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Weapon carrying among black adolescents: a social network perspective
G P Myers1, G A McGrady, C Marrow
1Department of Community Health and Preventive Medicine, Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, Ga 30310-1495, USA.
Objectives:
This report describes the salience of social networks to the phenomena of adolescent weapon carrying.
Methods:
A random-walk network sampling design was used to survey 113 adolescents about topics, including weapon carrying.
Results:
In a probability sample of 12- to 15-year-olds, 20.9% reported ever carrying a weapon. Carriers were eight times as likely as noncarriers to report weapon carrying by an older associate, and 19 times as likely to report weapon carrying by a peer. A significant dose-response effect was present.
Conclusions:
This evidence supports the interpretation that modeling of weapon carrying by personal network members is important for its initiation and maintenance in adolescence.