Friendships, Peer Socialization and Social Identity Among Adolescent Skateboarders and Graffiti Writers [1 ed.] 9781617284687, 9781616687601

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Copyright © 2010. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved. Friendships, Peer Socialization and Social Identity Among Adolescent Skateboarders and Graffiti Writers, Nova Science

Copyright © 2010. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved. Friendships, Peer Socialization and Social Identity Among Adolescent Skateboarders and Graffiti Writers, Nova Science

Social Issues, Justice and Status

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FRIENDSHIPS, PEER SOCIALIZATION AND SOCIAL IDENTITY AMONG ADOLESCENT SKATEBOARDERS AND GRAFFITI WRITERS

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FRIENDSHIPS, PEER SOCIALIZATION AND SOCIAL IDENTITY AMONG ADOLESCENT SKATEBOARDERS AND GRAFFITI WRITERS

MYRA TAYLOR STEPHEN HOUGHTON AND

JOHN BEDNALL Novinka Nova Science Publishers, Inc. New York

Friendships, Peer Socialization and Social Identity Among Adolescent Skateboarders and Graffiti Writers, Nova Science

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Taylor, Myra, 1962Friendships, peer socialization, and social identity among adolescent skateboarders and graffiti writers / Myra Taylor, Stephen Houghton, and John Bednall. p. cm. Includes index. ISBN:  (eBook) 1. Age groups--Australia--Western Australia. 2. Group identity--Australia--Western Australia. 3. Teenagers--Australia--Western Australia. I. Houghton, Stephen. II. Bednall, John. III. Title. HM721.T39 2010 305.23509941--dc22 2010015606

Published by Nova Science Publishers, Inc. † New York

Friendships, Peer Socialization and Social Identity Among Adolescent Skateboarders and Graffiti Writers, Nova Science

CONTENTS

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Preface

ix

Chapter 1

Introduction

1

Chapter 2

Skateboarders and Graffiti-Writers

3

Chapter 3

Reputation Enhancement Theory and Reputation Enhancing Goals Theory

5

Chapter 4

Method

9

Chapter 5

Discussion and Concluding Comments

25

References

29

Index

37

Friendships, Peer Socialization and Social Identity Among Adolescent Skateboarders and Graffiti Writers, Nova Science

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PREFACE Peers play a crucial role in the establishment of adolescent friendships. While considerable variation exists in the purpose and nature of these friendships research clearly demonstrates that the basic style of friendship established during the adolescent years is generally replicated in friendships in later life. Thus, the adolescent selection of a peer friendship group is critical. For most adolescents friendships are based on mutual involvement in socially conforming activities conducted primarily with like-minded peers. For some, however, friendships are based on indulgence in non-conforming and delinquent type activities, which in some cases place young people at risk of adverse outcomes. Although these groups of young people tend to be viewed as antisocial by members of society, in general, there is ample evidence to suggest that their within group friendship perspective is one of high conformity. There is no doubt that individual identities within these groups develop among a complex of social pressures, both to conform and to act out against prevailing norms. Deciding how to present themselves to peers and to gauge the costs by assessing the reactions their actions garner from others is crucial in establishing their friendship patterns. In this research semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 skateboarders and 20 graffiti-writers in Western Australia. Findings revealed that both groups of adolescents forged highly developed friendship groups that are associated with transitioning to a particular social image and reputational status. For members of both groups, friendships were viewed as being important as was their involvement in what to them were socially conforming activities; but what to society are non-conforming activities. Using the grounded theory method, the existence of two other quite distinct friendship subgroups were uncovered. Adolescents in the first group tend to drift into

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friendship associations with their more popular skateboarding and graffiti indulging peers, rather than consciously setting out to achieve such friendships. The second group purposely conforms to their chosen subculture‟s mores and hang out with venerated peers to achieve recognitional status within the sub-culture. These findings provide a substantive understanding of the socio-psychological and cultural processes at play among adolescent friendships in activities considered by outsiders as being antisocial and as such provide new insights into the construction of interventions.

Friendships, Peer Socialization and Social Identity Among Adolescent Skateboarders and Graffiti Writers, Nova Science

Chapter 1

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INTRODUCTION Adolescence is the critical stage of the lifespan where peer socialisation is “fraught with tension, ambiguity and strain” (Allen, Porter, McFarland, Marsh, & McElhaney, 2005, pp. 1). It is a time when the importance of peer relationships increase dramatically as adolescents spend proportionally less time with family and more time with friends (McElhaney, Antonishka, & Allen, 2008). According to Cook, Buehler and Hensen (2009) on average adolescents spend 50% of their time with peers compared to only 20% with parents. Consequently, adolescents tend to rely more heavily on their peers, who have a particularly powerful influence on their important life choices at this time in their development (Cook et al., 2009; Helsen et al., 2000). Indeed, because friendships are increasingly characterised by equality, mutual respect, mutual trust, and symmetrical reciprocity (Youniss & Smollar, 1985) friends tend to be the most pre-eminent persons adolescents turn to for fulfilment of their needs (DeGoede, Branje, & Meeus, 2009). Thus, it is not surprising to learn that “many adolescents agonize extensively over how well they are liked and accepted by their peers” (McElhaney et al., 2008, pp 727). According to Gest, Graham-Bermann and Hartup (2001) having friends, occupying a central position in the network of informal peer groups, and being liked or disliked are three conceptually distinct aspects of a young person‟s social positioning. The manner in which an individual internally assesses these aspects, particularly in terms of how they will be treated by others, is critical in shaping their behavioural and emotional outcomes (Sroufe, 2005). Indeed, there is extensive research demonstrating that friendships provide numerous opportunities for learning social skills pertaining to the intricacies of relationships (Gest et al., 2001; Hartup, 1996). Learning these skills also

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contributes to helping young people to understand how to initiate, establish and change their social positioning within their selected peer group (see Bukowski, Pizzamiglio, Newcomb, Hoza, 1996; Cairns, Leung, Buchanan, & Cairns, 1995). For most adolescents the belief is one of social acceptance by others and hence, the peer group of choice is commensurate with adherence to societal norms and social conformity. For some, however, the belief is one of nonacceptance by peers and it is this group of adolescents who appear to be most vulnerable to increased involvement in antisocial activities (for a comprehensive review, see Carroll Houghton, Durkin, & Hattie, 2009). For both groups, the greater level of independence that come with adolescence provides increased access to peer interactions and friendships outside of the school setting (see McElhaney et al., 2008). Unfortunately, in doing so increased independence also provides the latter group with the means of obtaining a social reputation of non-conformity that is commensurate with their non-acceptance by others (see Carroll et al., 2009). However, even in contexts characterized by non-conformity it appears that peer social support networks and friendships are critically important (Buelga, Musitu, Murgui, & Pons, 2008). The present study examines the applicability of this nonconformity friendship association pattern in adolescents involved in skateboarding and graffiti-writing, two activities which project specific images within the group and to others outside of the group. In general, non-conforming young people are known to carefully and purposefully select the peer group that is most important to their successful social functioning, both in the short and long term. Indeed, psychoanalytic theory and Sullivan‟s (1953) developmental model of interpersonal relationships emphasize that adolescents begin close relationships with same sex peers to fulfil social needs. Moreover, these friends then become more and more important for providing support (Rubin, Bulkowski, & Parker, 2006). Limited and predominantly anecdotal evidence suggests that this might also be the case in the increasingly popular and male dominated skateboarding and graffiti-writing subcultures.

Friendships, Peer Socialization and Social Identity Among Adolescent Skateboarders and Graffiti Writers, Nova Science

Chapter 2

SKATEBOARDERS AND GRAFFITI-WRITERS

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.

