The larger study (see Stanton-Salazar, 2001) used field notes created over 16 months of participant observation and data from network surveys, interviews, and questionnaires, which focused on the social world and peer relationships of working-class adolescents of Mexican origin. Overall, the study sought a better understanding of how class, race, ethnicity, and gender influenced the lives of urban minority adolescents from low-income immigrant families. The current analysis, however, focused on the nature and influence of peer support in helping urban minority adolescents cope with the challenges of adjusting and progressing within the context of mainstream cultural values and institutions. Based on the evidence obtained, the authors argue that involvement in peer networks characterized by trust and social support provides the social resources necessary for the positive development of social skills and school achievement, even in the face of multiple stressors associated with acculturation and segregated and economically marginalized schools and neighborhoods. Peer networks, notably same-sex platonic friendships, also serve as buffers against such environmental stressors as poverty, community violence, and poorly resourced schools. The study also found instances in which peer relationships failed to provide the safety and consistent support adolescents sought. The key to constructive peer networks is apparently a cooperative adult-youth creation of an institutional culture that fosters supportive peer and adult mentoring relationships and networks and also addresses the specific environmental and cultural stressors that can impede healthy development. 7 notes and 46 references