Adolescent problem behavior in school: the role of peer networks

Abstract

Adolescence is a notable period during which a considerable share of students tends to engage in problem behavior in school. Students for example skip class, fail to do their best in school, or have serious arguments with their teachers. A student’s decision to engage in such behavior is not usually made in isolation, but is dependent on the specific school and class context in which they find themselves. In this dissertation we use large scale panel data on adolescents in four European countries (i.e. England, Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands) and apply state of the art statistical techniques to understand the role of peer networks in class and school in determining adolescent problem behavior in school. We examine the effect of three aspects of adolescents’ peer networks in class/school. First, we study the role of students’ positive and negative relationships to peers. We expect that adolescents who are better integrated in their peer group in school are less likely to exhibit problem behavior in school. Second, we study the extent to which adolescents are influenced by the school norms of their peers with respect to problem behavior in school. We expect that adolescents tend to conform to the problem behavior of their classmates, and specifically their friends in class. We think that such influence processes are stronger for boys (rather than girls), adolescents with fewer friends, adolescents with high status friends, and adolescents whose friendships are not reciprocated. Finally, we examine the role of the academic performance of peers on student problem behavior in school. We expect that students engage in more problem behavior when their school performance compares more negatively to that of their classmates, because this would lead to frustration in school and a low academic self-concept. Findings suggest that students who have friendships with their peers in school - rather than outside of school - exhibit less problem behavior. Being surrounded by a higher share of co-ethnics in school can facilitate students’ friendships in school. However, it seems that adolescents do not refrain from problem behavior in school more when their school friends attend the same, rather than a different, school class. Results indicate that adolescents exhibit less problem behavior in school when they attend a different school class than their foes. We find that students are not influenced by the school behavior of all their classmates, but conform to the school behavior of their friends in class. Especially students with fewer friends tend to adjust their problem behavior in school to that of their befriended classmates. We do not find that the gender of the adolescent, the social status of friends, or friendship reciprocity alter the influence of friends in class with respect to problem behavior in school. Finally, students do not exhibit more problem behavior when their school performance compares more negatively to that of their classmates.