Too cool for school? Violence, peer status and high school dropout

Citation

Staff, Jeremy; Kreager, Derek; & A (2008). Too cool for school? Violence, peer status and high school dropout. Social Forces. vol. 87 (1) pp. 445-471

Abstract

Research shows that peer status in adolescence is positively associated with school achievement and adjustment. However, subculture theories of juvenile delinquency and school-based ethnographies suggest that (1. disadvantaged boys are often able to gain some forms of peer status through violence and (2. membership in violent groups undermines educational attainment. Building on these ideas, we use peer network data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health to examine whether peer status within highly violent groupsincreases male risks of high school dropout. Consistent with the subcultural argument, we find that disadvantaged boys with high status in violent groups are at much greater risks of high school dropout than other students.

URL

http://dx.doi.org/10.1353/sof.0.0068

Keyword(s)

School

Reference Type

Journal Article

Journal Title

Social Forces

Author(s)

Staff, Jeremy
Kreager, Derek
A

Year Published

2008

Volume Number

87

Issue Number

1

Pages

445-471

DOI

10.1353/sof.0.0068

NIHMSID

NIHMS600226

Reference ID

8820