The Class Structure of Gender and Delinquency: Toward a Power-Control Theory of Common Delinquent Behavior

TLDR

Class and gender are frequently analyzed correlates of delinquency, yet they are rarely considered together. The paper develops and tests a neo‑Marxian, class‑based power‑control theory linking gender and delinquency. The theory predicts and confirms that the gender‑delinquency link weakens at lower class levels, can be statistically eliminated when controlling for predicted variables, and overall clarifies the social foundations of this relationship.

Abstract

Though seldom considered together, class and gender are among the most frequently analyzed correlates of delinquency today. This paper formulates and test a neo-Marxian, class-based, power control theory of gender and delinquency. Using this theory and a prediction made by Bonger more than a half-century ago, the article demonstrates that the relationship between gender and common forms of delinquency declines with each step down the class structure. Furthermore, where this relationship is strongest, it can be statistically removed by taking theoretically predicted variables into account. A power-control theory does much to specify and explain the class struture of gender and delinquency, and in doing so it demostrates the social bases of this relationship.