Family Incarceration and Bullying Among Urban African American Adolescents: The Mediating Roles of Exposure to Delinquent Peer Norms, Trauma, and Externalizing Behaviors

Abstract

The present study examined whether having had an incarcerated adult family member was associated with youth bullying perpetration. The study also examined whether exposure to delinquent peers’ norms, trauma, and externalizing behaviors mediated the link between adult family member’s incarceration and bullying perpetration. The study sample consisted of 638 African American adolescents, aged 13 to 21, in Chicago’s Southside. Major findings indicated that 46.8% of the study participants reported bullying perpetration (i.e., at least 1 to 2 times in the past 30 days). Moreover, an adult family member’s incarceration history was found to be positively associated with having peers who endorsed delinquent norms, trauma, and externalizing behaviors, which were linked to youth’s bullying perpetration. Programs addressing youth bullying need to consider the family dynamics.

Pathways from Exposure to Community Violence to Bullying Victimization among African American Adolescents in Chicago’s Southside

“…Exposure to peer delinquency was comprised of nine items from the Adolescent Delinquency Questionnaire [ 48 ], which included “How many of your ten closest friends drink alcohol?”, “How many of your ten closest friends skip school or class?”, “How many of your ten closest friends have smoked marijuana?”, “How many of your ten closest friends have used drugs?”, “How many of your ten closest friends smoke cigarettes?”, “How many of your ten closest friends have smoked marijuana?”, “How many of your ten closest friends carry guns?”, “How many of your ten closest friends use weapons?”, and “How many of your ten closest friends have stolen something worth more than $5?” Response options were None (0), A few (1), About half (2), Many (3) , and Most (4) . The internal reliability scores reported in previous studies ranged from 0.86 to 0.89 [ 49 , 50 ].…”

Applying GST to Understand and Contextualize Bullying: A Conjunctive Analysis of Case Configurations

“…Recently, however, Strohacker et al (2022) examination of bullying perpetration through the lens of GST used survey data from 2009 to 2010 Health Behavior in School-Aged Children study and found that socioeconomic strain is correlated with bullying perpetration. Although no studies have examined the impact of homelessness on bullying, very few studies noted the association between parental/ caretaker incarceration and bullying behaviors (J. M. Lee et al, 2019;Myers et al, 2013). These studies suggested that family dynamics, such as the strain of parental incarceration, contributes to a diminished resilience and an inability to emotionally regulate behaviors in adolescence, which in turn, results in subsequent bullying.…”

“…Recently, however, Strohacker et al (2022) examination of bullying perpetration through the lens of GST used survey data from 2009 to 2010 Health Behavior in School-Aged Children study and found that socioeconomic strain is correlated with bullying perpetration. Although no studies have examined the impact of homelessness on bullying, very few studies noted the association between parental/caretaker incarceration and bullying behaviors (J. M. Lee et al, 2019; Myers et al, 2013).…”

Growing Up in Adversity: A Moderated Mediation Model of Family Conflict, Cyberbullying Perpetration, Making Sense of Adversity and Depression

“…Lee et al, 2022). Specifically, family members are widely considered adolescents' primary source of learning (J. M. Lee et al, 2019). Exposure to violent family conflict makes adolescents highly likely to witness coercive control and violence, and they may accept and believe that hostility and aggressive behaviors are acceptable approaches to resolving conflict (J. M. Lee et al, 2022;.…”

“…Lee et al, 2022). Specifically, family members are widely considered adolescents’ primary source of learning (J. M. Lee et al, 2019).…”