The Ecology and Culture of Peer Groups

Abstract

This chapter describes young people’s experiences of peer groups, particularly in relation to conflict on the streets and in school. As we saw in Chapter 3, activity and interactions with peers provide the context in which most offences committed by young people in our study took place. In previous chapters we have also seen how different places are important in young people’s encounters with police and the criminal justice system. Here, we highlight the interrelation of peers and place in terms of relationships and group practices as they are explained by young people in their accounts. Additionally, the purposes, meanings and consequences of peer relations and practices suggest the significance of cultural understandings rather than those that predominate in developmental or risk-factor-focused criminological explanations.