DEFIANCE AND DESPAIR - SUBCULTURAL AND STRUCTURAL LINKAGES BETWEEN DELINQUENCY AND DESPAIR IN THE LIFE-COURSE

Although anomie or strain theories of delinquency assert that adolesce nt distress leads to delinquent rebellion, delinquents do not report b eing more distressed than other youth. Willis (1977) further observes that rebellious youth who take part in a counterschool subculture tend to move relatively easily if not happily away from school and into ea rly adult work roles that only become problematic later The delinquent subculture temporarily insulates participants from sources of distres s they might otherwise feel. However, this oppositional disposition al so provokes educational and employment problems that intervene and int eract with the residue of this subculture to ultimately produce distre ss. This lagged or ''sleeper'' effect of adolescent rebellion does not emerge until early midlife. Our panel research finds that adolescent rebellion in the form of subcultural delinquency leads to educational and employment problems and ultimately to feelings of hopelessness amo ng adults who have dropped out of school and become unemployed The ori gins of these effects are both cultural and structural.