How do peers and family matter in terms of delinquency?

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In Model 4, we introduced family and peer variables to the demographic model, including youth reported perceptions of the quality of their relationship with their mother and father, how and with whom they spent their time (i.e., whether or not they went out at night without their parents and whether or not they spent the majority of time alone, with family or with friends), and the attitudes of their peers towards crime.

Overall, variables related to peers were most strongly associated with self-reported property and violent delinquency. In particular, youth who reported that they were part of a peer group that considered illegal activities acceptable were much more likely to report both types of delinquency than those who were not part of such a group. In this case, the odds of reporting property delinquency were over four and one-half times higher, and just over four times higher for violent delinquency. In addition, the odds of reporting property and violent delinquency were roughly three times higher for youth who indicated that they went out at night than for those who did not. Finally, youth who reported spending most of their free time with friends had higher odds of reporting both property (93%) and violent (57%) delinquency than youth who indicated spending the majority of their free time with family. Youth who reported spending the majority of their free time alone also had higher odds of reporting property-related delinquency (99%) than youth who reported spending the majority of their time with family.

The influence of youth perceptions of the quality of their relationship with their parents varied for property and violent delinquency. Youth who reported a positive relationship with their father were less likely to report violent delinquency. Similarly, youth who reported a positive relationship with their mother were less likely to report violent delinquency. There was no evidence that these variables had an effect on the chances of engaging in property delinquency.

Once peer and family factors were accounted for, recent immigrant youth were just as likely as native-born youth to report property-related delinquency. Recall that in the demographic model, recent immigrant youth were less likely than native-born youth to report property-related delinquency. Once peer and family factors were taken into account, second generation youth became more likely than native-born youth to report violent delinquency. This relationship did not appear in the demographic model.

Being from a step/blended family was still associated with a higher probability of reporting both types of delinquency, as was being from a single-parent family for property-related delinquency. These relationships held true regardless of whether or not youth reported spending the majority of time with family.

Age retained a small independent effect for self-reported property delinquency, while sex retained its effects for both property and violent delinquency. For example, even after all of the peer and family factors were accounted for, the odds of reporting violent delinquency were more than twice as high for male youth as compared to female youth.