Friendship and Deviance

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Abstract
This study examined the relationship between peer attachment and peer deviance. Study participants were fifth-grade students from an urban school district. Approximately half of the sample was male, and subjects represented a variety of racial/ethnic and socioeconomic groups. Subjects were asked questions about each of four best friends including how much they shared thoughts and feelings with the friends (intimacy), and whether they wanted to be like these friends (identification). They also were asked whether these friends got in trouble with the teacher, and whether they, themselves, got in trouble with the teacher. Results indicated that, in general, early adolescents were more attached to friends who did not get into trouble, regardless of whether they got in trouble themselves. These findings are inconsistent with cultural deviance theories and suggest, instead, that early adolescents likely share a common definition that friendships with conventional peers are more desirable than friendships with deviant peers.