NCJ Number
136134
Date Published
1990
Length
32 pages
Annotation
The basic thesis of the Colvin/Pauly theory of parental control and delinquency is that serious, patterned delinquency is the ultimate product of social relations resulting from the individual's position in advanced capitalist production.
Abstract
Like all structural Marxists, Colvin and Pauly describe the class division of advanced, capitalist society in relation to the ownership of the means of production. They contend that modern capitalist society is roughly divided into two modes of production, capitalist and petty commodity production. The beginning point of their theory is the notion that workers are subjected to qualitatively different kinds of control structures within different classes and subclasses. They note that parents consciously or unconsciously communicate to their children messages about the world, specifically that authorities are to be obeyed either out of external compulsion (fear or utilitarian calculation) or internalized and normative commitment. A critique indicates that the Colvin/Pauly theory suffers from several defects. According to other data, the location of parents in the working class does not predict the type of child control used in the family and disciplinary method does not predict the affective bond between parent and child. Further, the critique posits that it is too simplistic to think that social control in the workplace represents the exclusive or even dominant influence on one's orientation toward child rearing. An integrated theory is recommended that incorporates workplace control as one of several factors influencing child disciplinary methods and that portrays family control structures as one of several factors involved in the ultimate likelihood of delinquency. 40 references, 6 notes, 8 tables, and 1 figure