GENDER, REFLECTED APPRAISALS, AND LABELING - A CROSS-GROUP TEST OF ANINTERACTIONIST THEORY OF DELINQUENCY

This article builds upon a symbolic interactionist model of delinquenc y (Matsueda 1992) by assessing whether an interactionist model can acc ount for the gender gap in delinquent behavior. We argue that delinque ncy is determined in part by the self as conceived by symbolic interac tionists, which in turn is determined by a process of labeling by sign ificant others. We estimate a cross-gender model of delinquency using data from the National Youth Survey and find that, for both males and females, parental appraisals significantly affect youths' reflected ap praisals, which in turn predict delinquency. Nevertheless, we find som e gender interactions: for males, parental labeling and reflected appr aisals have a larger effect on delinquency, and males are more likely to be falsely accused by parents. When we fake into account gender dif ferences in both levels of independent variables and the magnitude of effects of those variables, our model explains a substantial portion o f the gender gap in delinquency.