Longitudinal study reveals juvenile arrest reduces social integration and increases peer deviance in adolescents, suggesting social exclusion does not drive secondary offending.
Key Points
To evaluate whether changes in friendship network integration and exposure to deviant peers explain the link between juvenile arrest and future offending.
Analyzed longitudinal data tracking more than 13,000 students from sixth through 11th grade.
Assessed within-individual changes in network centrality and peer deviance following juvenile arrest, testing for moderation by race, sex, and class.
Tested whether declines in network integration and rises in peer deviance mediate the association between initial arrest and subsequent offending.
Juvenile arrest was associated with significant reductions in friendship network integration and increases in peer deviance, with both associations being stronger among females than males.
Arrest was associated with increases in subsequent personal deviance; however, changes in network integration and peer deviance did not explain this secondary offending.