NCJ Number
209171
Journal
Corrections Today Volume: 67 Issue: 1 Dated: February 2005 Pages: 46-49
Date Published
February 2005
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This article discusses the role of antisocial associates or peers in the development and maintenance of antisocial behavior and interventions to break down and change these patterns of criminal association.
Abstract
Antisocial peers are central to understanding the development of antisocial behavior and predicting criminal acts. Antisocial peers have a prominent place within many theories of criminal behavior, such as control theories and learning theories. A study which examined antisocial peers among adult offenders compared a variety of variables from different theoretical orientations and found one variable that made the greatest relative contribution to the prediction of criminal behavior, criminal friends. This article discusses the central role that antisocial associates play in the development and maintenance of antisocial behavior and the growing evidence that antisocial associates contribute to recidivism. It discusses the development and implementation of a program, the Associates for Success Group, which motivates offenders to move away from criminal associations and teaches them necessary skills in developing prosocial associations. This program has the ability to be offered either inside or outside of prisons. It is believed that changing the antisocial associations of the offender can have a profound influence on their lives and gradually erode the criminal networks that maintain their antisocial behavior. 22 Endnotes