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Gender and juvenile delinquency
Single parent families and the effect on the children
Gender and juvenile delinquency
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Both parents are critical for a child’s growth and development. Not having a parent may impact both child and parent adversely. “Children with one parent are at higher risk of delinquency, then, because there is one less person capable of supervision” (Anderson, 576). It seems only logical that a child raised by one parent would have a harder time trying to stay out of trouble. Individual and Contextual Influences on Delinquency: The Role of the Single-parent Family an article written by Amy Anderson focuses on the single-parent family role. The data used to examine this role was taken from an evaluation type of research called the Gang Resistance Education and Training (GREAT). The sample population was 5,935 eighth-grade students, aged thirteen to fifteen from forty-two schools at eleven sites. They used three measures of self-reported delinquency, status, property, and person offenses. The results of this study seemed to be that the specific family structure did not affect weather an adolescent participated in delinquent activity. …show more content…
Father only and mother only households may affect child different due to different parenting methods. Prevalent article Parental gender, single-parent families, and delinquency: Exploring the moderating in influence of race/ethnicity by David Elite, focuses on whether the gender of the parent is related to delinquent behavior and illicit drug use. It also sets out to determine if the relationship between parental gender and delinquency is controlled by race/ethnicity. The results from an over dispersed Poisson HLM regression model suggest both individual and aggregate effects, with a potential buffering effect of intact families regardless of any adolescents’ specific family
Children from a single-parent home that are relatively conflict-free are less likely to be a delinquent than children from conflict-ridden “intact” homes. A stable, secure, and mutually supportive family is exceedingly important
There is much debate on what constitutes as a family today. However, Ball (2002) states, “The concept of the traditional family…is not an immutable one. It is a social construct that varies from culture to culture and, over time, the definition changes within a culture” (pp. 68). There is a growing diversity of families today including the commonality of sole-parenting. In order to explore aspects of sole-parenthood objectively, I need to reflect and put aside my personal experience of growing up in sole-parent household. Furthermore, this essay will explore the historical origins, cultural aspects discussing the influences and implications of gender identity, and social structures of sole-parent families, as well as consider the implications in midwifery by applying the sociological imagination. Mills (2000/1959) describes the sociological imagination as “…a quality of mind that seems most dramatically to promise an understanding of the intimate realities of ourselves in connection with larger social realities” (pp.15). In other words, the sociological imagination involves the ability to consider the relationships between personal experiences and those within society as a whole.
Across the wide body of studies delving into delinquency in America, it is easy to locate research on and analysis of minorities, underprivileged socioeconomic urban centers, and turbulent family structures. However, this leaves a significant section of the delinquent population largely neglected: white middle-class youth. Contrary to the factors shown to affect delinquency in others and the applications of theory applied to them, the issues plaguing this particular portion of adolescents are in many cases entirely unique, suggesting the necessity of a more nuanced approach from angles that have up until fairly recently remained unexplored.
However, the question whether such an effect is universal remains unanswered. In a study by Kierkus & Hewitt, (2009) they examined the link between non-traditional family structures and delinquency based on several variables such as gender, race, age, SES, family size and place of residence. They made an interesting finding that age and family size impacts the relationship between family structures, crime, and delinquency (Kierkus & Hewitt, 2009). More specifically, the old adolescents and those from larger families were at a significant risk for participating in juvenile
...will be seen right away, for example the link between socioeconomic status, as well as between housing and delinquent behavior. The advantage of using this study design is that it can show protective factors that might deter delinquent behavior. If a student has a greater commitment to school they are less likely to have incidents with criminal behavior, or show less of a desire to associate with peers who commit specific criminal behavior. As a result of using the analysis, risk and protective factors could serve as basis for research in the future. In addition, interventions based on imparting strategies for coping could be developed. There is still much work to be done to fully explain why youths commit crimes, but this study will help gain insight and understanding of the ways that specific factors influence various types of violent and nonviolent delinquency.
Thompson, W. E. and Bynum J. E. (2010). Juvenile Delinquency: A sociological Approach Eighth Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.
... relationship does not affect the adolescent’s behavior, but his academic performance. However, it is proven that adolescents from single parent family are more likely to develop deviant behaviors, and one of the main reasons is that the parent is unable to establish a strong bond with the adolescent, as this bond can be used as a shield, deflecting them to be less willing in engaging criminal behaviors. Other factors, such as poor neighborhood conditions, can also result in poorer parenting, which affects the adolescent’s behavior. Also, children who have suffered child abuse are generally filled with more violence, resulting in their aggressive behaviors due to a accumulated anger. Hence, we can conclude that parenting is the main cause for juvenile delinquency as it has the most influence and direct impact for causing an adolescent to develop delinquent behavior.
