Self-report data were gathered from 633 students from public and private schools in metro Manila, Philippines. The study finds overall delinquency prevalence to be higher among males than females but not significantly different from one socioeconomic class to another. Gender and class differentials, however, are found for different types of delinquency (overt property, covert property, theft, swindling, vandalism, drug abuse, alcohol and cigarettes, and status offenses). Violent offenses and more public forms of delinquency are found to be high among lower-class boys, whereas covert types of delinquency are high among the middle-and upper-class students. Of interest, among females, upper-class girls consistently have the highest self-reported delinquency rates.A lthough juvenile delinquency is a well-researched topic in developed countries, only a limited number of studies have been published in the Philippines. Estefania Aldaba-Lim's (1969) pioneering book, Toward Understanding the Juvenile Delinquent, compared matched samples of institutionalized juvenile delinquents and in-school nondelinquents in metro Manila. Aldaba-Lim found that delinquency is more related to social than to psychological factors, among them less stable family and home structures,

The article argues that understanding hegemonic masculinity can be amplified by looking into the situational contexts of men’s interactions in fraternity initiations based on the analysis of narratives of 15 fraternity men. Fraternity members from a Philippine university reached for hegemonic masculinity through the masculine exemplar of toughness to demonstrate preparedness for academic success, dominance in campus positions, and future national leadership. Through violentization (Athens, 2015), their initiations simulate the power clash between harsh patriarchs and supportive brothers that place young men’s bodies as objects and subjects of testing and indoctrination. Individual and collective efforts to critique and eschew the hypermasculinity of initiation violence achieved limited success although the pursuit of alternative socialization rituals remains a challenge.

The article problematizes state penality as a mechanism of repression of precarious workers through a war on drugs in the Philippines. The narratives of 27 arrested ‘drug personalities’ in Metro Manila tell of how methamphetamine energizes bodies and motivates minds for productive work. Bidding to be classified as willing and able workers and family men, the study’s participants orient to a moral stratification that pits the ‘moral versus immoral’ and the ‘hardworking versus lazy’. Qualifying their drug use as strategic and calculated, they uphold the neoliberal values of individual choice and accountability. Their support for the anti-drug campaign stems from their recognition of a drug problem and the socioemotional toll of the dysfunctions of living in the slums. While trade liberalization facilitates methamphetamine inflow, a war on drugs fuels an authoritarian populism. As the state reaffirms symbolic mission to protect its citizens, it blames precarity to a problem population.

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