PARENTS, PEERS, AND DELINQUENCY

Criminologists have long recognized the importance of family and peers in the etiology of delinquency, but these two influences are commonly analyzed in isolation. However, if peers are treated as potential ins tigators of delinquency (following differential association theory) an d parents as potential barriers to delinquency (following control theo ry), a crucial question emerges: Is parental influence capable of coun teracting the influence of delinquent peers? Analysis of data from the National Youth Survey reveals that the amount of time spent with fami ly is indeed capable of reducing and even eliminating peer influence. By contrast, attachment to parents ( the affective relation between pa rents and offspring) apparently has no such effect. Instead, it appear s to affect delinquency indirectly by inhibiting the initial formation of delinquent friendships.