Most interventions for at-risk youth are group based. Yet, research indicates that young people often learn to become deviant by interacting with deviant peers. In this important volume, leading intervention and prevention experts from psychology, education, criminology, and related fields analyze how, and to what extent, programs that aggregate deviant youth actually promote problem behavior. A wealth of evidence is reviewed on deviant peer influences in such settings as therapy groups, alternative schools, boot camps, group homes, and juvenile justice facilities. Specific suggestions are offered for improving existing services, and promising alternative approaches are explored.
Table of Contents:
I. Introduction
1. The Problem of Deviant Peer Influences in Intervention Programs, Kenneth A. Dodge, Jennifer E. Lansford, and Thomas J. Dishion
2. Deviant Peer Contagion in Interventions and Programs: An Ecological Framework for Understanding Influence Mechanisms, Thomas J. Dishion and Kenneth A. Dodge
3. Deviant Peer Effects: Perspectives of an Epidemiologist, James C. Anthony
4. Assigning Youths to Minimize Total Harm, Philip J. Cook and Jens Ludwig
5. Is Deviant Peer Influence a Problem, and What Can Be Done?: Qualitative Perspectives from Four Focus Groups, Jennifer E. Lansford and Joel Rosch
II. Reviews of Peer Effects
6. Deviant Peer Group Effects in Youth Mental Health Interventions, Kenneth A. Dodge and Michelle R. Sherrill
7. Deviant Peer Effects in Education, Wendy M. Reinke and Hill M. Walker
8. Peer Effects in Juvenile Justice, D. Wayne Osgood and Laine O'Neill Briddell
9. The Effects of Community-Based Group Treatment for Delinquency: A Meta-Analytic Search for Cross-Study Generalizations, Mark W. Lipsey
10. Peer Effects in Neighborhoods and Housing, Jacob Vigdor
11. Iatrogenic Outcomes of the Child Welfare System: Vulnerable Adolescents, Peer Influences, and Instability in Foster Care Arrangements, Melvin N. Wilson and LaKeesha N. Woods
12. Peer Effects in Community Programs, Jennifer E. Lansford
13. Peer Effects in Naturally Occurring Groups: The Case of Street Gangs, Malcolm W. Klein
III. Promising Solutions and Recommendations
14. Research-Based Prevention Programs and Practices for Delivery in Schools That Decrease the Risk of Deviant Peer Influence, Rebecca B. Silver and J. Mark Eddy
15. Promising Solutions in Juvenile Justice, Peter Greenwood
16. Prevention Approaches to Improve Child and Adolescent Behavior and Reduce Deviant Peer Influence, Emilie Phillips Smith, Jean Dumas, and Ron Prinz
17. Promising Solutions in Housing and the Community, Jens Ludwig and Greg Duncan
18. Creating a Legal and Organizational Context for Reducing Peer Influence, Joel Rosch and Cindy Lederman
19. A Functional Contextualist Framework for Affecting Peer Influence Practices, Anthony Biglan, Jeffrey Sprague, and Kevin J. Moore
20. Findings and Recommendations: A Blueprint to Minimize Deviant Peer Influence in Youth Interventions and Programs, Thomas J. Dishion, Kenneth A. Dodge, and Jennifer E. Lansford
About the Author :
Edited by Kenneth A. Dodge, PhD, Center for Child and Family Policy, Duke University, USA; Thomas J. Dishion, PhD, Department of Psychology and Child and Family Center, University of Oregon, USA; and Jennifer E. Lansford, PhD, Center for Child and Family Policy, Duke University, USA
Review :
'This is one of the most important books ever published pertaining to the design and delivery of effective services for troubled youths. This book has extraordinary breadth and relevance. It is highly pertinent to the work of practitioners, researchers, and policymakers alike, across the fields of mental health, education, and juvenile justice.' - Scott W. Henggeler, PhD, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina, USA 'Every parent knows about bad influences, yet for years our public and private child-serving systems have been oblivious to the possibility that some of our most well-established and richly funded programs and strategies for treating at-risk youth may actually be making their problems worse. This book examines the critically important topic of negative peer influences and how they develop and operate.' - Patricia Chamberlain, PhD, Oregon Social Learning Center and Center for Research to Practice, Eugene, Oregon, USA 'The book looks broadly at influences in schools and the community, as well as in treatment or custodial settings. The discussion is rigorous and based on evidence. It cannot produce a neat, formulaic solution, but it does put forward some practical steps that could make things much better.' - Michael Rutter, MD, Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, UK 'Provides sound recommendations on programs, practices, and policies with proven effectiveness for improving youth outcomes. I recommend this book to educators and others working with at-risk youth.' - William Modzeleski, Associate Assistant Deputy Secretary, Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools, U.S. Department of Education, USA
