NCJ Number
166253
Date Published
1996
Length
239 pages
Annotation
This study contrasts delinquency rates in India with those of the United States and several other countries.
Abstract
The study draws upon multiple sources of information, including original self-report studies conducted by the authors, official statistics reported by various governments, and published reports of research conducted by criminologists throughout the world. The Indian research sites and the methodologies used in the self-report surveys are discussed in some detail. Using the integrated theory model developed by Elliott et al. (1985) as the conceptual scheme, the authors argue that when compared to the United States and other western nations, India's apparently low rates of delinquency (or at least serious delinquency) are a function of the distinctive integrative features of Indian society. Using the language of social control, the authors suggest that the family-jati socioeconomic organization of Indian society provides an integrative web of social controls that not only restricts and channels the interactions and relations of youth in India, but also fosters a social bonding mechanism of interdependence and relatedness that has either disappeared in modern western countries or has been rendered unnecessary or inoperable. In contrast to the "set adrift" adolescents of western economically developed societies, Indian youth are strongly dependent upon and integrated into a network of family, jati, and community relationships unlike any their western counterparts experience. As a consequence, Indian youth are much less likely to associate with, be influenced by, or have opportunities to acquire deviant skills and orientations from peers than are the youth of western nations. Extensive tables and figures, appended survey instruments, 173 references, and a subject index