Social Relations at Home and at School: An Analysis of the Correspondence Principle

The recent radical critique of schooling in capitalist America by Bowles and Gintis argues that a straightforward exists between the social relations experienced at home and at school. The correspondence principle defines, among other things, a significant intergenerational reproduction of consciousness and socialized inequality via the linkages among the authority relations experienced by fathers at work, transferred to childrearing styles, and replicated in school interaction with teachers. Using data from a national sample of male high school sophomores, we analyze the correspondence between social background, the social relations of authority experienced in the family, and those reported in school with teachers. The results show that the linkage between social background andfamily relations is minimal and is consistent with other reviews of the literature. However, the correspondence of family and school relations is greater as indicators of these two domains share about one-fifth of their variance. Further issues are addressed concerning the correspondence principle.