington, P. J. (2009). Co-offending and the development of the delinquent career. Criminology, 47, 1295–1329. doi:10.1111/j.1745-9125.2009.00176.x.
Crouter, A. C., & Head, M. R. (2002). Parental monitoring and knowledge of children. In M. Bornstein (Ed.), Handbook of parenting, 2nd ed., vol. 3: Becoming and being a parent (pp. 461–483). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Dishion, T. J., Andrews, D. W., & Crosby, L. (1995). Adolescent boys and their friends in early adolescence: Relationship characteristics, quality, and interactional processes. Child Development, 66, 139–151. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.1995.tb00861.x.
Dishion, T. J., & McMahon, R. J. (1998). Parental monitoring and the prevention of child and adolescent problem behavior: A conceptual and empirical formulation. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 1, 61–75.
Dishion, T. J., Patterson, G. R., Stoolmiller, M., & Skinner, M. I. (1991). Family, school and behavioral antecedents to early adolescent involvement with antisocial peers. Developmental Psychology, 27, 172–180.
Dishion, T. J., Spracklen, K. M., Andrews, D. W., & Patterson, G. R. (1996). Deviancy training in male adolescent friendships. Behavior Therapy, 27(3), 373–390.
Dodge, K. A., Dishion, T. J., & Lansford, J. E. (2006). Deviant peer influence in programs for youth: Problems and solutions. New York: Guilford Press.
Dodge, K. A., & Pettit, G. S. (2003). A biopsychosocial model of the development of chronic conduct problems in adolescence. Developmental Psychology, 39, 349–371.
Elliott, D. National Youth Survey [United States]: Wave I, 1976 [Computer File]. ICPSR08375-v2. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university. Bibliographic Citation: Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2008-08-01. doi:10.3886/ICPSR08375.
Elliott, D. S., & Menard, S. (1996). Delinquent friends and delinquent behavior: Temporal and developmental patterns. In J. David Hawkins (Ed.), Delinquency and crime: Current theories (pp. 28–67). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Goldweber, A., Dmitrieva, J., Cauffman, E., Piquero, A. R., & Steinberg, L. (2011). The development of criminal style in adolescence and young adulthood: Separating the lemmings from the loners. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 40(3), 332–346. doi:10.1007/s10964-010-9534-5.
Hardt, R. H., & Peterson-Hardt, S. (1977). On determining the quality of the delinquency self-report method. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 14(2), 247–259.
Hayes, A. F. (2013). Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis a regression-based approach. New York: The Guilford Press.
Henry, D. B., Tolan, P. H., & Gorman-Smith, D. (2001). Longitudinal family and peer group effects on violence and nonviolent delinquency. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 30(2), 172–186.
Keijsers, L., Branje, S., Hawk, S. T., Schwartz, S. J., Frijns, T., Koot, H. M., … & Meeus, W. (2011). Forbidden friends as forbidden fruit: Parental supervision of friendships, contact with deviant peers, and adolescent delinquency: Parental supervision of peer relationships. Child Development, no–no. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2011.01701.x
Keijsers, L., Frijns, T., Branje, S. J., & Meeus, W. (2009). Developmental links of adolescent disclosure, parental solicitation, and control with delinquency: Moderation by parental support. Developmental Psychology, 45(5), 1314–1327. doi:10.1037/a0016693.
Kerr, M., & Stattin, H. (2000). What parents know, how they know it, and several forms of adolescent adjustment: Further support for a reinterpretation of monitoring. Developmental Psychology, 36(3), 366–380. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.36.3.366.
Kerr, M., Stattin, H., & Burk, W. J. (2010). A reinterpretation of parental monitoring in longitudinal perspective. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 20(1), 39–64.
Lahey, B. B., Van Hulle, C. A., D’Onofrio, B. M., Rodgers, J. L., & Waldman, I. D. (2008). Is parental knowledge of their adolescent offspring’s whereabouts and peer associations spuriously associated with offspring delinquency? Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 36, 807–823.
Laird, R. D., Pettit, G. S., Bates, J. E., & Dodge, K. A. (2003). Parents’ monitoring-relevant knowledge and adolescents’ delinquent behavior: Evidence of correlated developmental changes and reciprocal influences. Child Development, 74(3), 752–768.
McGloin, J. M., & Piquero, A. R. (2010). On the relationship between co-offending network redundancy and offending versatility. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 47, 63–90.
McGloin, J. M., & Stickle, W. P. (2011). Influence or convenience? Disentangling peer influence and co-offending for chronic offenders. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 48, 419–447.
McGloin, J. M., Sullivan, C. J., Piquero, A. R., & Bacon, S. (2008). Investigating the stability of co-offending and co-offenders among a sample of youthful offenders. Criminology, 46, 155–188.
Mounts, N. S. (2008). Linkages between parenting and peer relationships: A model for parental management of adolescents peer relationships. In M. Kerr, H. Stattin, & R. Engels (Eds.), What can parents do: New insights into the role of parents in adolescent problem behaviour (pp. 163–189). West Sussex: Wiley.