In 2003 skateboarding, a relatively new lifestyle sport was identified as the second most popular extreme sport in the USA with 11 million participants (Shannon & Werner, 2008). Despite this popularity many adults view skateboarding in a negative and disapproving way, more often than not equating it with public nuisance (Woolley & Johns, 2001). Nevertheless, skateboarders are part of a youth subculture with an identity and outlook that identifies them as being different from other adolescents in their mainstream peer group (Beal, 1996). The growth of skateboarding as a lifestyle recreational sport has been attributed to participatory ideology, hedonism, fun, self-expression, creativity and aesthetics, risk and danger, positive selfdevelopment, identity development and improved socialization (Dumas & Laforest, 2009; Larson, 2000; Roth & Brooks-Gunn, 2003; Woolley & Johns, 2001). In addition to this, opportunities to belong have also been identified as a positive in the skateboarding setting (see Eccles & Gootman, 2002). The lack of rules, style of dress, tendency to resist conformity, „fetishises, notions of risk and danger (Wheaton, 2004, pp 11-12) and ability to elevate devotees to members of the in-crowd‟, the activity of skateboarding itself provides a strong foundation for the establishment of a sense of identity and social status which draws youth in (Beal & Wilson, 2004; Kreager, 2007). Similarly, the unauthorized, written, scratched, marked, sprayed, or affixed defacement of public/private property (Taylor & Marais, 2009) involves a subculture of young people – graffiti-writers – similarly searching for non-conformity. According to Adams and Winter (1997) the graffiti subculture follows explicit norms and conventions. The writer‟s tag, accompanied by the writer‟s affiliated crew tag is used to advertise or indicate the writer‟s

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place within the graffiti sub-culture‟s social network. Crews are not gangs, but typically are loosely knit groups of individuals whose main purpose is to come together to tag and, in some cases, create large murals (see Adams & Winter, 1997). Thus, the content and placement of tags represents the individual‟s and crew‟s social networks – both friendly and hostile. What is it that skateboarders and graffiti-writers have in common? From the limited research conducted it is known that members of both the skateboarding and the graffiti-writing sub-cultures share the values specific to their respective sub-culture group. Moreover, being part of the group entails adopting a skater or graffer identity and form of dress. Both groups also tend to use public spaces for specific physical purpose (i.e., to graffiti or skateboard) (Adams & Winter, 1997) and as “hang out” socialization places (Shannon & Werner, 2008). Their congregated visible presence in public spaces, however, is predominantly viewed by others as being threatening (see Weller, 2006).

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Chapter 3

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REPUTATION ENHANCEMENT THEORY AND REPUTATION ENHANCING GOALS THEORY It is widely accepted that the need to present a desired self-image to others is why individuals are the architects of their own presentations (see Selfpresentation theory: Baumeister, Hutton, & Tice, 1989; Goffman, 1959; Leary & Kowalski, 1990; Schlenker & Weigold, 1990; Tice, 1992). Whether this is the case in contexts of skateboarding and graffiti-writing is unknown. What is known is that adolescents involved in skateboarding and graffiti-writing project a visible presence in public spaces, and as mentioned earlier, this presence is predominantly interpreted by others as being non-conforming and threatening (see Weller, 2006). Moreover, as skateboarding and graffitiwriting are visible manifestation of an individual or a group‟s social space both activities provide individual members with opportunities to garner respect from their sub-culture‟s broader membership. According to Reputation Enhancement Theory (Emler & Reicher, 1995) individuals typically choose the image or social identity they wish to present and promote in their community, and go to great lengths to both develop and maintain this image (Emler, 1984; Emler & Reicher, 1995). This requires an audience who shares the subculture‟s belief (Gold & Petronio, 1980) and hence, reputations are collective phenomena and products of social processes, and not just the impressions that individuals hold of themselves (Emler, 1990). Moreover, the knowledge that powerful friends are perceived as being supportive is particularly important in relation to boy dominated sub-cultures (DeGoede et al., 2009). Having powerful friends, in addition, has been found to be a key component in the early reputational research into the involvement of adolescents in antisocial and illegal activities (Carroll, 1995).

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Reputation enhancement theory also posits that individuals communicate their social identities through intentional, visible behavior in order to persuade others that they belong to a particular social category (Emler, 1990). This is not only a means of creating a certain (tough) and powerful reputation amongst outsiders, but it also provides the condition for group membership (see Emler & Reicher, 1995 for a review). Moreover, it is a strategy of selfprotection and redress for the individual and for the group (Emler & Reicher, 1995). It is well known that boys tend to interact in larger friendship groups with a focus on companionship, competition, control and conflict compared to girls who focus more on empathy, inter-dependence and a need for nurturance (Galambos, 2004). For example, in the boy dominated graffiti sub-culture, the individuals‟ and the crews‟ highly visible graffiti tags are used to signify ownership and control over a particular space (Adams & Winter, 1997). Similarly, in skateboarding the gathering of skateboarding groups also signifies ownership and control (Vanderbeck & Dunkley, 2003). In both the skateboarding and graffiti-writing sub-cultures the visibility of actions to others, the audience to whom these actions are visible, and the manner in which these actions are communicated are critical to the establishment of a skater/graffer social identity; indeed, Carroll and colleagues (2009) suggest these are the key elements on which reputations are initiated, established and maintained. Extensive research conducted by Carroll and colleagues over the past two decades (see Carroll Houghton, Durkin & Hattie, 2009 for a full account) has extended Reputation Enhancement Theory. Collectively they have developed Reputation Enhancing Goals Theory (REG), which integrates elements of Reputation Enhancement Theory and Goal Setting Theory (Locke & Latham, 1984, 1990 and is based on the proposition that conscious goals regulate human behaviour. Furthermore, it is this that provides the linkage between adolescents‟ reputations and goals. Briefly, this integrated model proposes that many adolescents deliberately choose involvement in delinquent and antisocial activities in order to pursue a delinquent reputation as an alternative identity. The findings from many studies with at-risk and not at-risk primary and high school students and detained populations (Carroll, 2002; Carroll et al., 1997; 1999; 2000; 2001;2003;Houghton & Carroll, 1996; & Houghton et al., 2008) clearly demonstrate that adolescents are aware of the negative consequences of specific delinquent and antisocial behaviors and that they deliberately set goals related to participation in such behaviors to establish and maintain their nonconforming social reputations of choice.

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Reputation Enhancement Theory and Reputation Enhancing Goals…

7

Consequently, the present research adopted the hypothesis that adolescents involved in skateboarding and graffiti-writing deliberately set goals to achieve a non-conforming reputation and that these activities lead to the development of enduring friendships with members of their respective subcultures. What leads us to believe that this is the case? Clearly, both skaters and graffers share the goal of gaining a social image and status through their enactment of high-risk visibly dangerous acts. For instance, skaters ollie flights of stairs or skate in high traffic areas and graffers tag dangerous to reach overpasses, bridges, and tall buildings (Adams & Winter, 1997; Cremonese, 2000; Ferrell, 1998). Such high-risk visible performances not only allow skaters and graffers to portray a specific social identity, but also through their demonstration of their prowess to a wide peer audience they gain fullsub-culture membership (Dumas & Laforest, 2009; Ferrell, 1998; Shannon & Werner, 2008; Weller, 2006). In conclusion, Reputation Enhancement Theory posits that individuals go to great lengths to both develop and maintain their social image (Emler, 1984; Emler & Reicher, 1995). Reputation Enhancing Goals Theory extends this by emphasising that the degree of difficulty associated with a task is raised over time, thereby making it more challenging and, thus, providing very visible goals on which to enhance their reputations of choice among their peers. Even though some graffiti and skateboarding activities are at times conducted alone, both facilitate interaction and opportunities to hang out with friends (see Shannon & Werner, 2008). The development and maintenance of friendships therefore play an important role in these activities and underline how the two aforementioned theories might apply. If, as is the widely held view, that both groups comprise young people who wish to be perceived by others as nonconforming and who are involved in antisocial activities, then they should clearly become more deviant and non-conforming through their interactions and friendships (see Gifford-Smith, Dodge, Dishion, & McCord, 2005). Indeed, although groups can vary in their rates of deviance one would expect that, if one member engages in antisocial behaviour, there is a high probability that others will too (Cairns, Cairns, Neckerman, Gest, & Gariepy, 1998; Dishion, Andrews, & Crosby, 1995). Whether this is the case for adolescents involved in skateboarding and graffiti remains relatively unexplored, however. Thus, the research presented here will seek to address the central socio-psychological question: What social purpose do sub-cultures friendships fulfil in the lives of young people engaging in the visible and high-risk activities of skateboarding and graffitiwriting? Specifically, it will seek to address questions such as: Do adolescents

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deliberately engage in graffiti and skateboarding to gain status among peers? What kinds of friendships are initiated and cultivated in graffiti and skateboarding groups? Are adolescents seeking a specific non-conforming social image through their involvement in skateboarding and graffiti-writing? How do they pursue their attainment of that social image? What is the importance of status within that context? The research presented here attempts to answer these questions and others by examining the socio-psychological and cultural processes at play among adolescent friendships in activities considered by outsiders as antisocial.

