In the following paper I have my goal to review the article by Robert Crosnoe, Kristan Glasgow Ericson and Sanford Dornbusch about the factors reducing and moderating the impact of deviating friendships among the adolescent boys and girls. I will also offer my comments about some of the study findings and their bias and prejudice.
To study the connection between adolescent friendships and deviating conduct the researchers explored the data collected in high schools in California and Wisconsin: approximately 80% of students participated. To collect independent data the research was held in schools of different social levels from economically disadvantaged and middle class to urban and rural ones. In general 3,046 respondents provided the materials for research. The research was held during four years and the results of each year were compared altogether. The study had two primary advantages supporting their reliability: the few years’ continuation and thus the opportunity to compare the results collected during this significant period of time and the use of friends’ reported deviant influence. “The source of risk examined in the study is the deviant friendship group” (3).
The factors decreasing and moderating deviating behaviors which were examined in the article are family ones (parental monitoring, parental involvement, household organization) and school ones (academic achievements, school orientation and teacher bonding).
The adolescences provided their answers about to deviating behaviors from their point of view. This may definitely mean a measure of bias however it is important that such data help to have an understanding of the way adolescences evaluate themselves. In addition many specialists explain that self-report is one of the most effective ways to analyze adolescences behaviors.
Risk and Protective Factors for Adolescent Deviance
The study found out that adolescent girls are less deviant than boys as to their friendships and their being affected by their friends. The impact of friendships is weaker among girls, among those adolescences who are more in touch with family and school institutions and those who are less involved in different activities with their friends.
Protective factors of family environment are rather significant in moderating deviation among adolescences. That way parental monitoring may protect from deviating behaviors by encouraging self-restraint, reducing opportunities to participate in deviating activities and establishing the necessity to be responsible for one’s activities before parents. Parental involvement helps their children to put goals and find their due place in the society. Strong relationships between adolescences and their parents help them to be less affected with the negative tendencies of deviating behaviors of their coevals. Household organization plays its vital role in transmitting the family values and moral standards which help adolescences to stay away from deviating behaviors.
Similar to parents’ involvement teacher bonding is very important for helping adolescences to resist deviating behaviors of their peers. Teacher bonding develops due determination to resist the peer pressure and also motivates adolescences to be guided by adult standards of conduct. Lower levels of deviance are also admitted to be connected to the aims of adolescences to succeed academically and to be school oriented as they connect their future with such achievements and are aware of the fact that their bad behaviors may jeopardize their bright future.
Analytical Design
The impact of risky friendships was analyzed along with the impact of the six protected factors. The results clearly proved that protective factors are of great importance to lessening deviating behaviors.
Results
As to initial gender differences the researches reveled that boys and girls differed significantly in the way parental monitoring, parental involvement, academic achievements and teacher bounding affected their behaviors; girls appeared to be more exposed to those factors. As to household organization and school orientation the results were approximately equal. Boys also revealed higher levels of such deviating behaviors as alcohol, marihuana and non-marihuana drugs use as compared to girls; however the results as to tobacco use were almost the same.
As to delinquency the researches revealed that: “having delinquent friends is a significant risk factor for both adolescent boys and girls, but tests reveal that this risk was significantly greater for boys” (17).
Regarding tobacco use it appeared that the risk of it was significantly decreased by protective factors of family and school among the girls’ friendship groups as compared to the boys’ ones. However the interesting fact is that association with teachers did decrease the levels of tobacco use among boys. The other important result is that academic achievements among girls also played great role in decreasing the level of tobacco use. One more important conclusion was made concerning more significant impact of school factors than family ones in reducing tobacco. The facts even showed that adolescences are irritated with their parents’ interference to their personal life and thus are less affected by this moderating factor.
As to the use of alcohol the results showed that boys are also more subjected to the influence of their friends deviating behaviors. The article explains: “these results indicate that family- and school-related factors did little to reduce the adolescent drinking and even less to reduce the influence of alcohol-using friends” (23).
Concerning the use of marijuana the results also proved that boys having friends using marijuana were at greater risks than girls. Regarding the reducing factors the research showed that for girls such one was academic achievement whereas for boys it was the teacher bounding. Thus family factors were of no significant impact as to marijuana use. Again the results proved the desire of freedom from parents’ interference into their “personal affairs”.
Regarding the use of other illegal drugs the results displayed that girls and boys are equally subjected to the influence of their deviating friends’ behaviors. According to the article “family- and school-related factors played more important roles in the drug use of girls than boys” (25).
Discussion
The main result of the researches showed that “adolescences who had positive relations with parents and teachers and who had commitments to achievement generally exhibited fewer behavioral problems” (25). In addition it became evident that boys are much more subjected to the deviating effect of their friends. However this impact can be moderated by the prevailing factors such as association with teachers, parental involvement and academic achievements. In general it appeared that school factors are more significant moderators for deviating behaviors for both girls and boys. The article explains that adolescences have special commitment for ‘school and conventional means of achievement” (26). The authors of the article conclude the results of the researches with these words: “various individual and impersonal factors related to the family and the school can reduce deviance and the influence of deviant friends for both adolescent boys and girls” (28).
Reflecting to the research results revealed in the article under consideration I would say that they are sound, objective and detached. The researchers have accomplished a considerable result as they have succeeded to prove the universally accepted truth: “Do not be misled. Bad associations spoil useful habits” (1Corinthians 15:33, The New World Translation). As to the bias and prejudice in the researches I have noticed none of them as the researches have considered the data collected among the respondents of all backgrounds and origins and their primary appeal was to the respondents’ self-related answers.
References
Crosnoe, R., & Glasgow Ericson, K., & Dornbusch, S. (2002). Youth & Society.SAGE Journals Online. Web.