Stopping gang violence requires more than just the law enforcement in solving gang problems. Gang involvement among youths remains to be a prevalent problem to parents and society. It is often associated with violence and other criminal activities within the community. Though reasons remain to be varied, youth participation continues to increase through out the years. In seeking then to understand the motivation for youths joining gangs, it is essential to look at good family function, which promotes healthy development, as well as looking at how poor family function, is related to poor outcomes for youths. The questions to also keep in mind when it comes to family function is which aspects of parenting are risk factors to youths joining gangs as well as how can we help future families in decreasing those risks? Preventing youths from joining gangs in the first place is crucial in realizing on how to reduce youth gang activity. Which leads us to the question “can we stop gang violence?” My answer to this question is yes; we can stop gang violence with effective parenting. Although, school-based programs as well as community-based prevention programs may reduce gang violence, effective parenting stops gang involvement early on from childhood to adolescence.
Thompson, W. E. and Bynum J. E. (2010). Juvenile Delinquency: A sociological Approach Eighth Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.
Studies indicate that positive parenting, including normative development, monitoring, and discipline, clearly affects whether children will become delinquent. Adequate supervision of free-time activities, whereabouts, and peers are critical to assure that children do not drift into antisocial and delinquent patterns of behavior. Surprisingly, little is known about normative and moral development with the family as they relate to delinquency. Single-parent families, and in particular mother-only families, produce more delinquent children than two-parent families. Research indicates that parenting practices account for most, but not all, of the ...
It is important to note kids who do not have someone to look up to. Behavior is taught at home by parents but not everyone is fortunate enough to have both a mom and a dad. It has been learned through various researches that most of the teens involved in criminal activities come from a household which has either one or both parents missing. The U.S. Census Bureau has shown that “nearly one in three teens live in homes where the father is absent.” Children with absent fathers grow up with a large set of problems.
The Family structure has changed significantly in the last fifty years. With higher percentages of marriage ending in divorce, and higher rates of childbearing out of wedlock, single parent families are increasing rapidly. “Seventy percent of all the children will spend all or part of their lives in a single-parent household.” (Dowd) Studies have shown that the children of these families are affected dramatically, both negatively and positively. Women head the majority of single- parent families and as a result, children experience many social problems from growing up without a father. Some of these problems include lack of financial support, and various emotional problems by not having a father around, which may contribute to problems later in life. At the same time, children of single-parent homes become more independent because they learn to take care of themselves, and rely on others to do things for them.
Youth look up to family members, and parents are role models to their children. The unfortunate part about parents being role models is, when parents make bad decisions, their children may follow. According to Daily Mail reporters Ashley Collman and Chris Spargo “…Jarrell 's mother Iyanna Moss was convicted for felony assault when he was a toddler. When she went to prison, Jarrell and his six other siblings were sent to live in an Omaha foster home…” (Collman and Spargo) Milton’s mother was not in his life, and he lived in foster care. Milton lacked the guidance he deserved, and a vital parental figure. The article Delinquent Youths and Family by Larry LeFlore states, “Indirectly and from a social structural point of view, the family determines the culture into which a child is born.” (LeFlore) The importance of a clean, criminal free environment is crucial. The beginning years of life are extremely impactful on youth. If there is violence, drugs, and other criminal activity the youth will adapt to that environment. The article by Larry LeFlore also mentioned, “…Membership in lower SES or working-class families may limit achievement of the American Dream.” (LeFlore) If the family members are constantly working to provide, they are going to be unaware of what is happening in their children’s life. If the family has a poor economic status, it could promote the child to steal or commit crimes to receive what they want or need. The
A finding that emerges very strongly and consistently is that delinquents have very poor relationships with their parents” (Gove 303-304). The teens who commit crimes often lack a parental figure in their lives. These teens are not strictly overseen by their parents, and their parents rarely know what they are up to or what they are doing (Gove 303). “Poor parent-child relationships, lack of parental control, and erratic behavior of parents could be a product of juvenile misbehavior and the juvenile’s hostility towards his or her parents” (Gove 304). Teens that do not have a close relationship with their parents often resort to delinquency as a form of resentment. “The family as an institution plays a critical role in the socialization of children; as a consequence, parents presumably play a critical role in whether their children misbehave” (Gove 315). Parents play the biggest role in a child’s life because the parents have been with the child since birth. Parents shape, mold, and provide the foundation that a teen needs to make hard decisions and to live by a good m...
...ng up in a single-parent home (usually female-headed) is seven times as likely to be a delinquent. The rate of violent crime and burglary is related to the number of single parent households with children aged twelve to twenty. (1)In a new study of 72 adolescent murders and 35 adolescent thieves, researches for Michigan State University demonstrated that the overwhelming majority of teenage criminals live with only one parent. Fully 75 percent of those charged with homicide had parents who were either divorced or had never been married at all.( 5)