Friendships, Peer Socialization and Social Identity Among Adolescent Skateboarders and Graffiti Writers, Nova Science

Chapter 4

METHOD

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PARTICIPANTS The study‟s 40 participants comprise 20 skateboarders and 20 graffitiwriters, all of who reside within the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital city of Western Australia. Of the 20 skateboarders, 5 (25%) reside in low socio-economic suburbs,12 (60%) in medium socio-economic suburbs and 3 (15%) in high socio-economic suburbs (as determined by an index defined at the postcode level from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, 1998 Census of Population and Housing). Similarly, of the 20 graffers, 4 (20%) reside in low socio-economic suburbs, 14 (70%) in medium socio-economic suburbs and 2 (10%) in high socio-economic suburbs. The interview sample was compiled with the assistance of five independent, two public and two alternative high schools, the Western Australian Police Force, a juvenile justice worker, two community youth workers, and by participants recruiting other participants. All participants were male. Thirty were aged between 12-17 years and the other 10 were young adults aged 18-20 years. The mean age of the sample was 15.7 years. The shortest period of skateboarding/graffiti-writing involvement was one year and the longest 8 years.

Interview Procedure The interviews were conducted with participants at separate times of their own choosing. No time limit was placed on the length of the interview, but in

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general they varied between 15-50 minutes. All interviews were audiorecorded. Six of the interviews were conducted by telephone so as to accommodate the participants‟ school/work schedules. The other 34 face-toface interviews were conducted at a school or tertiary institution. Permission to conduct the research was obtained from The Human Research Ethics Committee of The University of Western Australia. Information letters and consent forms were provided to each agency involved in the recruitment of the sample. These, in turn, were passed on to the potential participants, and in the case of minors, to their parents. On receipt of a returned signed permission form, a mutually convenient time for the interview was arranged. Prior to the commencement of the interview, the requirements of participants were outlined. In this regard, participants were given the opportunity to withdraw from the study without prejudice. However, in the event none chose to do so. All participants were also informed prior to the start of the interviews that if they did not feel comfortable in answering a particular question, then they could opt to pass to the next. Each interview started with general conversation about the participant‟s home life and proceeded to more specific interview questions. Participants were not confined to answering the interview questions in any specific order. Thus, if during the course of the interview a participant raised an issue that was not covered in the interviewer‟s question list, but was deemed by the researcher to be an issue of potential importance, then this question was raised in turn with all subsequent interviewees. Each audio recorded interview was transcribed verbatim.

Data Analysis The study was conducted within the interpretivist theoretical framework. This framework is focussed on determining interviewee‟s perspectives on the meaning they attach to particular aspects of their daily lives and on their perspectives on how within the confines of the prevailing social order they interact with others (O‟Donoghue, 2007; Taylor & Bogdan, 1998). Perspectives in this context refer to the individual frameworks people form and the strategies which they adopt in light of these frameworks to make sense of their world (Woods, 1992). The grounded theory constant comparative method, which according to O‟Donoghue, (2007) forms the basis of grounded theory analysis, was used in the analysis of the interview data. This approach to data analysis requires the

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Method

11

employment of two analytic procedures; the constant making of comparisons and the constant asking of questions. In this manner, each piece of data is interrogated by asking such questions as: „What is this piece of data an example of? What property does this piece of data represent?‟ These properties are then compared constantly, resulting in the formation of categories which are subsequently related to each other (Strauss & Corbin, 1990). In this manner, the constant comparative analytic technique involves both inductive (specific to general) and deductive (general to specific) reasoning in the detection of patterns and salient related features contained within the data (O‟Donoghue & Haynes, 1997; O‟Donoghue, 2007). The constant comparative analytic technique also requires the researcher to respond with theoretical sensitivity to the initial set of interview data (Glaser, 1978; Strauss & Corbin, 1990). These subtleties of meaning contained within this first data set are then explored in all subsequent interviews. Through engaging in this constant comparative process emerging patterns and trends contained within the collective interview data set are identified. This process of simultaneous data collection, coding and analysis, (known as theoretical sampling) continues until theoretical saturation is achieved (i.e., until data from subsequent interviews are not displaying any new trends, but rather confirming those already identified) (Charmaz, 2005; Punch, 2009; Strauss & Corbin, 1990). The findings arising out of this constant comparative analytic process form the rich (thick) descriptions, which in terms of the current study were utilized in the development of codes, categories and concepts that ultimately enable the study‟s substantive theory to emerge. This substantive theory: gaining friendship support through obtaining recognitional status is detailed below.

FINDINGS: THE SUBSTANTIVE THEORY It will be recalled that the central socio-psychological problem underpinning the study was „What social purpose do sub-culture friendships fulfil in the lives of young people engaging in the visible and high-risk activities of skate-boarding and graffiti-writing. The substantive theory of gaining friendship support through obtaining recognitional status was generated with regard to why some young people become progressively involved in youth sub-cultures. The friendship establishment process underpinning this substantive theory is now outlined in four parts. Part One

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describes the skaters/graffers precursory experience of school disinterest and subsequent desire to associate with ‘cool’ age-mates engaged in nonconforming behaviours either within and/or outside of school. Part Two outlines the transitioning process during which disinterested students switch their friendship allegiances away from their not-so-cool to their cool agemates. Part Three describes how transitioned skaters/graffers pursue recognitional status within their respective skateboarding and graffiti-writing sub-cultures, and additionally, how their newly acquired recognitional status facilitates their establishment of sub-culture friendship networks. Finally, Part Four reveals the support benefits that transitioned skaters/graffers garner from these sub-culture friendships. Each of these four parts of the substantive theory is now outlined in turn.

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Part One: School Disinterest While many young people undoubtedly experiment with skateboarding and/or graffiti-writing during their teen years they largely remain productively involved in the mainstream school and youth cultures. This study will concentrate on the experiences of a relatively small cohort of students, who following a period of school disinterest, become attracted towards the company of ‘cool’ [i.e., popular] age-mates who project a bravado, fun-loving and/or rebellious image. In particular, the study will provide insights into the experiences of disinterested students who become progressively involved in either the skateboarding or graffiti-writing youth sub-cultures. While both of these youth sub-cultures are perceived to be cool, the graffiti-writing subculture is considered to be the more non-conforming. As can be seen from the school experiences of skaters and graffers detailed in Table 1, graffers generally tend to not only have a less positive experience of school than do skaters, but also tend to engage more frequently in the types of non-conforming school misdemeanours that necessitate suspension, than do their skater counterparts. A connection between low within-school and low out-of-school and between high within-school and high out-of-school delinquent behavioural problems has similarly been reported in a recent study of 1,978 students in the Netherlands (Weerman, Harland, & van der Laan, 2007). The results of the study not only show a general relationship between misbehaviour inside school and delinquency elsewhere, but also note that the more serious the form of misbehaviour within-school, the greater the risk for subsequent delinquent

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behaviour out-of-school. In the Western Australian context, the extent of within-school misbehaviour is evidenced in the state‟s yearly school suspension (2006, n=9,649; 2007 n=10,536; 2008 n=11,417) and school expulsion figures (2006, n=21; 2007, n=29; 2008 n=37) (Hiatt, 2009; Lampathakis, 2007, Taylor, 2009). While the state figures do not identify the sub-culture allegiances of offenders they do collectively, show that withinschool behaviour necessitating suspension/expulsion is a recurrent problem in Western Australia. The three reasons that the present study‟s participants most commonly gave, regardless of their academic ability, for their growing disinterest in school, their indulgence in non-conforming behaviours and their gravitation towards the company of other disinterested, similarly non-conforming agemates both in and out-of-school are subject boredom, teacher disinterest, and the dullness of their more conforming peers. Their views are exemplified in the following comments:

