Peer Group Influence on Adolescents - Essay Example

Outline Introduction Negative peer influences The positive side of peer influence Popular teens and peer influence Socialization, peer influence and effects on the society Susceptibility to peer influence Why peer influence often leads to deviance Conclusion Introduction Adolescent is the stage when young people begin to understand themselves as they move from childhood into adulthood. It can be simply defined as the development stage of a human being which entails physical, psychological, social and spiritual growth. As such, given the many things asking place at the same time, there is a lot of confusion in the mind of the adolescent. Thus, it is during the adolescent stage that people are influenced by what is going on around them. Research indicates that adolescents are more concerned of how other people perceive them more than they themselves. This in turn brings about the issue of peer groups and pressure. As a result, they begin to experiment both positive and negative behaviors (Almquist et al. 2013). A peer group entails people of same personal characteristics and behavioral patterns. Peer group pressure on the other hand is acting to meet the demands of a certain group as well as being loyal to it. Most often than not, the behavior of one’s peers is not acceptable by parents given its different values. Young people during the adolescent stage coalesce naturally and cluster themselves into groups with similar or close to characters (Wang et al., 2011). Since the ancient times, peer groups have been criticized to being one of the main reasons for social deviance among other negative influences. Nevertheless, there are also the protagonists of peer pressure who claim that it brings up “well-socialized” men and women. This paper is therefore an in-depth analysis of the influences of peer pressure on adolescents. Negative peer influences Any time the word ‘peer group’ is mentioned, the thought of its negativity just comes in. It is by no doubt that peer group is about negative influence in young people especially those in the adolescent stage. This is because of the fact that peer groups have a great stake in the shaping and molding of behavior of adolescents. Putting into consideration the fact that today’s parents are busy fending for their children instead of being there with them to take care of them, adolescents have been forced to learn most of the things by themselves and by extension from their peers. It seems that peer groups have turned to be the only place or forum that adolescents can create their names and identities by associating with people of the same character, behavior and reputation. What they get from these associations could have an impact on their well-being as well as being detrimental to their health (Almquist et al. 2013). Behaviors such as aggressive behavior, substance use, smoking, early sexual indulgence, bullying, social deviance and delinquency just to mention a few are very common among adolescents. Research shows that delinquent adolescents are likely to be affiliated to each other in a bid to increase each other’s degree of delinquency. More so, some peer groups have been known to mould adolescents to become physically violent to their peers and siblings and in future making them abusive to their spouses. They could also be physically violent in their workplaces causing accidents, being jailed and at times losing their employment. Such an individual turns out to have aggressive behavior and becomes a social deviant having lost everything that matters in life from friendship, employment and marriage (Pokhreal et al.2010). In addition to this, peer group influence could lead to alcoholism, smoking, drug abuse, and bad sexual behavior as the adolescent tries to fit in the clique. The aforementioned behaviors are known to increase the health risks of the adolescents and could cause terminal illnesses and affect their lifetime. While peer group influence could bring about healthy competition in academics, when the same peer influence is on a low degree of acceptance it could lead to stress and depression among adolescents. This again is a health risk which makes the adolescents feel diminished and maybe ridiculed by their peers just because they have not attained certain levels of social clusters. In fact, research shows that most adolescents normally blame themselves for any problem they encounter in peer groups. Parents are enemies of most adolescents once they get into peer groups. Normally, during the adolescent stage, people tend to distance themselves from the older generation especially their parents. Hence, with peer group influence the adolescents distance themselves psychologically even further from the parents and instead become attached and intimate with their peers. Unlike their parents, their peers do not know their strengths and weak points hence end up not understanding themselves. Putting all the negative peer influences on a weighing scale, it may seem that some are smaller than others at a glance but their real influences will still be negative just as those in the extreme. Nevertheless, efforts with a good intention of preventing the problem of peer group influence among the adolescents have normally