NCJ Number
178415
Journal
International Criminal Justice Review Volume: 8 Dated: 1998 Pages: 15-32
Date Published
1998
Length
18 pages
Annotation
Responses of 268 youths in Moscow, Russia, to questionnaire items that focused on power-control were used to examine the thesis that gender differences in risk orientation and juvenile delinquency will vary on the basis of family structure, as determined by parental roles in the workplace.
Abstract
The data were collected in 1992 as part of a study of the legal socialization of Russian youth. The participants were selected equally from three schools. They had an average age of 13.7 years. About 63 percent of the youths had 1 or 2 parents with a high-status job; the other 37 percent had low-status jobs. Males were more delinquent than females, but not significantly so, probably because delinquency was measured by juvenile status offenses. Results of both preliminary and more detailed analyses produced virtually no support for the power-control perspective, but provided considerable support for opposing perspectives. The influential role of peers was particularly notable. Findings suggested the need for researchers of power-control to modify their models to more fully account for peer influences. In addition, the stark contrasts between Russian society and the societies of the United States and Canada make the findings unsurprising and raise questions about the universality of the power-control model. Tables, footnotes, and 25 references (Author abstract modified)