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Students with Low Academic Abilities There are too many kids out there that teachers don‟t care about. Kids like me. School‟s hard for me. I mean I have ADHD. I can read something through three or four times and it still doesn‟t click in. So then I fall behind with my work. I‟ll ask for help, but my teacher won‟t help me, so sh*t I can‟t learn. (Graffer interview #15) I think I just lack … something that I was thought to be good at … school‟s an active effort … when you‟re are not being good at academics or sport or anything and if you don't fit into either of those you go under the radar a bit…. [involvement in skating] is about looking for something else to be good at or that you could get more enjoyment from. (Skater interview #11)

Students with Average Academic Abilities I‟m a really, really, really average student. I don‟t mean average in like bad but average literally. I‟m just a normal, normal kid. I get like a C on average, occasionally higher and occasionally lower. I‟m not the coolest dude in the school, but then again I‟m not the least cool. I‟ve never been suspended from school or anything like that. School‟s okay, but I get bored easily, so in the end I only do what I want to do and do it with the friends I preferred doing it with. (Graffer interview #2)

Friendships, Peer Socialization and Social Identity Among Adolescent Skateboarders and Graffiti Writers, Nova Science

Table 1. Skaters and Graffers Perspectives on their School and Suspension Experiences

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Skater experiences School: …I didn‟t like going to school …I don‟t mind school was great …I didn‟t mind school …I‟m trying for prefect next year …I never really have been in trouble at school …I haven‟t been in too much trouble at school …I didn‟t mind school for the last couple of years …is an active effort …I wasn‟t suspended but I didn‟t like school …I left in Year 10 …I get in trouble pretty often mainly for uniform, homework, being late for class …I didn‟t really like school I dropped out in Year 11 …I didn‟t finish Yr 11, I dropped out …I tried to get away with this and that at school

I was suspended: …for nothing really bad, just wagging …because I was like pretty bad …I got really close to being expelled …I got in a fight with Serbian kids …for punching a kid in the face

Graffer experiences School: …was good I was into sports and arts …I misbehave in class and stuff …I didn‟t really like going …was hard I was always getting into trouble …is okay but then I have a habit of getting away with things …I didn‟t enjoy being there at all mainly cos of my own identity issues …when I started high school I thought, NAH! …I pretty much didn‟t enjoy it …was not me …I have a bad reputation at school, like everything I do I get into trouble for

I was suspended: …more than once, I‟m a bit of a rebel …one time …many, many times …twice for graffiti and once for fighting …two times, both for graffiti …once for fighting another male …cos I like massively tagged the toilet block …for wagging school …11 times for graffiti and four times for stealing …numerous times for bullying …in years 8, 9, & 10 and then I dropped out …for turning up drunk to class …for smoking weed and getting into fights …for tagging the boys toilets …for breaking in the school …for racking paint from the art room …three or four times for smoking on campus

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Students with Outstanding Academic Abilities

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I was an extremely good student when I applied myself, but somehow I didn‟t seem to apply myself as much as everybody else. My grades started dropping in year nine. Before that I was pretty much a straight A student. Then, I kind of went off into doing my own thing. I‟m not sure what it was due to, but I think it was really because it was by then I‟d found something [graffiti] I preferred doing. (Graffer interview #8)

This study‟s finding that subject boredom, teacher disinterest and a growing attraction towards the company of non-conforming age-mates both within and outside of school is in line with the results of a study conducted by Crosnoe in 2002. In his study of 2,899 students, Crosnoe found that when academic achievement was taken into account, students with low academic abilities are no more likely to engage in delinquent acts than are students with high or average academic abilities. However, Crosnoe also reported that students with low academic abilities are more vulnerable to the influences of delinquent friends. While the present study did not investigate the relative influences of delinquent friends on skaters and graffers with low, average and high academic abilities, it did reveal that these two sub-group samples engaged in a process of slowly ingratiating themselves into the company of peers they perceived to be cool (i.e., powerful). They described this ingratiating process in terms of ‘transitioning’.

Part Two: Transitioning into a Cool Youth Sub-Culture The study‟s participants overwhelmingly indicated that transitioning into a cool group of age-mates was a gradual rather than an instantaneous process. As one participant explained: When I started school I though NAH! At that time, I was in what society would call the not as cool group of people at school but by the time I‟d finished in Year 11 I‟d made friends with the so-called cool kids of the school (Graffer interview # 3)

Bored by the tedium of their every day predominantly suburban lives the participants‟ decision on whether to cultivate an interest in the activities of cool skater or cool graffer age-mates was partly decided on their own natural abilities (i.e., artistic or coordination) and partly by situational circumstance

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(see Table 2). For instance, for some participants it was the neighbourhood cool kid(s) that influenced their choice; for others it was the activities of older popular siblings/cousins; and yet for others still it was a matter of happenstance (i.e., being motivated to try skating or graffing after watching a movie, seeing skaters/graffers in action, or the evidence of their actions on the street).

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Table 2. Involvement in Skating and Graffing Skaters: I first became involved in skating through …

Graffers: I first became involved in graffing through …

… my mum‟s boyfriend buying me a skateboard.

… people I knew who started to teach me

… my mates, they skated.

… hanging out with a graffer

… my school friends

… my friends

… my friend did it so I thought I‟d give it a go

… my friends. They did it so I did it

… my cousins skated so I asked them if I could have a go

... the friends I made outside of school

… my cousin skated and I wanted to be like him.

… my graffer school mates

… I went to the Royal Show and got my first skateboard there

… finding some spray cans at the rubbish tip by my house

… renting a skateboarding movie

... a graffer on a train showing me his [sketch] pad

… my brother

… seeing all the graffiti along the train line

… Utube

… seeing some and trying to copy it

… trampolining and doing flips and stuff

… seeing it on trains

… my mates … I sort of liked the idea

… catching tags and pieces walking home from school

… my cousins in Sydney they introduced me to it

…. seeing graffiti style drawings

… my cousin kinda got me into it

… my cousin painted so I started to paint with him … watching a 60 minutes (TV) documentary on gang violence I was fascinated by that

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Having developed an interest in skateboarding or graffiti-writing, the participants indicated that they subsequently embarked on the second stage of the transitioning process, namely, that of revealing their interest in skating/graffing to their would-be friends of choice. They indicated that they either verbally revealed their friendship interest by directly striking up a conversation with their targeted cool age-mates or by hanging out in areas that these cool individuals regularly frequented and then in their selected friend‟s presence demonstrating their own skating/graffing abilities. This type of friendship initiation approach is not unique to skaters and graffers as it is part of a well documented friendship formation process (see Taylor & Houghton, 2008; Shibasaka, 1988) wherein an instigator friend conducts an assessment of a target friend‟s special qualities, behavioural tendencies and social availability. Then, on reaching a favourable assessment, the instigator friend initiates contact with the target friend and engineers ways in which to spend extra time with them. This second stage of the transitioning process is not only a means of forming an individual friendship with a selected cool age-mate, but it is also a means of developing further friendship associations with cool age-mates in the initiator‟s neighbourhood domain. The following comments are typical in this regard: In regard to my transition from the not cool to the cool kids I didn‟t realise it as such at the time, but then again I did because I was hanging out with the popular kids, and then other people [peers] began to know my name. Every one of them had a tag but I didn‟t. They didn‟t really care that I didn‟t have one and I didn‟t really care, but when they were running around the streets with spray cans it all started to look like great fun. So I thought WOW! And then I thought; Well hell, why not? The stuff they were doing looked really good. I wanted to do something good too so I started doing it. That‟s how I became involved with the cooler kids. … It was pretty fun and a lot more exciting. (Graffer interview #3) I‟ve met heaps of people through skating. You just get to meet some really cool people, like friends of friends. They are the people that you get along with, they like to do the things that you like to do, so all goes well. We have like a common interest and so whenever we want we can bring up something to talk about, like skating. (Skater interview #5)

On being asked to explain why they were attracted towards cool kids, the participants indicated that their cool age-mates were generally more fun to be with than their other school mates, mainly because their cool age-mates

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projected a more bravado image and engaged in more rebellious or risk-taking activities (see Table 3). While, the study‟s disinterested skaters/graffers sought to transition themselves out of the company of non-cool age-mates into the company of cool age-mates through a process of hanging-out with, and cultivating an interest in their cool age-mates activities, for some this initial hanging-out socializing process was sufficient to their image portrayal needs. However, for others there was an added desire to gain recognitional status among the skater/graffer youth sub-culture and to project a non-conforming image to their mainstream peers and to their targeted sub-culture‟s broader membership.