been put off. The positive side of peer influence Despite the many critics of peer influence, it has several positive sides that ought not to be overlooked. Peer group influence is just as similar to friendships that influence the social development and esteem of adolescents. It is not all the time that peers will influence others on the negative sides, but research indicates that there are peer relationships that play a significant role in the development and social learning of an adolescent. Thus, positive peer groups could increase the self-esteem of an adolescent as well as making them have competent social skills. As mentioned earlier in the paper, peer group influence brings up ‘well-socialized’ individuals who can fit in any societal group. Though funny, the little things that adolescents learn from their peers could positively impact their lives by a great deal (Wang et al., 2011). For instance, most adolescents learn from their peers about any technological advances and internet. It is for this reason that the biggest percentage of the internet users are in the adolescent stage. It is by no doubt that if the trend continues, the world will become a global village by the time the current adolescents go into adulthood. It is through peer groups that adolescents are able to learn about almost everything by holding discussions on various topics from bad to good. Some of the group discussions provide positive information on academics and other relevant topics like sports and music that could positively influence the career growth of the adolescent. Additionally, the peer group discussions play a key role in supporting the development and restructuring of adolescents reasoning skills and thinking. Peer groups are one way that adolescents spend their leisure time. Even as critics blame peer group influence on deviant behavior, it could take the same peer group to reduce the deviant behavior in an adolescent. For instance, they could learn from the experiences of other adolescents who have fallen victims or by just watching them among the peers (Akos et al. 2007). On the other hand, peer group influence creates a sense of belongingness among the adolescents because they have that inner feeling of being around people who understand them and care about them even if that is not the case. This in one word could be defined as connectedness whereby adolescents have people to talk to in problems and also to look up to. Connectedness is significant in molding the confidence of an adolescent as well as their ability of trusting others (Eisenberg et al. 2003, p.312). Therefore, despite the fact peer influence is something to worry about during the adolescent stage, it inevitable. However, its positive side should not be overlooked, that of well socialization. Popular teens and peer influence Popular teens have been known worldwide for their selection of friends who in turn are greatly influenced by their peers. However, they themselves do not perceive their behavior as peer influenced. Research conducted indicates that popular teens are likely to engage in bad behavior such as use of alcohol and drugs like marijuana. It further indicates that they value their peers more than themselves and or their parents. Other than drug taking, smoking and alcoholism, popular teens are also known to indulge in other behaviors such as shoplifting, vandalism and public offenders among others. It is true to attest that the process of socialization processes can also have positive impacts on the development of an adolescent and not just negative influence. “What we see is that while popular teens are increasing in alcohol and marijuana use and minor levels of delinquency, they are not increasing in more serious forms of criminal behavior (e.g., felony offenses), which presumably are far less widely valued by peers. Even more importantly, popular peers are found to decrease over time in their levels of hostile behavior relative to their less popular counterparts” (Paetsch, and Bertrand, 1997, p.29). It therefore goes without saying that such bad behaviors among popular teens are devalued by members of the peer group. Socialization, peer influence and effects on the society Just as peer influence and socialization affects the individual adolescent, it consequentially affects the society as a whole. The positive and negative traits acquired by adolescents from their peers are by extension felt by the society. “The problem is that the values toward which teens are being socialized are often less than ideal relative to the norms of adult society. To be well-socialized is one thing; to be well-socialized by a bunch of 13-year olds is a less unambiguously positive experience, at least from an adult vantage point” (LeCroy, and Krysik, 2008, p. 209). Just by giving a simple example, when a deviant adolescent shoplifts, several people could be affected including, his or parents/guardians, the owner/administration of the supermarket or mall etc. At the same time, when a drunk adolescent decides to drive a car and cause an accident, innocent bystanders, passengers and other road users could be affected. Recent studies show that long-term use of alcohol by adolescents could cause brain damage which in turn leads to a society of mad people. To