Abstract
What influence do friends, school and parents have on delinquent behaviour of high school students? This article examines the influence of friends in relation to bonds with school and with parents, and also examines differences between boys and girls in the influence of friends and bonds on delinquent behaviour. We used network data to measure delinquent behaviour of friends, which is more precise than usual measurement methods of delinquent peers. Delinquency was measured at two points in time, which gave us the opportunity to examine the causal order of having delinquent friends and performing delinquent behaviour. Using multivariate logistic regression analysis, significant effects were found for delinquent friendships, conventional bonds and for other friendship variables. However, boys and girls differed in the explanatory variables affecting delinquency. Causal examination revealed that delinquent friends increased the likelihood of delinquent behaviour a year later, but also that delinquency had an effect on choosing delinquent friends after a year.
