Adult-Adolescent Relations and Gang Delinquency

variety of adult roles as these are related to race, social class, and membership in delinquent gangs. Familial roles are the subject of separate study, and because this paper does not treat adult-adolescent relations in the context of early socialization, they are excluded from present consideration. Recent theories attempting to explain gang delinquency, or delinquent subcultures, imply that adult-adolescent relations are imporant in determining the form and content of delinquency. None of the theories formally elaborates the "causal mechanisms" whereby relations between adolescents and adults contribute to delinquency, but it is clear that they disagree concerning the quality of these relations and the nature of their contribution to various