sum it up retail shopkeepers, consumers, and homeowners have to bear with tremendous costs that come about due to both vandalism and shoplifting by deviant adolescents (Almquist et al. 2013).. Thus, no matter how small a troublesome behavior could seem, its consequences could be large. In other words, what could seem as a “minor” adolescent problem behavior could just be a passing wind in the life stage of the adolescent but bring about huge short- and long-term costs to the entire society. Susceptibility to peer influence All adolescents are susceptible to peer group influence the only difference being the perception and control over the influence. However, the susceptibility levels differ with factors such as age, location and social classes among other factors. Intrinsic factors such as the character of the adolescent also influence the susceptibility of adolescents to peer influence (Wang et al., 2011). It is argued that being talkative among peers are susceptible to deviant behavior. Why peer influence often leads to deviance Peer group influence is associated with deviance since it is arguably the main source of deviant behavior (Hernandez, 2008). Peer groups among adolescents make them behave in a manner different from the values of their parents. Deviance comes about as the adolescents try to do the opposite of their parents’ expectations. It leads to criminal and civil offences such as alcoholism, pickpockets and even prostitution just o fit in a group. Bad behaviors from peer groups are normally adopted by adolescents who are best-adjusted (Hernandez, 2008). It is not possible for adolescents to grow in a vacuum environment with no peers. Thus in whatever environment they grow in, they could probably learn from the others behaviors that are not acceptable by the society leading to social deviance. Solution It ought to be agreed that peer influence is a social menace given the fact that young people form the biggest proportion in any given population. Thus, a solution to peer group influence is what the society would have wanted like yesterday. All in all, the effective way of dealing with this social menace is by focusing on the content of the values and behavior exchanged among the adolescents. This leads to the question of the source of peer group influences. Despite the fact that most people would accuse other adolescents to be the source of bad values, this is not sufficient. “Blaming peer influences for negative adolescent values and behaviors may ultimately make about as much sense as blaming television transmission towers for disturbing images that appear on TV” (Robertson, and Symons,2003, p.46). Hence, proper education on values among adolescents and practical examples is one way of dealing with peer group influence. Conclusion From the above discussion, it goes without saying that peer group influence among the adolescents is inevitable but can be controlled depending on the individual. This is because peer influence is so strong that it can change an adolescent to be a totally different individual, hence a fundamental problem. It has proven to be big challenge stopping adolescent from peer group influence. It is therefore the responsibility of adults to instill good values among the adolescents (Biddle et al., 1980). Nevertheless, if peer influence was just about positive behavior, then, nobody would criticize it; in fact it would even be thought that the peer influence is not strong enough. Reference List Akos, P., Hamm, J., Mack, S., Dunaway, M. (2007). Utilizing the developmental influence of peers in middle school groups. The Journal for Specialists in Group Work, 32 (1), 51-60. Almquist, Y., Modin, B., Augustine, L. (2013). Peer acceptance in the school class and subjective health complaints: A multilevel approach. Journal of School Health, 83 (10), 690-696. Biddle, B., Bank, B., Marlin, M. (1980). Parental and peer influence on adolescents. Social Forces, 58 (4), 1057-1079. Eisenberg, M., Neumark-Sztainer, D., Perry, C. (2003). Peer harassment, school connectedness, and academic achievement. Journal of School Health, 73 (8), 311-316 Hernandez Jozefowicz-Simbeni, D. (2008). An ecological and developmental perspective on dropout risk in early adolescence: Role of school social workers in dropout prevention efforts. Children and Schools 30 (1), 49-62. LeCroy, C., and Krysik, J. (2008). Predictors of academic achievement and school attachment among Hispanic adolescents.Children and Schools, 30 (4), 197-209. Paetsch, J., and Bertrand, L. (1997). The relationship between peer, social, and school factors, and delinquency among youth.Journal of School Health, 67 (1), 27-32. Pokhreal, P., Sussman, S., Black, D., Sun, P. (2010). Peer group self-identification as a predictor of relational and physical aggression among high school students.Journal of School Health, 80 (5), 249-258. Robertson, D., and Symons, J. (2003). Do peer groups matter? Peer group versus schooling effects on academic attainment. The London School of Economics and Political Science, 70, 31-54. Wang, J., Iannotti, R., Luk, J. (2011). Peer victimization and academic adjustment among early adolescents: Moderation by gender and mediation by perceived classmate support. Journal of School Health, 81 (7), 386-392. Read More