NCJ Number
85073
Journal
Social Problems Volume: 29 Issue: 5 Dated: (June 1982) Pages: 464-473
Date Published
1982
Length
10 pages
Annotation
This paper identifies some of the features of Indian society which impede the development of an adolescent subculture (often characterized by social misbehavior) and which reduce the frequency of employing formal social control mechanisms to deal with young people engaged in objectionable conduct.
Abstract
An earlier study found less crime, particularly juvenile delinquency in India; mild and nonpunitive adult reactions to delinquency, which Indians respond to with extra-legal and informal sanctions; tolerance of delinquency by judicial and correctional officials; and infrequent discussion of delinquency in the media. Several socioeconomic features of Indian society, such as the interpersonal ties of family and the social requirements of an agrarian, scarcity economy, ensure that young people are integrated into the dominant social system and deter the development of an adolescent subculture separate from adult society. As integral elements of the socioeconomic structure of the country, Indian youths are neither oriented to normative violations nor are they perceived by adults as outsiders in need of formal control. It is possible that similar integration mechanisms operate in other societies with little delinquency or crime. Footnotes and 37 references are given.