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Part Three: Pursuance of Recognitional Status The study‟s transitioned youth indicated that their pursuance of recognitional status within their selected youth sub-culture is another protracted process. They maintain that it takes time for them: (i) to demonstrate to the sub-culture‟s membership that they are not „fakers‟, merely talking-the-talk (i.e., adopting a skater or graffer persona), but were indeed actually walking-the-walk. They did this by demonstrating their mastery of some of the sub-culture‟s fundamental skills (for skaters – tricks; for graffers – writing styles); (ii) to exhibit their commitment to the sub-culture by maintaining an active and on-going presence in the skate park or on the streets; and (iii) to prove their dedication to their sub-culture by engaging in some of its more high-risk tricks/activities. They indicate that this recognitional period is important as it is the time when they have to prove to themselves, to the subculture‟s membership, and to their mainstream peers that ‘you’re as good as your other mates… something more than just an everyday person’.

Friendships, Peer Socialization and Social Identity Among Adolescent Skateboarders and Graffiti Writers, Nova Science

Table 3. Skaters and Graffers Perspectives on their Cool and Not so Cool Friendships

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Skaters not cool friendships My class mates at school: …wouldn‟t stay with me because we‟ve not got a lot in common …are more not adventurous …are kinda safe …are nice, kind …think I‟m an idiot …are pretty different …are not like into risk-taking …are more into school work

Skaters cool friendships My skateboarding friends: …do fun things like skate in the middle of the road …are jackasses, stupid but fun …are energetic …push the boundaries …are competitive …are easy going …don‟t care what others think …do for each other …are a bit out of the ordinary …are out to impress …muck around and do stuff …stuff around some times …accept me

Graffers not cool friendships

Graffers cool friendships

My class mates at school: …are more mellow and quiet and like to stay out of trouble …see me as a vandal …are boring …I don‟t really have any …are racist and sexist …are different from me, I‟m not that close to them …are dobbers …don‟t notice me …are normal dudes …are nerds and bogans. I don‟t fit in at school, they say I‟m an idiot …not what society would call the cool group

My graffing friends: …will do anything that they can to get into trouble …like are way more into fighting …see me as an artist …break, rules …are really good mates …the popular kids …encourage me and look out for me …are out there, all bravado! …are a really chill good group of friends. They understand where I‟m coming from …are funny …are pretty cool. With them you can choose who you want to hang out with and you can choose who you are …are not snitches …accept me …give me respect …are a real good laugh …are always there for me

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Transitioned youth indicate that the way to demonstrate their dedication and skills to their chosen sub-culture‟s membership and to their mainstream peers is to gain street credibility (i.e., recognition). They say they achieve this credibility through progressively engaging in their culture‟s more risky tricks/activities. For example, for skaters this could require the sticking (landing) of a difficult/physically demanding trick (e.g., acid-dropping skating off the end of an object with ollieing or with hands touching the skateboard) or high risk activity (e.g., down-hilling: - skating at full speed down an extremely steep hill in the middle of the road). Similarly, for graffers this might require the transitioned youth placing his/her tag in a position of high prominence (e.g. on a bridge span over a freeway) a process known as „tagging the heavens‟, or in placing their tag in a place that requires considerable nerve to do so (e.g., tagging a police car/station). In time, their age-mates‟ acknowledgment of their daring exploits provides them with recognitional status within their sub-culture, and in instances where their streets exploits continue at an even higher level of daring over a protracted period of time, with the additional and highly respected skater or graffer reputation. The initial gain of recognitional status within the sub-culture not only increases the transitioned youth‟s chances of building further associations/friendships within his/her local community, but also enhances opportunities to form associations/friendships among the sub-culture‟s elite. Three participants explained: Being part of the skater community is fun, you hang out with friends. The skateboarding community is really good like that. Like if I‟m skating and I pass another skateboarder on the street then we‟ll give each other a nod or a wave of something. Skaters are like that, they‟re really nice to each other. In X [name of suburb] everyone knows everyone. Like if I go to the X store and skate well then I pretty well know everyone, if not by name, I‟ll know them by what tricks they can do and I‟ll know if they are better than me. …Like X [skater‟s name] he‟s pretty well known in WA, until six months ago he was like the first person out of anyone in WA who could ollie down 18 stairs. Nobody could do more than him for about two years, but recently another guy called X did 20 stairs! (Skater interview #7) It has been a long transition from where I first started to where I am now… but the main aim when you start up is to get up as much as you can and get well known. So if you are from X [name of suburb] and you go to a party say in X [name of another suburb 50 km apart] you can introduce yourself at the party and the X [first named suburb] graffers

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will automatically say: “Oh yeh, man I‟ve seen you up all over the place”. It is just like a pre-introduction. It sort of like easier to meet people, to make new friends, because everyone has seen your graffiti everywhere and that like brings more respect to you (Graffer interview #3). In the end, all graffers want is to be all city, that is like having a piece everywhere around the city so that everywhere you go, then at least you‟re seen once a day. By being seen once a day that like builds your cred [credibility] because your friends will say: Did you see that really cool piece in X [name of suburb] or that really cool bit on the freeway? When my friends see me at a party and say that they saw what I did, then that makes me feel proud cos like they have respect for me and for what I have done. The big crews really consider what has been recently published [graffiti written illegally on the streets]. Then they pick up on your stuff and you‟ll get dropped into (invited to join) a crew. There is a certain type of respect you get from that. I mean if you go out and tell people I‟m XXX [initials denoting crew name] then they automatically know that you are a part of a pretty active crew. They then make the assumption that you‟re pretty good yourself. So then you go out trying to do more and more tags to impress more and more people. (Graffer interview #2)

These association/friendship forming experiences of the study‟s participants are consistent with the body of literature relating to adolescent formations of out-of-school non-conforming and/or delinquent friendships. For instance, research by Carroll et al. (2003; 2009) has shown that adolescents form associations with other risk-taking age-mates because of the social status it affords them, both among their conforming and non-conforming peers. In addition, that it is this desire for peer recognition which fulfils the adolescent need for affirmation (Halsey & Young, 2006). Moreover, that friendships bonded through high-risk involvement in what society deems to be nonconforming (antisocial) activities are in themselves important indicators of future likelihood of engagement in other delinquent activities (Selfhout, Branje, & Meeus, 2008). While, the present study‟s finding that skaters and graffers build extensive friendship networks through gaining recognitional status among the subcultures‟ membership, is also consistent with the current body of literature pertaining to the activities of other groups of non-conforming/delinquent youth. The study‟s finding, however, that some skaters and graffers aware of their own ability limitations and/or commitment to the sub-culture decide that their attainment of recognitional status is sufficient for their identity establishment needs, and consequently opt not to pursue their skating/graffing

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activities to a level that would provide them with reputational status within the sub-culture, is new. One participant, for example, reflected thus:

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Me, and my skater friends, we like to swear, to write rap music, and to have a beer or two at the park, but if you‟re sponsored and famous then you can‟t do the beer thing around children. I don‟t think you should smoke either around children. So, it (fame) really daunts me. When I skate I put my headphones on and I like to get right into the zone, but if you‟re known, then the little kids constantly pull at you to do tricks. … Like there was this one guy when I was growing up who was like the rock star of the Perth skateboarding scene. He got the pretty girl friend. He got the sponsorship offers. We all thought he‟d go on and get famous, but he didn‟t want to. He just went on to get his building certificate (Skater interview, #17).

