NCJ Number
227394
Journal
Journal of Youth and Adolescence Volume: 38 Issue: 6 Dated: July 2009 Pages: 747-764
Date Published
July 2009
Length
18 pages
Annotation
This article critically evaluates current research approaches to classifying groups of adolescents that are called "adolescent crowds," defined by Brown et al. (1994) as "collections of adolescents identified by the interests, attitudes, abilities, and/or personal characteristics they have in common."
Abstract
This review of the various methods used to place adolescents in distinctive "crowds" for the purpose of characterizing them for targeted interventions pertinent to problem behaviors suggests that the methodologies lack sufficient specificity. There are diverse methodologies used in this research area. Social-type rating methods, self-identification methods, grouping by adolescent behavior or characteristics, and ethnographic or other qualitative methods should be accompanied by greater specificity in terminology, so as to alert researchers to the various phenomena being studied. Current research suggests the use of the following terms: "reputation crowd," based on peer perceptions of various adolescent "crowds" and their characteristics; "behavioral crowd," based on defined behaviors, attitudes, and/or characteristics; "interactional crowd," based on who "hangs out" together; and "affiliation crowd," based on an adolescent's self-identification of the "crowd" to which he/she belongs. Once the selected definition of each "crowd" is specified, the next step will be to determine the composition of these various "crowds." The questions that should be asked and answered in this step are whether the "crowds" overlap; whether they are stable or transient as adolescents move in and out of the various types of "crowds;" and the differences between the members of each of the identified "crowds." Focusing on these research issues will lead to new avenues of research, resulting in a greater understanding of the adolescent culture. 1 table and 69 references