Abstract
There are few concepts in criminology that are as central to research, theory, and criminal justice practice as the peer group. With deep‐seated theoretical underpinnings in Sutherland's theory of differential association, peer influence has been a fundamental concept to criminology for the past 70 years. Since Sutherland's groundbreaking work, many other theories of crime have incorporated hypotheses as to how the behavior of peers may influence the behavior of a person. With only a few exceptions, these theories' hypotheses are so strongly supported in research that it led Agnew to state that “Next to prior delinquency, association with delinquent peers is the best predictor of delinquency.” In short, there is little question that the behavior of peers is an incredibly important correlate and cause of crime. After an overview of the importance of peers in criminological theory, this entry explores some critically important findings on the nature of peer influence. This is followed by a discussion of some peer‐based approaches to crime prevention and intervention that have been used in the criminal justice field. The entry concludes by discussing some unanswered questions on how peers influence behavior, with comments on necessary future directions of peer research.
Published Version
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