Cultural contexts of individualism vs. collectivism: Exploring the relationships between family bonding, supervision and deviance

摘要

The primary focus of this paper is to test the cross-national generalizability of the relationship between parental attachment and delinquency. Countries were divided on individualistic and collectivistic dimensions. Individualistic countries emphasize the degree to which individuals are supposed to look after themselves whereas collectivist counties emphasize group integration, usually around the family, and the achievement of group over individual goals. Average individual-level associations between parental attachment and crime were examined across 26 nations in an international dataset of delinquency and victimization of 12-15-year-old students in grades 7-9. Low levels of parental attachment and parental supervision were found to be more strongly related to deviance in countries with individualistic as opposed to collectivist cultural orientations. Alternative explanations for this relationship are explored.