Low Self-Control, Deviant Peer Associations, and Juvenile Cyberdeviance

This study investigates the drivers of juvenile cyberdeviance by applying two foundational criminological theories: Gottfredson and Hirschi’s General Theory of Crime (focusing on low self-control) and Akers’ Social Learning Theory (focusing on deviant peer associations). While these theories are well-supported in studies of adult and college-aged populations, this research specifically examines how these factors influence middle and high school students, exploring whether deviant peers mediate or condition the effect of low self-control on various forms of online misconduct.

The authors conducted an online survey of 435 middle and high school students in Kentucky. The study measured cyberdeviance across five categories: media piracy, software piracy, online pornography viewing, harassment, and unauthorized computer access (hacking). The researchers used the Grasmick et al. scale to measure self-control and assessed peer influence by asking students about the online behaviors of their friends. They employed linear and logistic regression models to test for direct, mediating, and moderating (conditioning) effects.

The results confirm that both low self-control and deviant peer associations are robust predictors of cyberdeviance. Peer association emerged as the strongest predictor of overall cyberdeviance. The analysis revealed that peer influence partially mediates the relationship between low self-control and cyber-offending, suggesting that youth with low self-control are more likely to associate with deviant peers, who in turn facilitate or reinforce their online misconduct. Additionally, for general cyberdeviance, having deviant peers was found to exacerbate the impact of low self-control, though this specific interaction effect was not statistically significant when looking at the five individual types of cybercrime separately.