This group‟s realisation that ‘reputation isn’t everything’ and subsequent decision to maintain their involvement in the sub-culture at a recognitional level seems to separate the sub-culture‟s membership from the subculture‟s elite (i.e., in the case of skaters, those individuals who obtain sponsorship and those that do not, and for graffers, those individuals who head graffiti crews or are commissioned to do large scale urban art projects and those that do/are not). However, regardless, of whether the study‟s skaters or graffers attain recognitional or reputational status within their respective sub-cultures, they consistently indicate that their continued involvement in their respective subculture is largely a result of the camaraderie and protective support membership provides.

Part Four: Sub-Culture Camaraderie and Protective Support Friendship networks are known to vary in purpose, duration and type (Rybak, & McAndrew, 2006). Thus providing a definitive definition of the form friendships and friendship networks take either in the dominant mainstream youth culture or its numerous sub-cultures is difficult, however, such terms as voluntary association, acceptance, feelings of closeness, trust, support, caring and confiding, are generally used to describe friendship attributes. Moreover, these attributes are further distinguished from the attributes that relate to associative acquaintanceships by the intensity of the commitment that individuals involved in friendships bring to their mutual relationship (Abrahams, 1999; Carrier, 1999). Furthermore, the intensiveness

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of the involvement that adolescent friends typically have in their shared interest activities appears to strengthen the bonds between them. Moreover, these strengthened bonds have also been found to be more salient and important to adolescent youths than are any other relationships that they form with their non-bonded age-mates or with their own relatives (Colvin, Vogt, & Ickes, 1997; Reed-Danahay, 1999; Rybak, & McAndrew, 2006). In this regard, one graffer explained, that his relationships with his „chill graffer friends’ are quite distinct from his other relationships with his peers because his graffer mates all ‘enjoy being out and doing the same thing as me and they are the ones who really understand where I’m coming from’. Besides this empathic understanding connection, the study‟s participants also pointed to their ability to trust their closely bonded skater/graffer friends to a higher degree that they were able to do with their mainstream friends. One graffer summarized the experience of many when he described the difference between his school and graffer friends in the following terms:

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I probably trust my graffer friends with my secrets more because with my school friends, like if you told them something private like, then within a short time it is all around the school, but with my graffer friends, they don‟t open their mouths to like anybody (Graffer interview # 19).

It would seem that it is this ability to trust friends implicitly is what underlies the camaraderie experience and protective support (i.e., a sense of belonging, a social identity, a social network, company in precarious situations) that binds the skater/graffer sub-culture membership together and instils in the membership a convention of ‘being there for your mates’. This ability to rely on and trust sub-culture age-mates is captured in the following four accounts. The first, is a reflection by a graffer for the need for absolute trust; the second, relates the camaraderie experience of one skater when apprehended by a security guard; the third describes an experience of having mates back you up in a physically dangerous situation; and the fourth reveals the breadth of sub-culture friendship in times of adversity: Your crew members are like your best friends. They are like the people you really trust because you‟re like trusting them with your legality issues. I mean you go out there at night and if they don‟t warn you that people are coming, then you‟re possibly going to end up in jail. (Graffer interview # 10) I‟ve had my skateboard taken off me by a security guard who put it under his arm and was yelling at me. One of the other skaters who I

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Myra Taylor, Stephen Houghton and John Bednall didn‟t really know too well saw what was going on and came up behind him and pulled it out of his arm and ran off with it and shouted that he‟d meet me at another place, which he did and I got it back. The skating community does help each other. (Skater interview #8)

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Perth, the city, it‟s like really good for skateboarding, but I went there once and was skating in the street and this guy who was like 45, a big muscular guy, pushed me off my skateboard and into the wall. My other four friends got off their skateboards and came back to help me. They said: What the hell are you doing? But the man he said the streets were his streets and we weren‟t allowed to skate there and that if he caught us again then he‟d bash us again. I tell you it‟s just like safer to skate with friends. (Skater interview #8) I‟ve had graffer friends that have died doing graffiti. Like they have OD (overdosed) while they were graffing or they have got hit by a train. There was this one graffer that died a few months ago in a park overdosing. Then four of his best mates have gone into the city and up the train line and have written RIP XXXX [name of deceased graffer]. They‟ve written RIP XXXX all over the city. My best mate, his cousin, his whole family is affected by it [graffer‟s death]. But also so is the whole graffer scene. He was like the most loved graffer on the scene. When he died, for the first three weeks the city was like flooded with his tags and he‟s dead! RIP XXXX. (Graffer interview # 4)

Collectively, these four related experiences provide insights into the friendship bonds that form in skater and graffer sub-cultures, and how, for the time that such young people are involved in these two sub-cultures their recognitional status both within and outside of the sub-culture provides them with the protective support they seek.

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Chapter 5

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DISCUSSION AND CONCLUDING COMMENTS This research set out to address the central socio-psychological question: What purpose do sub-culture friendships fulfil in the lives of young people engaging in the highly visible and -risky activities of skateboarding and graffiti-writing? In uncovering the substantive theory of gaining friendship support through obtaining recognitional status, the present study appears to be the first to examine the concept of recognitional status among skateboarding and graffiti-writing sub-culture friendship groups within the context of Reputation Enhancing Goals Theory (REG) (Carroll et al., 2009). That is, adolescents deliberately choose involvement in these sub culture activities in order to pursue a specific reputation as an alternative identity. It is well documented that adolescence is a developmental period during which young people seek out the company of like-minded aged-mates and, in addition, are socialized through the influence of the peer-group (Allen et al., 2005). While the majority of adolescents seek out the company of groups of peers who act in a manner consistent (i.e., conforming) with the prevailing norms of society, a smaller cohort are attracted towards initiating and then maintaining friendships with non-conforming aged-mates projecting a cool (i.e., popular) social image through their enactment of highly visible and risky deviant activities. Indeed, Allen et al. (2005) and Buelga et al. (2008) have independently determined that adolescents who are attracted towards the power, leadership and high reputational image/status that popular nonconforming youth project though their dominant and often aggressive behaviours (Gini, 2006) are susceptible to their deviant socializing influences. Their venerated status, in turn, influences these admired youths to escalate their deviant activities in order to maintain their popular social image/status

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and powerful reputational identity within their peer sub-group (Cillessen & Borch, 2006; Hawley & Vaughn, 2003; Rodríquez, 2004; Smith & Brain, 2000). It is this purposeful activity that lies at the core of REGT (Carroll et al., 2009) which has proven reliable in explaining the behaviour of young persons involved in delinquent and other antisocial activities. In this regard, the present authors‟ formative hypothesis, that adolescents seeking a non-conforming social identity deliberately set friendship attainment goals in order to obtain a non-conforming reputation is not only supported, but is extended through the uncovering of the existence of two other quite distinct groups of nonconforming skaters and graffers, who exhibit far less well-developed deviancy-persistence and reputation enhancement goals than do their highly venerated peers. The first group is comprised of young people who through a mixture of growing school disinterest and situational happenstance tend to drift into friendship associations with their more popular peers, rather than consciously set out to achieve such friendships. This first group, which seems to be more prevalent among skaters than graffers, typically reports both a minimal dislike of school (e.g., I don’t mind school) and a relatively minor level of withinschool misbehaviour (e.g., I haven’t been in too much trouble at school). Generally, their dalliance with deviancy extends only as far as adopting the persona and dress styles of the culture they migrate towards (i.e., skateboarding or graffiti-writing). For some other adolescents within this, what we might call the “limited commitment group”, the desire to retain their newly-formed friendships with popular peers, initiates a subsequent desire to master the sub-culture‟s fundamental skills. Whether these individuals are able to master the necessary skills of the sub-culture is unknown, however, in line with Goal Setting Theory (Locke & Latham, 1984, 1990) REG theory demonstrates that goal commitment, which refers to one‟s attachment or determination to reach a goal, has a direct impact on goal performance. That is, the more commitment to a goal, the better the performance. Research has consistently shown that specific, challenging goals lead to high performance, particularly when individuals are committed to them (Carroll et al., 2009; Locke & Latham, 1984, 1990). For delinquent adolescents, levels of goal commitment are influenced by peer pressure because association with likeminded peers translates inclination (goal setting) into action (goal performance) (Emler, Reicher, & Ross, 1987; Emler & Reicher, 2005). In the case of the first group of skateboarders and graffiti-writers it is likely that the limited commitment shown will not translate into successful mastery and

