Modeling the Patriarchal Factor in Juvenile Delinquency: Is There Room for Peers, Church, and Television?

• NCJ Number: 170804
• Journal: Criminal Justice and Behavior Volume: 24 Issue: 4 Dated: (December 1997) Pages: 477-494
• Author(s): E F Avakame
• Date Published: 1997
• Length: 18 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This article attempts to extend power-control theory, an effort at criminological theory construction that focuses on the relationship between gender and delinquency.

Abstract

The article attempts to extend power-control theory by explicitly accounting for the ideological component of patriarchy; and by examining the influences of extrafamilial socialization agents (peer groups, the church, television) on the development of patriarchal sex-role attitudes, taste for risk, and delinquent activity. The research used data generated by a study of high school seniors from three Canadian cities. There were substantial gender differences among matriarchal, egalitarian, and patriarchal family types in regard to parental relational and instrumental control, but these differences were not in directions suggested by power-control theory. In a similar vein, the data did not support the argument that the analytic focus must extend beyond the nuclear family and its socialization methods to properly account for the development of patriarchal sex-role attitudes. Note, figure, tables, references