"Warr examines key questions concerning the relationship between peer influence and delinquent/criminal
behavior. He develops in a systematic and sophisticated fashion concepts and relationships used to explain delinquency....
An excellent bibliography rounds out this valuable contribution. All levels and collections."
--Choice
Publisher Web Site, October, 2003
Summary
Criminologists often allude to "peer influence" in explanations of crime and delinquency, but the
meaning of that concept rarely receives careful attention. Companions in Crime organizes the extensive literature
on peer influence and group delinquency into a coherent form for the first time. Chapters focus on the role of
peers over the life course, the group nature of delinquent behavior, and the applicability of peer influence for
explaining the major features of delinquent behavior. The most extensive chapter of the book examines possible
mechanisms of peer influence and the evidence in favor of each. The principal thesis of Companions in Crime is
that deviant behavior is predominantly social behavior and that criminologists must eventually determine the significance
of that fact.