Criminological and sociological theories suggest that peers play a significant role in reinforcing delinquent behavior. Numerous studies discuss the negative impact of peer influence variables. Unfortunately, little attention is provided to the protective factors of positive peers. One program that utilizes positive peer influence to redirect delinquent behavior so that participants will not reenter the juvenile justice system is the teen court model. To date, teen court research has not evaluated the impact of positive peer influence or determined whether positive peer influence even exists within these courts. This research not only addresses gaps in criminological, sociological, and teen court theory, it fills a research void concerning the operations of teen courts and their potential impacts. The results of this study also establish a foundation for examining how a neglected but potentially critical dimension of youth's relationships, positive peers, may both reduce and deter delinquency. This research reports the development and validation of the Teen Court Peer Influence Scale (TCPIS). The TCPIS was disseminated to 404 participants in six teen courts in the state of Florida. The sample was systematically split to form two groups. The first group was used for the exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and the second for the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Results from these analyses support that positive peer influence is operationalized by three latent constructs, three correlations between factors, and fourteen observed variables. The domains focus on developing positive cognitions, positive identity development, and modeling. The theoretical model derived by the EFA and CFA was a good fit to the data with all fit indices meeting appropriate standards. The reliability for the TCPIS was .88 and the scale showed promising construct, concurrent, and predictive validity using delinquency measures. The results from this study fill conceptual and empirical gaps in teen court research by identifying theoretical mechanisms of positive peer influence. The TCPIS can now be utilized in future teen court research to determine whether specific strategies used by these courts are effective. / A Dissertation submitted to the College of Social Work in partial fulfillment of
the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Degree Awarded: Summer Semester, 2007. / Date of Defense: May 23, 2007. / Exploratory factor analysis, Teen courts, Positive peer influence, Measurement development, Psychometrics, Confirmatory factor analysis / Includes bibliographical references. / Darcy C. Siebert, Professor Directing Dissertation; Daniel P. Mears, Outside Committee Member; C. Aaron McNeece, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_168485 |
| Contributors | Smith, Kenneth Scott (authoraut), Siebert, Darcy C. (professor directing dissertation), Mears, Daniel P. (outside committee member), McNeece, C. Aaron (committee member), College of Social Work (degree granting department), Florida State University (degree granting institution) |
| Publisher | Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource, computer, application/pdf |
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