The Process of Peer Pressure - Essay Example

Peer Pressure: Seeking Support or Just Going Along With the Crowd The process of socialization from childhood through adulthood is marked by a considerable phase of trial, experimentation, rejection, and acceptance as the path through adolescence becomes directed by peer pressure. Peer pressure is usually thought of as a force that groups apply to teenagers in an effort to persuade them to try something that they may be adverse to, that is socially taboo, or act in a deviant manner. For the teenager, the stakes are high, as it could mean group acceptance or group rejection. Within the group, a failure to succumb to peer pressure may result in group sanctions against the individual. Peer pressure can have dangerous outcomes as adolescents experiment with drugs, become sexually active, or act out violently in an effort to create an identity of power. The negative results of peer pressure can be quantified in terms of truancy, delinquency, contact with law enforcement, and eventual incarceration. Indeed, there is an explosion of youth deviance, sexual activity, and violence that affects us all. The results of peer pressure may be overt, but the causes are often more subtle and elusive. Understanding peer pressure is a critical factor in understanding the teenage years and mediating the potential bad decisions that are made by teenagers as they surrender their judgement to a group's expectations and norms. Peer pressure is a destructive force that has proliferated in the face of impersonal social institutions, diminished life choices, and families that fail to offer their children the emotional support necessary to develop a well-rounded sense of self-esteem and personal identity. The issue of peer pressure has gained increasing importance in recent years due to the proliferation of pop culture media, social networking, availability of drugs, and the easy access to guns in our society. This paper will use a review of the existing literature to determine the underlying vulnerabilities to peer pressure, and highlight the ways in which its social impact can be minimized. The representation of teenage socialization in the mass media often highlights the influence that peers have to corrupt teenage values, which "leads to deviant behaviors such as smoking, drinking, drug use, dangerous driving, violence, provocative dress, and sexual promiscuity" (Schwind, 2008, p. 1015). These social forces conspire to motivate teenagers to make decisions that they would otherwise reject if they based their behavior solely on family socialization, community values, and accepted social norms. However, it is the suspension of these beliefs in favor of a group's deviant values that results in poor decisions and behavioral problems. By the time a child reaches middle school, their friends are the biggest influence in their life, and peer acceptance or rejection is the number one predictor of their personal emotional safety (Hartnett, 2007, p. 37). By this age, the child has become aware of their status among their peers, uses gossip for information and retaliation, is concerned about rejection, and is willing to significantly modify their behavior to gain peer group acceptance (Deutsch, 2000, p. 333). When these forces result in a beneficial outcome, such as church attendance or volunteer work, it is called a positive influence. When the results are negative, it is labeled peer pressure and has the negative connotation of coercion. Though peer pressure affects all ages and has a wide range of outcomes, this paper will focus on the negative results from peer pressure during the teenage years. Peer pressure in adolescents has a dual motivational aspect, as it has the positive goal of gaining group acceptance, and expresses the negative motivation of the rebellion against the established power structure. As teenagers struggle to create and express their identity, the symbols of group alliance become a part of their personal individuality. These outward symbols may be the overt fashions and accessories that they wear, the use of cultural slang, or may be the pattern of behavior that they establish. The results of peer pressure may extend into attitudes and beliefs, such as codes of silence or the belief in a cult. In any case, almost all peer pressure results in the teenager adopting a symbol that defies the established institutional norms. This can run the range from the innocuous wearing of a colored bracelet as an expression of group membership, to the robbing of a retailer as a means to be accepted by a gang. The "defiant resistance of authority is an effort to capture cultural capital available in the subculture" (Baxter & Marina, 2008, p. 108). One of the pervasive characteristics of peer pressure is its anti-establishment attitude. In high school this translates to the relationship that the student has with the school system, or their allegiance to groups outside the school setting. A student may embrace the rewards and benefits that the school system has to offer, or they may reject the academic peer group identification (Hartnett, 2007, p. 37). Though peer pressure may manifest itself as a deviant activity, it is usually based in the negative motivation of rejection of the status quo. Peer pressure, as represented by deviant behavior, may be the result of coercion on the part of friends and peer group members, or may originate within the individual. Intrinsic motivation is an internal drive to maintain a belief or a behavior, while "extrinsic motivation originates from [...] external sources such as society, physician, family, or friends" (Furia, Lee, Strother & Huang, 2009, p. 257). Intrinsic motivation may be a positive influence, such as the desire to be kind, and does not require any specific material outcome. However, there are exceptions. As an example, "Early adolescents [girls] who perceive that most of their friends are having sex are more likely to intend to initiate intercourse and to engage in it" (Di Niola & Schinke, 2008, p. 498). The need for an adolescent girl to feel thin may come from external pressure, or may be merely the perception that their peers are pressuring them to lose weight (Shomaker & Furman, 2007, p. 873). In either case, the pressure is internal and does not exist outside the self. Extrinsic motivation is peer pressure to act according to a group's influence, and necessitates a tangible material reward (Furia et al., 2009, p. 257). The result is that a teenager acts out in a deviant manner and is rewarded with group acceptance. According to the theory of self-determination, a lack of choice increases the likelihood of extrinsic motivation and increases the potential for negative peer pressure (Furia et al., 2009, p. 257). A student that has no hope of going to college, or even graduating, will find their social influence outside "conventional socialization" or the academic setting (Hartnett, 2007, p. 37). Teenagers that have few choices in regards to friends, social structure, and material options are more likely to become the victims of peer pressure and the associated deviant behavioral