50-2 Evaluating The Theoretical Model for Effects of Associated with Deviant Peer on Individual Deviance
| Chung-Chin Wu | |
| National Pingtung University |
According to social learning theory, deviant peer serves as learning model of deviances for adolescents. Adolescent learned deviant behavior, they learned deviant motivation and belief behind that behavior as well. It may cause diffusion of deviances. It suggested that part of young adolescents studied in the same classroom/context may behave similar behaviors. A well-known slang: “birds of a feather flock together” depicted this phenomenon, but it has been neglected in both theoretical literature and empirical researches. By inferring from social learning theory, deviant peers may exert both personal and contextual latent effects on individual deviances. However, contextual effect of deviant peers on deviances has not been addressed. One of possible reasons may also involve limitation on the usage of appropriate analytic methods in the past. There was appropriate statistic method could be used to quantify the effect of context recently. The main purpose of this study was to probe potential contextual effect of deviant peers by introducing alternative method. By using traditional and this alternative, this study considered two aspects which have been ignored: “measurement errors” and “analysis level” (single and two-level). Two theoretical models were proposed respectively to represent different consideration of one aspect or both aspects. Single level structural equation model was introduced to consider measurement errors but limited on its ability to take contextual effect into account. While two level structural equation model was used to consider measurement errors and to probe potential contextual effect. Several indices were used to evaluate the most suitable model on investigating the effect of peer deviance on individual deviance. Five thousand and seventy-nine junior high school students nested in one hundred and eighty three classes were sampled by using random cluster sampling method. All of which were consented to participate in this study. Results showed that there were considerable measurement errors resided in the measurements for deviant peer and individual deviance. There were also dependencies resided in observations. It implied the effect of the context in favor of deviances was salient. Combining these evidences suggested that was reasonable to use two level structural equation modeling for considering both effects of measurement errors and dependencies. This method may be not only more suitable and beneficial for probing contextual effect. Further evidences indicated that for individual, associated more with deviant peer resulted in more deviances. In the same token, on average, it showed the same pattern on class level. Specifically, it indicated that as the serious level of association with deviant peers on class level raised, the deeper the deviant problem resided in that context. More importantly, the contextual effect of deviant peers was greater than the individual effect of which. According to results, the contextual effect of deviant peers on individual deviances should be considered in social learning theory and empirical studies in addition to investigate the effect of deviant peers on individual deviances. Comparing to SEM, MSEM was a more useful tool which could be used to investigate explicit and implicit theoretical assumptions or relations. Because the contextual effect was more prominent than the effect on individual level. It suggested the contextual effect of deviant peers should be considered first and treated it seriously. In practical, the contextual effect may be weaken by adapting several methods. The first is context switching which is similar to time-out method. Theoretical, it may be useful for suspending the relationship between deviant peer and individual. Second, counseling methods could be incorporated into curriculum, and teacher should increasing frequency chats with students to understanding what they are thinking, doing and engaging in. The last but not least, it is important for teachers to observe interactions between students during breaking time in school.
Keywords
Contextual effect, deviance, deviant peer, measurement errors.
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