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family and school are an important correlate of delinquency for males and females in
all country clusters and across all ethnic groups. On the whole, the correlates of
delinquency are found to be similar in males and females, which suggests that there
is no need for a different theory to explain delinquency in boys and girls. Social
control explains part of the gap in delinquency between boys and girls, simply
because social controls of girls tend to be stronger and tighter. Culturally
determined differences in the strength of family-based social controls can also
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