problems. Peer pressure may come from a primary group, secondary group, reference group, institution, or a larger social group that has a common social identifier such as race or gender. The anti-social nature of peer pressure, and the lack of choice that emboldens it, indicates that peer pressure may exert its greatest influence in marginal socio-economic groups where teenagers feel alienated from mainstream society, and have few options available for their future. In fact, African-American teenage boys are often "marginalized and demonized by authorities" and are then forced to yield to a non-conformist style and fashion "to express commitment to a resistant subculture" (Baxter & Marina, 2008, p. 110). In this case the pressure does not come from a primary group, but comes from the larger social grouping of race or culture. This same phenomenon is experienced as young men are pressured by preconceived images that convey what it means to 'grow up and be a man'. There is considerable evidence that the male gender group encourages male violence, and within this group the deviance of violence is perceived as socially acceptable (Moller, 2008, pp. 189-190). Though these pressures originate in the impersonal societal group of race or gender, they become personified when the person is among a smaller group of blacks or males. In this way, the negative myths and influences that permeate society, and saturate the popular media, become personalized and individualized as peer pressure. Parents, institutions, and society all have a vested interest in reducing the undesirable effects of peer pressure. There is some evidence that authoritative influences in the child's life may be the best avenue at reducing the deviant behavior associated with peer pressure. However, a distinction must be made between authoritative and authoritarian. Both styles are highly demanding, but authoritative is warm and responsive while authoritarian is aloof, unresponsive, and lacks support and reason (Martinez & Garcia, 2008, p. 14). Support and reason are the two traits that are most effective at developing a child that is resistant to negative peer pressure. According to Hartnett (2007), "the more the student feels emotionally connected to the school, its personnel, and its purposes", the greater the likelihood of school system conformance and the rejection of negative peer pressure (p. 43). Children who grow up in a home with an absent father, or one in which the parent(s) are neglectful due to work or lifestyle were at an increased risk of being "susceptible to peer pressure to engage in anti-social behavior" (Blackburn, 1998, pp. 167-168). In addition, research has shown that children who are given support and reason place a higher priority on the social values of conformity and tradition, than children who are raised in neglectful or authoritarian homes (Martinez & Garcia, 2008, p. 23). However, parenting is only one aspect of a teenager's life that offers guidance and direction as they venture into the world to establish their personal identity and self-esteem. As the child reaches their teenage years, there are myriad forces that are competing for the child's allegiance, as they attempt to dictate fashion, attitude, and behavior. Parents, the school, law enforcement, advertisers, and peer groups all have a vested interest in molding the child's behavior in an effort to gain group conformity. These social forces will be more or less authoritative or authoritarian. Many times they will compete, as when parents contest a school policy concerning the dress code. Fashion is one of the most important means that a child has for self-expression, and the child's primary peer group usually dictates it. Deviant clothing is often the most outward expression of the extent that the child is wiling to go to in resisting establishment authority, and schools and society view it as the front line fight against peer pressure (Baxter & Marina, 2008, p. 96). The Department of Education contends that school uniforms reduce the effects of peer pressure by acting as a "metaphor for recruitment of young people into society" and conditioning them to the "institutional reality of the school" (Baxter & Marina, 2008, p. 103). This approach is highly authoritarian and only serves to drive the peer pressure underground and into other areas of the child's identity. According to Deutsch (2000), "teachers and other adults too often fail to pay attention to the effect of peer-group dynamics [and] adolescents are likely to keep their activities unobserved by parents and other adults in authority" (p. 338). Almost all contact with authority outside the home is authoritarian and lacks the personal warmth that is offered by parents or friends. Peer pressure influence will come from the group that is most accessible and wiling to provide these emotional needs. In conclusion, many of the critical decisions that a teenager will make will be based, and influenced, by peer pressure. Though not all peer pressure is harmful, it too often results in deviant behavior that places the teenager at risk. Teenagers will identify with a group and draw their influence from them. This may be the family unit, friends, or may even extend to larger culture based groups that exert their influence on the child through social contacts that have a common social characteristic such as race or gender. As a child begins to establish their own identity, they will get influence from the primary group that gives them support, warmth, compassion, and reason. It is incumbent upon the parents, school, and institutions to be able to offer emotional closeness to these teenagers. Children who are alienated from society by race or economics will be especially vulnerable to peer pressure. Reducing the negative influence of peer pressure can be aided by offering the child more choices in their life. A child that has options available in regards to higher education, vocational school, or an occupation is less likely to submit to a peer group, and more likely to conform to a school system and academic success. Reducing the epidemic of deviance that has permeated the teenage population requires our institutions to become more emotionally responsive, and mandates our society to offer more realistic opportunities to the children that currently face an uncertain future of despair and neglect. References Baxter, V., & Marina, P. (2008). Cultural meaning and hip-hop fashion in the African-American male youth culture of New Orleans. Journal of Youth Studies, 11(2), 93-113. Blackburn, R. (1998). The psychology of criminal conduct: Theory, research, and practice. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Deutsch, M. (2000). The Handbook of Conflict Resolution: Theory and practice. San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass. Di Niola, J., & Schinke, S. (2008). HIV risk-related attitudes, interpersonal influences, and intentions among at-risk urban, early adolescent girls. American Journal of Health Behavior, 32(5), 497-507. Furia, A., Lee, R., Strother, M., & Huang, T. (2009). 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