LIFE’S FOOTPRINTS: UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS REFLECTING ON THEIR EXPERIENCES WITH DELINQUENCY, BULLYING, & SOCIAL SUPPORT By Rudolph Alexander Bielitz A Thesis Presented to The Faculty of Humboldt State University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Masters of Arts in Sociology Committee Membership Dr. Renée Byrd, Committee Chair Dr. Joshua Meisel, Committee Member Dr. Meredith Williams, Graduate Coordinator May 2016 ABSTRACT LIFE’S FOOTPRINTS: UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS REFLECTING ON THEIR EXPERIENCES WITH DELINQUENCY, BULLYING, & SOCIAL SUPPORT Rudolph Alexander Bielitz The Life’s Footprints study investigated the bullying and delinquency experiences of 11 undergraduate students at Humboldt State University (HSU) in Arcata California. Two specific time frames were used to investigate the participants’ bullying and delinquent experiences. The first time frame dealt with the participants’ previous experiences with bullying and delinquency during their time as an adolescent growing up in their hometowns1 and the second time frame dealt with their current experiences with bullying and delinquency as undergraduate students attending HSU.2 The first time frame was shown to be the most significant amongst the participants, and through analyzing the data most of their bullying and delinquent experiences occurred during childhood and/or adolescence. Further, this qualitative study used grounded theory as presented by Kathy Charmaz (2006). The Life’s Footprints study provided an insight to each participants’ personal experience with bullying and delinquency. Moreover, as participants were questioned about their experiences with bullying and delinquency, the participants indicated that they were either a victim, a perpetrator, or both a victim and a perpetrator of 1 Time Frame 1: Before College 2 Time Frame 2: During College ii bullying. Social bonding, social identity, symbolic interactionism and social support, were three theoretical foundations that were used within this study, so as to address the key themes within the study. In addition, the participants’ delinquency as juveniles was seen as a result of their peer social acceptance and attachment to their delinquent peers, via social bonding (Hirschi 1969). Key words: Attachment, Appraisal Support, Beliefs, Belongingness, Bullying, Commitment, Delinquency, Depersonalization, Emotional Support, Informational Support, Involvement, Involved Support, Social Acceptance, Social Aggression, Self-Categorization, Social- Comparison, Social Bonding Theory, Social Identity Theory, Symbolic Interactionism, iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I’d like to dedicate this to my academic mentors at HSU. To Dr. Byrd and Dr. Meisel thank you both so much for the support and guidance in helping me to construct and to develop my thesis paper. And a special thanks to Dr. Chew, Dr. Eichstedt, Dr. Martinek, Dr. Virnoche, and Dr. Williams for challenging me to do my best, as well as providing me with opportunities to gain more teaching and research experience. iv Table of Contents ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................................. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ....................................................................................................... iv LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................................... ix LIST OF APPENDICES ........................................................................................................... x INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................... 1 RESEARCH QUESTIONS ...................................................................................................... 6 LITERATURE REVIEW ......................................................................................................... 7 Theory I: Social Bonding Theory........................................................................................ 19 Theory II: Social Identity Theory........................................................................................ 22 Theory III: Symbolic Interactionism and Social Support ................................................... 23 METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................................. 28 Subjects ............................................................................................................................... 28 Recruitment ......................................................................................................................... 30 Method One ..................................................................................................................... 30 Method Two .................................................................................................................... 31 Risk Management Procedures ............................................................................................. 31 Data ..................................................................................................................................... 33 v Setting.................................................................................................................................. 36 Data Analysis ...................................................................................................................... 36 REVIEWING CONCEPTS OF PEER ATTACHMENT, PEER INFLUENCE & PARTICIPANTS’ ANECDOTES ................................................................................................ 41 Peer Social Attachment & Its Impact on Delinquency ....................................................... 41 Allison and Kevin: A New Home Means New Friends .................................................. 42 Allison: Looking for Acceptance .................................................................................... 44 Kevin: “I Just Wanted to Make Friends” ......................................................................... 48 Kevin: Three Flip............................................................................................................. 48 Anthony: Living in a Disorganized Community, School, and Bullying ......................... 52 Anthony: Selling Crystal ................................................................................................. 54 REVIEWING CONCEPTS OF BULLYING, SOCIAL SUPPORT, & PARTICIPANTS’ ANECDOTES ............................................................................................................................... 56 Bullying: Social Identity ..................................................................................................... 56 Incessantly Ridiculed and Teased .................................................................................... 57 Bullying, Popularity, and Physical Appearance .............................................................. 59 An Athletic Identity ......................................................................................................... 61 Victims of Bullying: The Value of Social Support ......................................................... 64 Steven .............................................................................................................................. 65 Steven: They Were Like Brothers ................................................................................... 66 vi Steven: Two Friends Have a Falling Out ........................................................................ 67 Kelly ................................................................................................................................ 69 Kelly: “I would Count My as Like a Bully” .................................................................... 70 Kelly: Channeling Her Frustration .................................................................................. 72 FINDINGS .............................................................................................................................. 75 ANALYSIS: PEER SOCIAL ATTACHMENT & ITS IMPACT ON DELINQUENCY ..... 76 Attachment: Allison and Kevin ........................................................................................... 76 Attachment: Anthony .......................................................................................................... 78 Commitment and Involvement: Allison, Kevin, and Anthony ........................................... 79 Beliefs: Allison, Kevin, and Anthony ................................................................................. 81 ANALYSIS: BULLYING & SOCIAL IDENTITY ............................................................... 83 ANALYSIS: THE VALUE OF SOCIAL SUPPORT ............................................................ 86 Steven: Symbolic Interactionism and Social Support ......................................................... 88 Kelly: Symbolic Interactionism and Social Support ........................................................... 90 DISCUSSION ......................................................................................................................... 92 IMPLICATIONS .................................................................................................................... 94 LIMITATIONS ....................................................................................................................... 95 FUTURE RESEARCH