In the company of women: Structure and agency in a revised power-control theory of gender and delinquency

A power-control theory of the gender-delinquency relationship draws attenti on to differences in familial control practices. We extend the theory to ad dress how parental agency and support for dominant altitudes or schemas inf luence male as well as female delinquency. This extension emphasizes that d ifferences in structure, particularly between more and less patriarchal hou seholds, result in different family practices, especially for mothers and s ons. We find that variation in mothers' agency within the home affects thei r sons' support of conventional views, in particular attitudes about the ge ndered nature of activities, risk preferences, and beliefs about impunity, as well as their involvement in delinquent activities. Thus, the agency of mothers in less patriarchal families is an underappreciated source of reduc ed delinquency among sons.