This article is concerned with social control and explicitly with gender dimensions of social control, explored through the work ings of a state welfare bureaucracy. The data on which the analysis is based were collected as part of a study of welfare clients who had had contact with Victoria's state welfare depart ment. As well as the more conventional range of welfare services, at that time the department's responsibilities included both adult and juvenile correctional services. This combination of responsibilities provided a valuable environment in which to study gender characteristics as these were set in particularly high relief. Males were associated with the correctional side of the department while females were involved with a range of activities though almost always related to their roles as mothers. All subjects of the research were living in the community and all were serviced by the same staff and facilities. Very clear differ ences along traditional lines emerge highlighting the centrality of the gender dimension for understanding the social control mechanisms of the welfare state.
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