NCJ Number
204598
Journal
Journal of Youth and Adolescence Volume: 33 Issue: 2 Dated: April 2004 Pages: 113-122
Date Published
April 2004
Length
10 pages
Annotation
This study examined whether musical preference can be predictive of deviant behavior in adolescence.
Abstract
Music occupies a significant place in the world of adolescence. In fact, debate has swirled around whether youth violence can be linked to aggressive music, in particular, rap music. Little research has been devoted to discovering whether there are potentially deleterious effects of certain types of music on adolescents’ behaviors. As such, the current study probed whether there were links between preference for four rap music genres (American rap, French rap, hip hop/soul, and gangsta/hardcore rap) and five types of deviant behaviors in adolescence (violence, theft, street gangs, mild drug use, and hard core drug use). Two hypotheses were tested: (1) that significant links would be discovered between the rate of preference for rap music and the rate of self-reported deviant behaviors; and (2) that after controlling for peer deviancy, violent media consumption, and importance given to lyrics, only the most antisocial rap genres (French rap and gangsta/hardcore rap) would maintain positive links to deviant behaviors. The authors distributed a self-report questionnaire to 348 bilingual French-Canadian adolescents 14- to 17-years-old. Questionnaires included measures for deviant behaviors, street gang involvement, drug use, peers’ deviancy, violent media consumption, importance given to lyrics, and rap genre preference. The analysis controlled for the effects of peers’ deviancy, violent media consumption, and importance given to lyrics. Results of statistical analyses revealed that preference for rap music in general was linked to deviancy in adolescence, however the nature of the relationship between rap music and deviance differed by rap genre. Preference for French rap, which is one of the more antisocial rap genres, had the strongest positive association with deviant behaviors, whereas preference for hip hop/soul was linked with less deviant behaviors. These findings confirm the hypothesis that even after controlling for other relevant variables, rap music is linked to deviant behavior among adolescents. Limitations of the study include problems with generalizing from a convenience sample. Future research should combine sociocognitive and psychosocial perspectives on the influential process of music on adolescent behavior. Tables, references