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Discussion and Concluding Comments

27

therefore preclude their attainment of either recognitional or reputational status within their respective sub-cultures. The second group of non-conforming skaters and graffers who seem to display less well developed deviancy goal-setting orientations than their highly venerated peers is comprised of adolescents who characteristically engage in minor/moderate levels of within and outside of school offending (e.g., I was suspended for nothing really bad just wagging; I’ve only been in trouble with the police two times). These moderately non-conforming adolescents, prevalent in both the skater and graffer sub cultures, purposely conform to their adopted skater/graffer sub-culture‟s mores in order to achieve recognitional status within the culture. However, while these adolescents appear content to just hang-out with their venerated peers they also reach a realization over time that recognitional status is the likely limit of their involvement in their sub-culture. It may well be, as DeGoede et al. (2009) suggest, that the power influence of adolescent friendships actually declines over time and consequently as adolescents mature and move towards independence, their friendship needs and aspirations change. Furthermore, as Carroll (1995) and Carroll, Durkin, Hattie, and Houghton (1997) found, during late adolescence rehabilitation type goals become more prominent than power type goals among delinquent and at risk adolescents. Thus, future longitudinal studies into the friendship associations of deviant peer-groups might ascertain whether adolescents who subsequently move away from their primary association with a delinquent sub-culture re-engage with their mainstream peers or whether they are attracted towards the influence of popular adults who contravene societal norms. In contrast to these two newly identified groups, the highly venerated adolescents (more prevalent among the graffiti-writing than the skateboarding sub-culture), tend to manifest a marked disregard for school and societal norms. Indeed, the adolescents involved in the present study reported multiple serious school suspensions (e.g., for stealing, bullying, fighting, vandalism & substance abuse) and early school drop-out. For these individuals, reputation enhancement was of paramount importance and as such they carefully and purposely set goals to achieve their aim for reputational status within their subculture, thus further substantiating the validity of REG Theory (Carroll et al., 2009). The high level of physicality involved in the present study‟s sample of graffers attainment of leadership positions within the graffiti sub-culture is also consistent with the findings of Gini (2006) and Buelga et al. (2008) who attest that adolescent reputations are largely acquired through involvement in aggressive behaviour.

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In conclusion, in what appears to be the first research of its kind, the power and importance of friendships, through which recognitional and reputational status is initiated, built and maintained, cannot be underestimated. Hence, what on the surface appears as non-conforming activities to most outsiders is highly likely to be perceived as highly conforming by members within the skateboarding and graffiti-writing subcultures. Further research is now needed to develop a more comprehensive uunderstanding of the unique developmental patterns of friendships within each subculture. In doing so we may be better able to engage these young people in the school system and strengthen the ways in which schools support them in their education and thus prevent drop out. Carroll et al. (2009) emphasised that there is no doubt that developing a greater understanding about the trajectories of young people who become involved in antisocial activities along with the social-psychological mechanisms such as reputation maintenance is critical. That adolescents go to great lengths to infiltrate friendship groups and cultivate their own recognitional and reputational status within and outside of these groups suggests that those responsible for developing and delivering intervention programs must be as equally as inventive

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Bukowski, W. M., Pizzamiglio, T. M., Newcomb, A. F. & Hoza, B. (1996). Popularity as an affordance for friendship: The link between group and dyadic experience. Social Development, 5, 189-202. Cairns, R. B., Cairns, B. D., Neckerman, H. J., Gest, S. D. & Gariepy, J. L. (1998). Social networks and aggressive behavior: Peer support or peer rejection. Developmental Psychology, 24, 815-823. Cairns, R. B., Leung, M. C., Buchanan, L. & Cairns, B. D. (1995). Friendships and Social Networks in Childhood and Adolescence: Fluidity, Reliability, and Interrelationships. Child Development, 66, 5, 1330-1345. Carroll, A. (1995). Characterising the goals of juvenile delinquents: Nature, content and purpose. Psychology, Crime & Law, 1(3), 247-260. Carroll, A. (2002). At-risk and not at-risk adolescent girls in single-sex and mixed-sex school settings: An examination of their goals and reputations. Westminister Studies in Education, 25(2), 147-162. Carroll, A., Baglioni, A. J., Jr., Houghton, S. & Bramston, P. (1999). At-risk and not at-risk primary school children: An examination of goal orientations and social reputations. The British Journal of Educational Psychology, 69(3), 377-392. Carroll, A M., Green, S., Houghton, & Wood, R. (2003). Reputation enhancement and involvement in delinquency among high school students. International Journal of Disability, Development and Education, 50, 253-273. Carroll, A., Hattie, J., Durkin, K. & Houghton, S. (2001). Goal-setting and reputation enhancement: Behavioural choices among delinquent, at-risk and not at-risk adolescents. Legal and Criminological Psychology, 6(2), 165-184. Carroll, A., Houghton, S. & Baglioni, A. J., Jr. (2000). Goals and reputations amongst young children: The validation of the importance of goals and reputation enhancement scales. School Psychology International, 21(2), 115-135. Carroll, A., Houghton, S., Hattie, J. & Durkin, K. (1999). Adolescent reputation enhancement: Differentiating delinquent, nondelinquent, and at-risk youths. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 40(4), 593606. Carroll, A., Houghton, S., Hattie, J. & Durkin, K. (2001). Reputation enhancing goals: Integrating reputation enhancement and goal setting theory as an explanation of delinquent involvement. In F. Columbus (Eds.) Advances in psychology research, (Vol. 4), (101-129). Hauppauge, NY: Nova Science.

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Helsen, M., Vollebergh, W. & Meeus, W. (2000). Social Support from Parents and Friends and Emotional Problems in Adolescence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 29, 319-335. Hiatt, B. (2009, July 18). Teachers want police in schools. The West Australian, p8. Houghton, S. & Carroll, A. (1996). Enhancing reputations: The effective use of behavior management strategies by high school adolescent males. Scientia Paedagogica Experimentalis, 33(2), 227-244. Houghton, S., Carroll, A., Tan, C. & Hopkins, S. (2008). Self-reported delinquency and reputational orientations of high school and incarcerated adolescent loners and nonloners. Journal of Forensic Psychiatry and Psychology, 18, 1-21. Kreager, D. A. (2007). Unnecessary roughness? School sports, peer networks, and male adolescent violence. American Sociological Review, 72, 705724. Lampathakis, P. (2007, September, 30). Tots beat teachers. The Sunday Times, p3. Larson, R. (2000). Towards a psychology of positive youth development. American. Psychologist, 55, 170–183. Leary, M. R. & Kowalski, R. M. (1990). Impression management: a literature review and two component model. Psychological Bulletin, 107, 34-47 Locke, E. A. & Latham, G. P. (1984). Goal setting: A motivational technique that works. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Locke, E. A. & Latham, G. P. (1990). A theory of goal setting and task performance. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. McElhaney, K. B., Antonishka, J. & Allen, J. P. (2008). They like me, they like me not: Popularity and adolescents perceptions of acceptance predicting social functioning over time. Child Development, 79, 720-731. O‟Donoghue, T. (2007). Planning your qualitative research project: An introduction to interpretivist research in education. New York: Routledge. O‟Donoghue, T. & Haynes, F. (1997). Preparing you thesis/dissertation in education. Katoomba, NSW: Social Sciences Press. Punch, K. F. (2009). Introduction to research methods in education. London: Sage. Reed-Danahay, D. (1999). Friendshp, kinship, and the life course in rural Auvergne. In S. Bell & S. Coleman (Eds.) The anthropology of friendship, (155-168). Oxford, England: Berg. Rodríguez, N. (2004). Guerra en las aulas. Madrid: Editorial Temas de Hoy.