Patterson, G. R., DeBaryshe, B. D., & Ramsey, E. (1989). A developmental perspective on antisocial behavior. American Psychologist, 44, 329–335. doi:10.1037/0003-066x.44.2.329.
Patterson, G. R., & Dishion, T. J. (1985). Contributions of families and peers to delinquency. Criminology, 23(1), 63–79.
Patterson, G. R., Dishion, T. J., & Yoerger, K. (2000). Adolescent growth in new forms of problem behavior: Macro-and micro-peer dynamics. Prevention Science, 1(1), 3–13.
Patterson, G. R., Reid, J. B., & Dishion, T. J. (1992). Antisocial boys. Eugene, OR: Castalia.
Patterson, G. R., & Yoerger, K. (1997). A developmental model for late-onset delinquency. In D. W. Osgood & J. McCord (Eds.), Motivation and delinquency (Vol. 44, pp. 119–177). Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press.
Piquero, A. R., Farrington, D. P., & Blumstein, A. (2007). Key issues in criminal career research: New analyses of the Cambridge study in delinquent development. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Preacher, K. J., & Hayes, A. F. (2008). Asymptotic and resampling methods for estimating and comparing indirect effects in multiple mediator models. Behavior Research Methods, 40, 879–891.
Reiss, A. J. (1986). Co-offender influences on criminal careers. Criminal Careers and Career Criminals, 2, 121–160.
Reiss, A. J., & Farrington, D. P. (1991). Advancing knowledge about co-offending: Results from a prospective longitudinal survey of London males. The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 82, 360–395.
Simons, R. L., Whitbeck, L. B., & Wu, C. (1994a). Resilient and vulnerable adolescents (pp. 223–234). Families in troubled times: Adapting to change in rural America.
Simons, R. L., Wu, C., Conger, R. D., & Lorenz, F. O. (1994b). Two routes to delinquency: Differences between early and late starters in the impact of parenting and deviant peers. Criminology, 32, 247–276.
Snyder, J., Schrepferman, L., McEachern, A., Barner, S., Johnson, K., & Provines, J. (2008). Peer deviancy training and peer coercion: Dual processes associated with early-onset conduct problems. Child Development, 79, 252–268.
Stattin, H., & Kerr, M. (2000). Parental monitoring: A reinterpretation. Child Development, 71, 1072–1085.
Stolzenberg, L., & D’Alessio, S. J. (2008). Co-offending and the age-crime curve. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 45(1), 65–86. doi:10.1177/0022427807309441.
Stouthamer-Loeber, M., Loeber, R., Wei, E., Farrington, D. P., & Wistrom, P. H. (2002). Risk and promotive effects in the explanation of persistent serious delinquency in boys. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 70, 111–123.
Sutherland, E. H. (1947). Principles of criminology (4th ed.). Philadelphia: Lippincott.
Thornberry, T. P., & Krohn, M. D. (2000). The self-report method for measuring delinquency and crime. Criminal Justice, 4(1), 33–83.
Tilton-Weaver, L. C., Burk, W. J., Kerr, M., & Stattin, H. (2013). Can parental monitoring and peer management reduce the selection or influence of delinquent peers? Testing the question using a dynamic social network approach. Developmental Psychology, 49(11), 2057–2070. doi:10.1037/a0031854.
Tompsett, C. J., & Toro, P. A. (2010). Predicting overt and covert antisocial behaviors: Parents, peers, and homelessness. Journal of Community Psychology, 38, 469–485.
Véronneau, M. H., & Dishion, T. J. (2010). Predicting change in early adolescent problem behavior in the middle school years: A mesosystemic perspective on parenting and peer experiences. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 38, 1125–1137.
Warr, M. (1996). Organization and instigation in delinquent groups. Criminology, 34(1), 11–37.
Warr, M. (2002). Companions in crime: The social aspects of criminal conduct. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Warr, M. (2005). Making delinquent friends: Adult supervision and children’s affiliations. Criminology, 43, 77–106.
Weerman, F. M. (2003). Co-offending as social exchange: Explaining characteristics of co-offending. British Journal of Criminology, 43, 398–416.
Weerman, F. M. (2004). The changing role of delinquent peers in childhood and adolescence: Issues, findings and puzzles. In G. Bruinsma, H. Elffers, & J. W. de Keijser (Eds.), Punishment, places and perpetrators: Developments in criminology and criminal justice research (pp. 279–297). Portland, OR: Willan Publishing.
Zimring, F. E., & Laqueur, H. (2014). Kids, groups, and crime in defense of conventional wisdom. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency. doi:10.1177/0022427814555770.
Acknowledgments
This research was supported in part by the Center for Family and Demographic Research, Bowling Green State University, which has core funding from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R24HD050959-07).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Dynes, M.E., Domoff, S.E., Hassan, S. et al. The Influence of Co-offending Within a Moderated Mediation Model of Parent and Peer Predictors of Delinquency. J Child Fam Stud 24, 3516–3525 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-015-0153-3
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-015-0153-3