Likert Scales

A Closer Look at the Age, Peers and Delinquency Relationship Daniel P. Mears and Samuel H. Field Western Criminology Review 4 (1), 20-29 (2002) Introduction Research Summary dickens suppositions were explored. First, a communal association between flea-bitten helpmate-groups and the significance of age as it is influencedamong older youth. The second (keeping in the direction of the theoretical focus), epitomized that bosom-abuse-related discourtesys would have a greater correlation in the relationship between delinquent partners and age.For each violation dependent variables were used, with each offender asked the specific amount of times the offense was committed in the past year. The mean values for the offenses, range from a low of . 05 for burglary to a high of 24. 00 for the use of marijuana. (Mears & H. Field,2002). The analysis with regard to the deviant self-reported acts uncovers the event that there is a significant age/peer interaction for each violation, omitting hitting someone.The principal finding to note is,that the expected pattern of age/peer interactions is most evident for using marijuana getting drunk and, to a lesser extent, selling illegal drugs, using prescription drugs, burglary, and the offense index. The steady rise in the increasing effect of peers for these offenses can be frontn by noting the size and direction of the increase in the interaction coefficients from one age to the next(Mears & H. Field,2002). For the crimes of cheating, disconfirming property, stealing items less than $5, and more than $50, and hitting someone, the nature and tenacity appear to be less apparent.With regard to these offenses, the effects of the influence-of-peers-relationship, seem to lessen. The researchers gave additional analysis to dig into the effects of the linkage between heightened delinquency that may be reinforced by increased influence of peers and reducedtime spent with the family model. When included, the variables of peer in fluence and family time leftover no discernible significance on the interaction of the age/peer association. Personal Opinion regarding Research The authors did look at relevant and pertinent information.Samplings from the submit were taken from households across United States, as evidenced by the NYS Wave 3 data, and adolescents were selected from the ages of 13-19. The NYS data was used, because of its considerable methodological attention given to the NYS and because of the general accord as to their reliability and validity (Mears & H. Field, 2002). Mandatory steps were taken to ensure the offenses were of high variances, by creating the index and standardizing individual offense counts. Standardizing the individual offense was incumbent to ensure that offenses with high variances (e. g. , using marijuana) did not overly influence the resulting index (Mears & H. Field, 2002). I found the article to be informative as well as interesting. Mears and fields, speculative evidenc e suggesting that increased exposure to delinquent peers exerts a unique impact on the inclination of older youth to engage in drug offending (using marijuana, getting drunk, selling illegal drugs, and using prescription drugs), was very compelling to me.There are many studies and much evidence to suggest that substance abuse is embedded within peer interactions. Adolescents are expected to participate in drug-related deviant acts, with marijuana and drunkenness at the forefront. It was equally interesting to see how the aging peer influence played into this study. Conclusion While there does seem to be an interactive relationship existing between age and delinquent peer associations (for some offenses).The research was directed more to the drug-related offenses and the relationship between age and delinquent peer associations. The researchers pointed out that with thisinteractive age/peer relationship, delinquency increases with peer influence among older youth. The data from the N YS was pertinent, relevant, and convincing. The findings open other areas for further investigation, such as age/peer interactions using longitudinal data. (Mears & H. Field,2002).Although, I found the data to be factual and valid, I did take note that the data from wave one was stack away in 1976, and the data collected from the third wave (present study), was collected in 1978. The only recommendation I would have is to perform similar analysis on current data to add a stronger foundation to Mears and fields, 2002 findings. (Mears & H. Field, 2002) Mears, D. P. , & H. Field, S. (2002). A Closer Look at the Age, Peers, and Delinquency Relationship. Retrieved from Excelsior College Virtual Library Web site http//Retrieved from http//wcr. sonoma. edu/v4n1/mears. html