Learning Objectives

After reading this chapter, you should be able to

  • List the two primary hypotheses about how peers and friends matter to delinquency
  • Explain how gender matters to patterns of peer relationships and delinquency
  • Outline the impact of a lack of friends on delinquency
  • Discuss the different ways youth are using new technologies and their relevance to delinquency
  • Analyze the consequences of labeling a group of youth as a gang
  • Identify how race, ethnicity, class, gender, and sexuality play a role in gang formation and dynamics
  • Recognize the most common societal responses to youth gangs and their consequences