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INDEX

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A academics, 13 accuracy, 31 achievement, 15 acid, 20 Adams, 3, 4, 6, 7, 29 adaptation, 29, 32 ADHD, 13 adolescence, 2, 25, 27, 29, 31, 32 adolescents, ix, 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 21, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 adulthood, 34 adults, 3, 9, 27 aesthetics, 3 age, 9, 12, 13, 15, 17, 18, 20, 21, 23, 31, 33 aggression, 32 aggressive behavior, 29, 30 alternative, 6, 9, 25 ambiguity, 1 anthropology, 29, 33 antisocial behavior, 6 antisocial behaviour, 7, 31 artistic, 15 assessment, 17 attachment, 26 Australia, ix, 9, 10, 13 availability, 17

B back, 23, 24 bad behavior, 32 beer, 22 behavior, 6, 29, 30, 32, 33 behaviours, 12, 13, 25 benefits, 12 birth, 34 bonds, 23, 24 boredom, 13, 15 boys, 6, 14, 31 buildings, 7 bullying, 14, 27

C Census, 9 certificate, 22 children, 22, 30, 32 classroom, 34 close relationships, 2 codes, 11 coding, 11 cohort, 12, 25 community, 5, 9, 20, 24 competition, 6 conflict, 6 conformity, ix, 2, 3 Congress, vi

Friendships, Peer Socialization and Social Identity Among Adolescent Skateboarders and Graffiti Writers, Nova Science

Index

38 consciousness, 34 consent, 10 construction, x control, 6 costs, ix creativity, 3 credibility, 20, 21 crime, 32 culture, x, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 11, 12, 13, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27 curriculum, 31

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D danger, 3 data analysis, 10 data collection, 11 data set, 11 death, 24 definition, 22 delinquency, 12, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35 delinquent acts, 15 delinquent adolescents, 26 delinquent friends, 15, 21, 31 delinquents, 30 detection, 11 deviant behaviour, 29 discourse, 29, 35 dislocation, 32 duration, 22

F family, 1, 24 February, 34 feelings, 22 friendship, ix, 2, 6, 11, 17, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 33, 34 friendship networks, 12, 21, 22

G gangs, 4 gauge, ix gender, 29, 32 gender role, 32 genre, 29 girls, 6, 30 glass, 35 goal setting, 26, 30, 33 goal setting theory, 30 goals, 6, 7, 26, 27, 30 goal-setting, 27 going to school, 14 grades, 15 graffiti, ix, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 21, 22, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 31, 32, 34 gravitation, 13 group membership, 6, 32 groups, ix, 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 21, 25, 27, 28 growth, 3, 31

E Education, 30, 31, 34 emotional, 1 empathy, 6 employment, 11 engagement, 21 England, 29, 33 equality, 1 equating, 3 Europe, 29 exclusion, 32 expulsion, 13

H hands, 20 hanging, 16, 17, 18 health, 31 hedonism, 3 high risk, 20 high school, 6, 9, 14, 30, 33 high-risk, 7, 11, 18, 21 hips, 21 homework, 14 human, 6

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Index hypothesis, 7, 26

39

longitudinal studies, 27 longitudinal study, 34

I M

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identity, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 14, 21, 23, 25, 26, 29, 35 ideology, 3 images, 2 inclusion, 32 increased access, 2 independence, 2, 27 indicators, 21 initiation, 17 injury, vi interaction, 7, 29 interactions, 2, 7, 34 interpersonal relations, 2 interpersonal relationships, 2 intervention, 28, 32 interview, 9, 10, 11, 13, 15, 17, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 interviews, ix, 9, 10, 11

J justice, 9 juvenile delinquents, 30 juvenile justice, 9

L later life, ix leadership, 25, 27 learning, 1 legality, 23 life course, 33 lifespan, 1 lifestyle, 3, 29, 35 likelihood, 21 limitations, 21 linkage, 6 local community, 20 London, 29, 31, 33, 35 loneliness, 29

magnetic, vi mainstream, 3, 12, 18, 20, 22, 23, 27 maintenance, 7, 28 males, 33 management, 31, 33 masculinity, 29 mastery, 18, 26 membership, 5, 6, 7, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 32 metric, 32 metropolitan area, 9 minors, 10 mothers, 35 murals, 4 music, 22 mutual respect, 1

N narratives, 35 National Research Council, 31 natural, 15 negative consequences, 6 nerve, 20 Netherlands, 12 network, 1, 4, 23, 32 New York, v, vi, 31, 32, 33, 34 non-conforming activities, ix, 28 normal, 13, 19 norms, ix, 2, 3, 25, 27 nurturance, 6

O offenders, 13 ownership, 6

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Index

40

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P parents, 1, 10, 31 peer, ix, 1, 2, 3, 7, 21, 25, 26, 27, 30, 31, 33, 34 peer group, 1, 2, 3 peer rejection, 30 peer relationship, 1 peers, ix, x, 1, 2, 7, 8, 13, 15, 17, 18, 20, 21, 23, 25, 26, 27, 29, 31 perception, 32 perceptions, 31, 33 Perth, 9, 22, 24 Philadelphia, 32 play, ix, x, 7, 8 Poland, 34 police, 20, 27, 33 power, 25, 27, 28 prejudice, 10 preschoolers, 34 pressure, 26 primary school, 30 private property, 3 probability, 7 program, 34 proposition, 6 protection, 6 psychology, 30, 32, 33, 34 public, 3, 4, 5, 9

Q qualitative research, 33, 34, 35

R radar, 13 reactions, ix reasoning, 11 rebel, 14 reciprocity, 1 recognition, x, 11, 18, 20, 21, 22, 24, 25, 27, 28 recreational, 3

recruiting, 9 reflection, 23 rehabilitation, 27 rejection, 30 relationship, 12, 22, 35 relationships, 1, 2, 23, 29, 31, 34 relatives, 23 Reliability, 30 reputation, 2, 6, 7, 14, 20, 22, 25, 26, 27, 28, 30, 31, 32 reputation enhancement, 26, 27, 30 risk, ix, 3, 6, 7, 11, 12, 18, 19, 20, 21, 27, 30, 31 risk-taking, 18, 19, 21 roughness, 33 rural, 33, 35

S sample, 9, 10, 27 sampling, 11 satisfaction, 29 saturation, 11 school, 2, 6, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 21, 23, 26, 27, 28, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35 school work, 19 search, 34 searching, 3 secrets, 23 security, 23 Self, ii, 5, 33, 34, 35 self-expression, 3 self-image, 5 self-presentation, 29, 34, 35 semi-structured interviews, ix sensitivity, 11, 32 services, vi sex, 2, 30 shaping, 1 shares, 5 siblings, 16 skating, 13, 16, 17, 20, 21, 24 skills, 1, 18, 20, 26 smoke, 22

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Index smoking, 14 social acceptance, 2 social capital, 35 social category, 6 social conformity, 2 social context, 32 social exclusion, 32 social identity, 5, 6, 7, 23, 26 social image, ix, 7, 8, 25 social influence, 31 social influences, 31 social network, 4, 23, 32 social order, 10 social psychology, 32 social relations, 29 social relationships, 29 social skills, 1 social status, 3, 21 social support, 2 social support network, 2 socialisation, 1 socialization, 3, 4 speed, 20 sports, 14, 29, 33, 35 strain, 1 strategies, 10, 29, 33 students, 6, 12, 15, 30, 32, 34 subgroups, ix substance abuse, 27 suburban, 15 suburbs, 9 Sunday, 33, 34 survival, 29 suspensions, 27

telephone, 10 Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, iv tension, 1 threatening, 4, 5 traffic, 7 trans, 26 transformations, 29 transition, 17, 18, 20 trust, 1, 22, 23

U uniform, 14 United States, 34

V validation, 30 validity, 27 values, 4 vandalism, 27 variation, ix violence, 16, 33 visible, 4, 5, 6, 7, 11, 25

W walking, 16, 18 workers, 9 writing, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 11, 12, 17, 18, 25, 26, 27, 28

Y

T TANF, iv task performance, 33 teachers, 13, 33

41

young adults, 9

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