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Ilia State University repository
The Influence of the Thieves-in-Laws Subculture on the Socialisation of Pre-Adolescents in Post-Soviet Georgia
Vakhtang Kekoshvili_2019Abstract
Abstract taken from the PDF of the thesis (page 4); source: Ilia State University repository.Despite a robust anti-mafia campaign to reduce the glorification of local mafias, preadolescent peer group socialization in the republic of Georgia still refers to the norms of a highly developed criminal subculture known as the thieves’ world. Through extensive ethnographic observation of children socializing through playing games borrowed from the prison context, the study asks what meaning and function these games now have. This study argues that children no longer see the subcultural capital of the thieves’ world as a viable currency to gain status, nor do they see the prison games as modelling important functions for adult life. Instead, the study finds that the form of game playing, uncertain knowledge of the games, and lack of enforcement of rules particularly around participation by gender suggest that such socialization is a way of passing time, developing belonging and demonstrating socio-cultural knowledge more broadly.
Full text available at: Ilia State University repository. Open the paper