Social influences, peer delinquency, and low self-control: An examination of time-varying and reciprocal effects on delinquency over adolescence
| Author | Twan Huijsmans,Manuel Eisner,Denis Ribeaud,Amy E. Nivette |
| DOI | 10.1177/1477370819838720 |
| Published date | 01 March 2021 |
| Date | 01 March 2021 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
https://doi.org/10.1177/1477370819838720
European Journal of Criminology
2021, Vol. 18(2) 192 –212
© The Author(s) 2019
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DOI: 10.1177/1477370819838720
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Social influences, peer
delinquency, and low self-
control: An examination of
time-varying and reciprocal
effects on delinquency over
adolescence
Twan Huijsmans
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Amy E. Nivette
Utrecht University, The Netherlands
Manuel Eisner
University of Cambridge, UK
Denis Ribeaud
University of Zurich, Switzerland
Abstract
We examine an integrated dynamic model of social influences and internal controls on delinquency
in adolescence. We assessed to what extent parental bonds, peer delinquency, and self-control
were reciprocally related to delinquency throughout adolescence, and whether their effects were
time varying. We applied cross-lagged panel models to analyze these relationships using three
waves of data from a sample of Swiss youth at ages 13 to 17. Results suggest that self-control is
a strong predictor for future delinquent behavior. Moreover, social influences affect self-control
into adolescence, contributing to a growing area of research on the dynamic properties of self-
control over the life course. Social influences, in particular peer delinquency, are also reciprocally
Corresponding author:
Twan Huijsmans, Department of Sociology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1105, Amsterdam,
1081 HV, The Netherlands.
Email: t.m.huijsmans@vu.nl
838720EUC0010.1177/1477370819838720European Journal of CriminologyHuijsmans et al.
research-article2019
Article
Huijsmans et al. 193
related to delinquency, implying that delinquency can lead to cumulative disadvantages that
further entrench individuals in antisocial pathways over the life course.
Keywords
Adolescence, delinquency, peer delinquency, reciprocal effects, self-control, social influences
Introduction
Two of the major claims in life course research on crime are that effects of social controls
and influences vary over time and that these effects are reciprocal, generating cumulative
disadvantages over time (Catalano and Hawkins, 1996; Sampson and Laub, 1997;
Thornberry, 1987; Thornberry et al., 2003). Although studies have investigated this
claim, they tend to focus on variation and reciprocal effects of social influences (parents,
peers), because internal controls (self-control) are often not expected to vary during ado-
lescence (for example, Gottfredson and Hirschi, 1990; Hirschi and Gottfredson, 1993;
Pratt and Cullen, 2000; Vazsonyi et al., 2001). However, recent research has suggested
that both social influences and internal controls play a role in these cumulative and time-
varying processes (Hay and Forrest, 2006; Na and Paternoster, 2012). That is, a lack of
social controls such as parental bonds can decrease internal controls throughout adoles-
cence (Van Gelder et al., 2017), which in turn further weakens parental bonds and
increases the likelihood of delinquency (Na and Paternoster, 2012). Therefore, this arti-
cle examines an integrated dynamic model of criminal behavior over the life course, with
a focus on the reciprocal and time-varying effects of social influences and internal con-
trols on delinquency over adolescence.
Specifically, we assess relative influences of parental bonds and delinquent peers on
both self-control and delinquency over time. In addition, we test a key tenet of many life
course developmental theories of crime, namely that these effects are age graded and
reciprocal. In other words, the effects vary over time and social influences are expected
to affect engagement in delinquency, which in turn affects social influences (for exam-
ple, Sampson and Laub, 1997; Thornberry, 1987; Thornberry et al., 2003). In order to do
so, we use data from the Zurich Project on the Social Development from Childhood to
Adulthood, which includes measures of social influences, self-control, and delinquency
across key stages of adolescent development.
Social influences and delinquency
According to social control theory (Hirschi, 1969), individuals who maintain strong bonds
to social institutions are less likely to engage in delinquency (Sampson and Laub, 1997).
Bonds to parents and family and commitment and success in school are most important in
adolescence (Thornberry et al., 2003). Affective (for example, social support) and infor-
mal control elements (for example, monitoring and discipline) of these bonds place
bounds on adolescents’ behavior. Indeed, a lack of parental support, monitoring, and
attachment have been linked to engagement in delinquency in adolescence (for example,
Craig, 2015; Hoeve et al., 2012). Interactional theory proposes that adolescents who have
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