Stogner, John, Miller, J. Mitchell, Fisher, Bonnie S., Stewart, Eric A. and Schreck, Christopher (2014) Peer Group Delinquency and Sexual Victimization: Does Popularity Matter? Women & Criminal Justice, 24 (1). pp. 62-81. ISSN 0897-4454
Preview
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial Share Alike.
Download (546kB) | Preview
Abstract
Though a large body of research has found that peer social network characteristics influence both offending and victimization, relatively little is known about the influence of social network characteristics on adolescent sexual victimization. Attractiveness and sociability largely indicate popularity for teenage females, which in turn leads to earlier onset of dating, greater dating options, and potential risk of sexual victimization—an observation not tested in the criminological and criminal justice literature. We suggest and evaluate 2 competing hypotheses: that popularity within a network insulates females from sexual victimization and that popularity may increase exposure to delinquent others and facilitate sexual victimization. Results suggest that popularity does not have a consistent effect but instead that its role is conditioned by the deviance of the network. Popularity is associated with an increase in the likelihood of victimization when peer deviance is high but with a decrease when peer deviance is low. We further demonstrate that an interaction between a female's own drinking and the proportion of her friends that are male strongly affects her likelihood of sexual victimization. Implications for policy and future research are explored.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Keywords: | alcohol use; gender homophily; peer networks; popularity; sexual victimization; |
| Academic Unit: | Faculty of Social Sciences > Law |
| Item ID: | 20898 |
| Identification Number: | 10.1080/08974454.2013.842520 |
| Depositing User: | Christopher Schreck |
| Date Deposited: | 09 Dec 2025 12:13 |
| Journal or Publication Title: | Women & Criminal Justice |
| Publisher: | Taylor & Francis (Routledge) |
| Refereed: | Yes |
| Related URLs: | |
| Use Licence: | This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here |
Downloads
Downloads per month over past year
Share and Export
Share and Export